The teachers of over 22,000 registered primary schools have been waging a movement for nationalisation of their jobs for 11 years, but their demand remains unheeded.

While the previous three budgets of the present government did not reflect the teachers' aspiration, they hope the government will meet their demand this time as the fourth budget is being placed today.

In its electoral manifesto in 2001, the BNP mentioned that "the Department of Primary and Mass Education will be reinforced and all the non-government primary schools will be converted into government schools."

Sources said the teachers were informed in April that the secretary of the primary and mass education ministry has sent a recommendation to the prime minister to consider the nationalisation of teachers' service and other facilities.

But a senior official of the ministry said, "The annual budget has already been prepared and initial inputs have been furnished. Most probably there was nothing special in the recommendation."

Another official said that if the finance ministry gave its endorsement in writing for allocation of funds in this regard, the recommendation would reach the prime minister.

"We want the registered primary teachers to receive an increased salary and there is also a possibility of nationalising their service," he added.

Md Shamsul Alam, president of the Non-government Primary Teachers' Association, said, "Nationalising the service of the teachers was the electoral pledge of the prime minister. But now we see that it was just a political gimmick to win the support of teachers as there was no reflection of the electoral pledge even in the budget of 2004-05 fiscal year."

Beside 37,709 government primary schools in the country, 2,989 community schools and 22,836 registered primary schools are working to meet the millennium goal -- education for all by 2015.

But the registered primary schoolteachers have been struggling hard to make ends meet as the trained teachers receive only Tk 2,064 and the untrained Tk 1,858 as monthly salaries while the government primary schoolteachers receive between Tk 3,910 and 10,000, inclusive of various allowances.

Under the new pay scale, the government will provide 90 percent of the increased salary to the registered primary teachers, but they still do not know when they will start receiving the money.

"The primary and mass education ministry will need to take permission from the finance ministry as we are not government employees. We are appointed by the local managing committee and now we don't know when we will start receiving the salary as per the new pay scale," said Shamsul Alam.