Assistant teachers’ recruitment caught in complexities

According to Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), there are currently more than 2.6 million (26 lakh) unemployed people in the country. Among them, nearly 900,000 (9 lakh) young men and women hold graduate degrees.

In other words, they are educated but unemployed. In this context, thousands of educated youths had been counting the days in anticipation of recruitment circular for assistant teachers in government primary schools.

However, due to regulatory complications, the publication of the recruitment notice has been delayed, further heightening the frustration of jobseekers.

On 28 August, the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education issued the ‘Government Primary School Teacher Recruitment Rules, 2025’. Three days later, on 31 August, an eight-member ‘Central Primary School Teacher Recruitment Committee’ was formed.

The Director General of the Directorate of Primary Education was appointed as Chairman of the committee, while its Member Secretary was designated as the Director (Policy and Operations) of the Directorate.

Other members included the Additional Secretary (Schools) of the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education, the Director General (Revenue) of the Directorate of Primary Education, the Director General of the Bureau of Non-Formal Education, the Joint Secretary (Schools) of the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education, a representative from the Ministry of Public Administration (not below the rank of Deputy Secretary) and a representative from the Public Service Commission.

Sources within the Directorate of Primary Education revealed that errors have been identified in the revised rules. As a result, in the very first stage of the recruitment process, the publication of the circular remains pending. The file concerning the amendment of the rules is circulating within the ministry, frustrating of applicants further.

Officials at the Directorate of Primary Education have indicated that there are plans to recruit approximately 17,000 assistant teachers this time. The shortage of teachers in primary schools across the country is widely acknowledged.

However, if the recruitment circular itself remains stalled, who will then take responsibility for the vacant posts? A senior official of the Directorate of Primary Education, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Prothom Alo, “The recruitment of assistant teachers for government primary schools has become entangled in regulatory complexities.”

Regarding the recruitment circular, the Director General of the Directorate of Primary Education, Abu Noor Md. Shamsuzzaman, stated, “We wish to publish the recruitment circular without delay. However, a number of errors have been identified in the new regulations. These have been forwarded to the Ministry for correction. Once the finalised rules are in our possession, the circular will be issued.”

The revised regulations have abolished the previously reserved special quota for women. Of the posts directly recruitable in government primary schools, 93 per cent will now be merit-based.

The remaining 7 per cent will be reserved under quotas, as follows: 5 per cent for the children of freedom fighters and martyred freedom fighters, 1 per cent for ethnic minorities and 1 per cent for persons with disabilities and candidates of the third gender. If no eligible candidates are available under these quotas, the posts will be filled on merit.

According to data from the BBS, in 2017 there were approximately 400,000 unemployed graduates in the country. That number has now nearly doubled to around 900,000, in the space of eight years.

In this situation, the delay in the circular has placed the future of many jobseekers in uncertainty. One such candidate, Khorshed Alam, told Prothom Alo, “My eligibility for government service will expire in three months. If the circular is not published soon, I will lose my final chance of securing a government position.”

There is a recognised shortage of teachers in government primary schools and the number of educated unemployed continues to rise. Jobseekers expect that the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education will expedite the publication of the recruitment circular and complete the recruitment process swiftly through a transparent examination system.