There are few sought after jobs in Bangladesh. A large number of people participate for the selection process of these jobs every year. The Assistant Teacher position in government primary schools is one of those sought after jobs.
The exam for the position does not take place altogether. It goes through several phases. In 2024, the exam took place in three phases. Phase 1 involved Barisal, Sylhet, and Rangpur, Phase 2 covered Rajshahi, Khulna, and Mymensingh, and the 3rd and the final phase covered Dhaka and Chattogram division.
The circular was published in 2023. The MCQ exam and viva for all three phases took place in before July, 2024. The Ministry of Primary and Mass Education finished the recruitment process which included medical examination for phase 1 and phase 2. The final step for the 3rd phase took place much later.
Before anything, the quota system for the Assistant Teacher position in primary schools of Bangladesh must be understood. According to the Primary School Teachers Recruitment Rules-2019, 60% quota is for women, 20% is for dependents, and 4% is for other categories. The Hasina government abolished all quotas in 2018 because of the student protests. However, the government kept the primary education quota system pretty much as it was before with some small changes here and there.
In 2024, when the previous notorious government which came to power through a questionable election ignored the decision on quota rulings of 2018, the students and the job aspirants resisted. A peaceful protest turned deadly because of the arrogance of the fascist regime. As we all know, the previous government fell and Dr Muhammad Yunus formed an interim government with the support of the student leaders who were in the frontline of the July revolution. The quota system for all government and semi government jobs has been reformed and now, only 7% of the positions to be filled with candidates who fall under the different categories of the quota system.
The problem begins here for the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education. In July 2024, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court scrapped the previous quota system for all government jobs including the Assistant Teacher position in government primary schools. The recruitment process for all the phases except for phase 3 of Assistant Teacher examination-2023 ended before July. The selected candidates of phase 1 and 2 of the same circular joined and started taking classes.
However, the final result for phase 3 was published in October, 2024. The selected candidates received their appointment letters in November, 2024. The question arises with the legitimacy of the 6,531 appointed candidates who fall under different categories of quota. 31 job seekers who do not have any quota, filed a writ petition in the High Court in November, 2024 challenging the legality of the recruitment of the 6,531 candidates who got the job based on quota.
The High Court declared it 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. A bench of Justice Fatema Najib and Justice Sikder Mahmudur Razi delivered the verdict.
This is surely a big problem for the already appointed Assistant Teachers based on quota. The High Court in this case is not at fault. As the recruitment process was completed in October, the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education should have followed the July ruling of the quota system where 93% recruitment will be based on merit.
Why did the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education failed to do that? It is as if a whole ministry forgot the events of July uprising. This is an example of severe incompetency. In a country where the recruitment process for any government job is mentally taxing, the already appointed teachers now have to return their appointment letters for the position for which they had been preparing for since 2023.
Why did the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education failed to do that? It is as if a whole ministry forgot the events of July uprising. This is an example of severe incompetency. In a country where the recruitment process for any government job is mentally taxing, the already appointed teachers now have to return their appointment letters for the position for which they have been preparing for since 2023.
Naturally, the 6,531 candidates would not want to return their appointment letters eagerly. They started a protest in Shahbagh. More than 100 job seekers who got their appointments cancelled were present in Shahbagh to participate in the protest for the last couple of days. Most of them are women with kids as young as 2 years old.
On February 10, 2025, the protesters were drenched by police’s water canon at Shahbagh. The protesters had only one demand which is to re-appoint them because they should not be responsible for the ministry’s fault.
This is understandable. Their demand does not have legitimacy according to the laws of the country. However, why should they suffer because of the mistake of the ministry. Many of the cancelled appointees already resigned from their previous jobs.
This problem could have easily been solved or not made in the first place. The candidates for the 3rd phase were finally selected after July 2024 when the new quota system already came into effect. Then, why could the ministry not implement it in November?
This is not an incident that happened randomly. From my point of view, this is the reflection of the miscommunication and incoordination among the different departments in Bangladesh government. This has been a problem for a long time.
It does not feel right to blindly support the protesters and it to not support the protesters. Mistakes like these have been happening in Bangladesh for many years. Now it is time for a big change. This cannot keep happening as incidents like these push the citizens in a hopeless situation and damage the image of the country.
The appeal of the protesters cannot be justified through any legal framework anymore. However, seeing them shedding tears reminds me of the countless occasions I was disappointed in my country.
Fahmida Akhter is an MBA student at IBA, University of Dhaka
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