Recommended government primary school teachers, whose appointments were cancelled through a High Court order on February 6, continued their protest programme at Shahbagh in the capital Dhaka for the 12th consecutive day on Monday, demanding their immediate appointments.
The protesters gathered in front of the National Museum at about 10:00am on Monday and held their sit-in programme till 6:00pm.
They said that they would continue their movement and would not go back home until their one-point demand was met.
On Sunday, police for the third time fired tear gas shells and sprayed water through cannons to disperse the protesting recommended teachers in front of Shikkha Bhaban as they were marching towards the secretariat from Shahbagh.
Earlier on February 10 and 13, police had used batons, water cannons and sound grenades to disperse the protesters during their Shahbagh blockade programmes, leaving some of them injured.
The protesters said that the recruitment process was conducted in three phases, with the first two phases completed and appointments made accordingly, while the third phase faced the cancellation, leaving thousands of assistant teachers in uncertainty.
The High Court on February 6 declared illegal and scrapped the November 20, 2024 appointment of 6,531 assistant teachers in government primary schools in Dhaka and Chattogram based on job quotas as per the 2019 recruitment rules.
The 2019 recruitment rules allow 60 per cent quota for women, 20 per cent for wards and 20 per cent for males in recruiting teachers for government primary schools.
The Directorate of Primary Education on February 13 filed a provisional appeal against the High Court verdict to the Appellate Division.
The hearing was deferred for a day on Sunday by an Appellate Division鈥� chamber judge.
A regular appeal against the High Court verdict was filed by the directorate on Monday.