, Aug. 7 -- Nearly half of the government primary schools in Cumilla are operating without permanent head teachers, a situation that education stakeholders say is affecting academic standards and school administration.

According to the Cumilla District Primary Education Office, 894 of the district's 2,107 government primary schools currently have no permanent head teachers. At the same time, 970 assistant teacher posts also remain vacant, creating an acute shortage of teaching staff.

Official data show that while there are 2,107 approved head teacher posts, only 1,213 are currently filled, leaving 42.42 percent of the posts vacant. Of the 13,389 approved assistant teacher posts, only 12,419 are occupied.

The teacher shortage has forced...