Recruitment at DPE: No exam in 8 years, new circular on the way

There are 126 government primary schools in Aditmari upazila of Lalmonirhat district. The responsibility for their official and administrative affairs lies with the upazila education office.

But for years, the office has had no office assistant-cum-computer operator. As a result, officials are facing difficulties with day-to-day work such as filing documents, online data updates, preparing bills or allowances, and verifying and finalising stipend lists.

This is not only the case in Aditmari but in many other upazilas across the country. Several upazila education officers told Prothom Alo that the shortage of office assistant-cum-computer operators and office aide has become a ‘long-term’ crisis in education offices nationwide. This has slowed down the supervision and services provided to primary schools.

According to the Directorate of Primary Education (DPE), there are 65,567 government primary schools under 495 upazilas across the country. Each upazila education office manages the administrative, financial, and field supervision of this huge number of schools. By regulation, each office should have at least three office assistant-cum-computer operators or office assistants. However, the required staff is missing in reality.

DPE data shows that 801 posts of office assistant-cum-computer operator and 1,505 posts of office assistant are vacant nationwide. With these positions unfilled for so long, there have been delays in file processing, rapid uploading of field-level information, preparation of teachers’ and staff allowances, verification of purchase-related bills, and day-to-day paperwork of various projects.

A senior official at the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the Directorate of Primary Education published a recruitment circular for office assistant and office assistant-cum-computer operator posts in 2017. Nearly 300,000 (3 lakh) candidates applied, but for unknown reasons the recruitment exam was never held.

Investigations have revealed that each application required a fee of Tk 200. In total, around Tk 60 million (Tk 6 crore) is still sitting in the ministry’s funds. As that recruitment process stalled, vacant positions kept increasing, further piling pressure on field-level work.

Speaking to Prothom Alo on the matter, DPE Director General Abu Noor Md Shamsuzzaman, said, “To keep official work at the grassroots functional, adequate staffing for these posts is essential. After taking charge, I was surprised to learn that no progress had been made since the 2017 circular. We will publish a new recruitment circular by September. Applicants from 2017 will also be allowed to sit the exam. We plan to complete the recruitment process swiftly.”

Field-level officials believe that once the vacant posts are filled, the flow of information, financial settlements, and school supervision will all accelerate. Teachers and guardians who visit schools for services will also save time. Now, the expectation is that the recruitment process will begin within the announced timeframe, putting an end to this long-standing stalemate.