Education Minister ANM Ehsanul Hoque Milon stated on Wednesday that thousands of teacher recruitments, promotions, and appointments to key administrative positions in educational institutions have remained stalled for a long time due to various legal complications.
Delivering a statement under Rule 300 in the Jatiya Sangsad on Wednesday evening, Milon noted that these issues were raised earlier in the session by Treasury Bench member Zainul Abdin Farroque.
He informed the House that, beyond a recruitment process for 32,500 teachers, additional recruitments of 2,600 and 17,000 teachers are also hanging in the balance due to ongoing litigation.
Milon highlighted his consistent efforts to resolve these legal hurdles since taking office, mentioning that he has personally frequented the courts since his first week in the ministry to expedite the process.
However, he expressed regret that the cases are yet to appear on the Appellate Division’s cause list, making it impossible to move forward with recruitments despite a nationwide teacher shortage.
The scope of the legal impasse extends beyond general teaching staff.
Minister Milan added that the recruitment of institution heads through the Non-Government Teachers’ Registration and Certification Authority (NTRCA), as well as the appointment of college principals and other heads of institutions, are currently stuck.
Furthermore, the recruitment of “daptari/night guards” for primary schools remains suspended for the same reason. Currently, thousands of cases are pending in the education and primary education sectors, which Milon described as a severe disruption to administrative functions.
Regarding promotions, the minister informed Parliament that approximately 33,000 headteacher positions have fallen vacant. Due to promotion-related complexities and lawsuits, many qualified teachers are reaching the age of retirement before they can be promoted to the rank of headteacher.
Addressing the issue of administrative transfers in primary schools, he noted that the responsibility has been decentralised to the upazila, district, and divisional levels.
While the government is making its utmost effort to resolve the situation, the minister admitted that achieving the desired progress in recruitment and promotion remains difficult until these pending lawsuits are settled by the courts.
