Teachers‍‍` salaries to increase gradually to improve education: PM

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on Wednesday announced plans to gradually increase the salaries of primary and secondary school teachers, saying better pay is essential to improving the quality of education.

Responding to a supplementary question during the Prime Minister‍‍`s Question Time in Parliament, Tarique said the previous government prioritised infrastructure development while failing to invest adequately in teachers and other human resources.

"We cannot expect quality education unless primary and secondary school teachers receive proper training and better salaries," he told the House.

The Prime Minister said the government has already taken initiatives to strengthen teacher training and will implement salary increases in phases.

"We have programmes to improve training for teachers, and we also believe their salaries should be increased gradually. We will do that in phases, Insha-Allah," he said.

He noted that many teachers are compelled to take on additional work because their current salaries are insufficient to support their families.

"Many primary school teachers finish classes early to take up another job or even agricultural work. Similar situations exist among secondary school teachers," he said, adding that teachers should be able to dedicate their full time and attention to educating students.

Tarique also said the current national budget allocates 2 percent of the country‍‍`s gross domestic product (GDP) to the education sector.

The Prime Minister made the remarks during the parliamentary session chaired by Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad, where he answered four starred questions and nine supplementary questions.

School uniforms to be provided in phases

Replying to another supplementary question, Tarique said the government plans to provide school uniforms and school bags to around 12 million students enrolled in government primary schools across the country.

He said the programme will be implemented in phases and will eventually cover students from Classes I to V in about 65,000 government primary schools nationwide.