After years of legal proceedings and administrative delays, the government has officially upgraded the pay scale of all headmasters of government primary schools to the 10th grade in accordance with the National Pay Scale 2015.

The Ministry of Primary and Mass Education issued a gazette today (23 December) granting the headmasters gazetted second-class officer status.

With the new decision, the basic salary of headmasters will start at Tk16,000 and rise to a maximum of Tk38,640. Previously, they were placed in the 11th grade, where the basic pay ranged from Tk12,500 to Tk30,230.

As a result, the salaries of a total of 65,502 headmasters in government primary schools — currently in the 11th grade (for trained teachers) and 12th grade (for untrained teachers) — will be upgraded to the 10th grade.

“Those headmasters who are untrained must complete the Basic Training for Primary Teachers within 18 months from the date of issuance of the government order to get the grade,” reads the notification.

Earlier, the Ministry of Public Administration and the Finance Division’s Expenditure Management Wing had given their consent, and the proposal also received approval from the secretaries’ committee on administrative development.

There are 65,569 government primary schools across the country, serving more than 10 million students. The total number of teachers exceeds 3,75,000.

The decision follows a long-standing Supreme Court verdict that directed the government to grant headmasters 10th-grade pay along with second-class gazetted officer status. However, implementation of the ruling had remained stalled for years.

On 28 October, following prolonged legal action, the government upgraded the pay grade of 45 headmasters who were petitioners in a writ case. At the same time, the process was initiated to extend the same benefit to all 65,502 headmasters nationwide, which has now been finalised.

Meanwhile, assistant teachers at government primary schools remain in the 13th pay grade, with a starting basic salary of Tk11,000. They had placed a three-point demand, including upgrading their pay scale to the 11th grade.

According to the government, a proposal to upgrade assistant teachers’ pay grade has already been sent to the National Pay Commission by the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education.

The matter is currently under review, and the Finance Division will take necessary steps once the commission submits its recommendations.

At present, the total approved number of assistant teacher posts stands at 3,69,216, while 3,52,208 teachers are currently in service.