No salary for Munshiganj kindergarten teachers for two months

Tuition fee provided by the students are the only means of salary for the staff of these schools, which they collect directly from the students

Around five thousand teachers and staff of private kindergarten schools in Munshiganj had not received their salaries for the past two months as their institutions were closed due to the ongoing shutdown to stem the spread of coronavirus.

Tuition fee provided by the students is the only means of salary for the staff of these schools, which they collect directly from the students. The teachers say, they also could not go for private tutoring due to the virus outbreak.

“We work at these schools for very little pay. Besides we operate additional tutoring to run our families. But now we have no ways of earning a livelihood. We won’t be able to receive any relief products as our prestige is intertwined with it,” said a teacher to Dhaka Tribune seeking anonymity.

Abdur Rashid, principal of Little Homes Kindergarten school in Mathpara, Munshganj, said: “This is a terrible situation for us. We don’t have any avenue for income at the moment. Our kindergarten has 27 teachers for 240 students; we also have three cleaners. It’s May and none of them got their salaries for the month of March and April.”

Md Moniruzzaman Monir, general secretary of Munshiganj Kindergarten Association, said around 5,000 teachers and staff in 500 kindergarten schools could not get their salaries, as the schools were not able to collect the tuition fees from students. “Teachers have been living a miserable life. It would have been great if the teachers could receive incentives from the government.”

Munshiganj Deputy Commissioner (DC) Md Moniruzzaman Talukdar said: “None informed us that the kindergarten teachers haven’t received salaries. The kindergartens are private institutions. If the authorities of these schools contact us we will take necessary steps.

“We can not provide incentives if the government does not issue such a fund. But if any teacher could not manage food for their families then we will see if we can do something,” added DC Moniruzzaman.

Tanjil Hasan
dhakatribune

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