The education ministry has failed to implement the annual performance evaluation, focused on rewards and punishment, for non-government schoolteachers even five years after the ministry had issued an order in this regard. The officials concerned said that callousness of some education officers and opposition by some leaders of non-government teachers’ associations were mainly responsible for not implementing the evaluation system.
Such an evaluation system in the form of annual confidential report is already in place for teachers of government schools and colleges.
There are more than 2.4 lakh teachers in 19,070 non-government secondary schools and about 8,000 teachers in 317 public secondary schools.
Non-government teachers since July 2006 have been getting whole amount of their basic salary from the state exchequer. Non-government teachers also a get lump sum as pension.
The government has, however, little or, in some cases, no control over the recruitment or promotion on teachers at non-government educational institutions.
Parmis Sultana, upazila education officer of Paturia in Manikganj, said, ‘Some evaluation forms sent by the secondary and higher education directorate were in her office but they were not sent to schools.’
‘I have no instruction from higher authorities to implement it while leaders of teachers’ association have been opposing it since the issuance of the order,’ she said.
The education ministry order, signed by joint secretary Md Nazrul Islam Khan and issued in March 2008, reads : ‘The new system to be in place from the current year will help to establish discipline and accountability in these institutions.’
‘The teachers’ promotion, increase in salary, training and rewards will depend on evaluation reports,’ said the order which had kept non-government colleges and madrasshas out of the purview for unknown reasons.
Printed with the financial assistance of an education project, the annual performance evaluation form was sent to the upazila education offices in March 2008.
Upazila education officers are evaluation officers for headteachers and chairman of school managing committees countersign the reports. The headteachers are evaluation officers for assistant headmasters and management committees countersign the reports.
The circular also said that assistant headteachers would evaluate the performance of assistant teachers and headteachers will countersign the reports.
A joint secretary of the education ministry told New Age on Thursday that at least five deputy commissioners had recently recommended the introduction of the annual confidential report for non-government school, madrassah and college teachers to establish accountability about rewards and punishment.
He, however, did not say anything about the order not being implemented even in five years.
In her letter sent to the education ministry in June, Fahima Khatun, the director general of the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education, also favoured the introduction of annual confidential report.
She made the comment about deputy commissioner’s recommendation for the introduction of the annual confidential report. This topic is schedule to be discussed in the DCs’ annual conference on July 23.
Nazrul Islam Rony, secretary general of the Bangladesh Teachers’ Association, told New Age on Saturday that the implementation of the ACR or performance evaluation would be a government tool for the harassment of teachers.
He opposed the matter.
-With New Age input
