Govt to recruit 17,409 primary school teachers

Infograph: TBS

The government will recruit a total of 17,709 teachers for government primary schools. Of these, the primary and mass education ministry has taken steps to complete the recruitment of 15,327 assistant teachers by December this year. 

In addition, work has begun to directly recruit 2,382 head teachers through the Public Service Commission (PSC).

A draft amendment to the Teacher Recruitment Rules 2019 has already been sent to the PSC, and their recommendations have been received. The draft is now with the Legislative Division for vetting.

According to ministry sources, there are currently 10,161 vacant assistant teacher posts across the country. In addition, there are 5,166 vacant positions for music and physical education teachers. 

On 14 July, a meeting chaired by Chief Adviser Dr Muhammad Yunus reviewed the six-month action plan of the primary and mass education ministry. During the meeting, the chief adviser directed that the recruitment of vacant posts be completed quickly.

A serious crisis regarding head teacher positions was also discussed at the meeting. Currently, there are 34,106 vacant head teacher posts across the country. While the existing policy allows for 65% promotions and 35% direct recruitment, the proposed amendment suggests changing the ratio to 80:20. At present, initiatives are being taken to fill 2,382 head teacher posts through direct recruitment under PSC.

A senior official of the ministry, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the draft amendment of the 2019 rules for assistant teacher recruitment is now with the Legislative Division. Once the law ministry completes vetting, the recruitment process for assistant teachers will begin within a month. 

However, the recruitment of head teachers remains under PSC's jurisdiction, and they are expected to complete the necessary process soon. The ministry will stay in close contact with the PSC.

He further noted that recruitment through the BCS (non-cadre) route causes delays. To avoid this, PSC will hold separate examinations for the recruitment of head teachers. Meanwhile, filling vacancies through promotion will also be expedited.

Demand for religious teacher posts

Although religious teachers exist at the secondary level, there are no such posts at the primary level, making government primary schools less attractive to parents and children. As a result, many parents send their children to madrasas instead. Stakeholders have therefore demanded the creation of religious teacher posts in primary schools.

Sabina Yasmin, head teacher of Bakultala Government Primary School in Sonagazi, Feni, said that parents want their children to learn religious basics from the start of their education. Because of this, many enroll their children in madrasas instead of schools. 

By the time these children complete their early religious education and move to primary school, they are already 11 years old. Since Nurani madrasas do not teach basic subjects like Bangla and mathematics, these children often cannot cope with mainstream primary schooling, making them ineligible for classes three or five. As a result, many drop out altogether.

She said that to solve this problem, in 2022, her school on its own initiative hired a religious teacher. After that, enrollment rose sharply. Once parents learned that religious education was available at the school, they began sending children there instead of madrasas. Enrollment increased from around 70 students to 146 students, although paying the teacher's salary from school funds created financial strain.

Md Aftab Uddin, Director of the Bangladesh Institute of Research, Education & Training (BIRET), said, "Moral and religious education is necessary in childhood. This encourages parents to enroll their children in primary schools. Many parents now send children to maktabs or Nurani madrasas until class two and then shift them to schools. If religious teacher posts are introduced in primary schools, this trend will decline, and children will start schooling from the beginning."

Schools to be classified based on performance

According to ministry sources, government primary schools will be classified based on quality, and steps will be taken to improve underperforming institutions.

The Chief Adviser has also ordered a more disciplined teacher transfer policy. Under existing rules, teachers are recruited on an upazila basis, with women forming the majority. But after marriage or due to their husband's workplace, many apply for transfers to Dhaka or divisional towns. This leaves rural schools facing teacher shortages while urban schools end up with more teachers than required.

Although there is already a transfer policy, it needs to be revised to reflect ground realities. The chief adviser has directed the ministry to enforce stricter procedures for inter-upazila transfers, ensuring discipline in the system.