Teacher recruitment at private edu institutions: Is govt going backwards

Recent decisions and discussions have raised questions about whether the government is going backwards again in the recruitment system for private educational institutions.

The power to recruit employees has already been returned to the intuitions’ managing committees. The written examination for the recruitment of heads and assistant heads of educational institutions through the Non-Government Teachers’ Registration and Certification Authority (NTRCA) was held about four months ago. However, the viva voce examination has not yet been held.

Meanwhile, preliminary discussions are underway to transfer the authority to recruit assistant teachers from the NTRCA back to the managing committees. However, Education Minister ANM Ehsanul Hoque Milon has said that no decision has yet been made on the matter.

People from education sector, however, say that if there are problems with the recruitment system through the NTRCA, it can be reformed to make it more transparent and effective. But returning to the old system could again increase opportunities for local influence, politicisation, nepotism and irregularities.

According to them, the limitations of the NTRCA’s current system should be addressed, and the recruitment process should be made faster, more transparent and competitive. Under no circumstances should there be a return to the old system.

A recent meeting of the Ministry of Education lies behind the discussion over teacher recruitment through the NTRCA. At the meeting on 3 August, there was discussion about keeping the NTRCA limited to registration and certification and not allowing it to recommend candidates for recruitment.

Amid the controversy, however, a post published on Education Minister Ehsanul Hoque Milon’s verified Facebook page on the night of 10 August said that no decision had been made on the matter.

Later, speaking at an event in Dhaka, the minister said protests had begun after an incomplete draft on the issue was seen on Facebook or in the media. He described the situation as “undesirable.”

The authority to recruit for positions other than teachers in MPO-listed private schools and colleges has once again been returned to the managing committees.

In September last year, the authority to recruit for these positions was taken away from the managing committees and handed over to a committee formed under the leadership of the deputy commissioner (DC).

Under this system, examinations, evaluations and recommendations for recruitment were to be conducted by the committee. There was no provision for including anyone from the governing committee.

However, under a new decision by the Ministry of Education on 21 July, the circular issued on 28 September 2025 was cancelled. The relevant provisions of the directive issued on 10 January 2024 were reinstated. As a result, the responsibility for recruiting trade assistants, office assistants-cum-computer operators, office assistants-cum-accounting assistants, computer lab operators, research or lab assistants, office support staff, cleaners, security guards, night guards and ayas (maid, among other positions, has once again gone back to the governing committees.

In the past, there were allegations of irregularities, nepotism and financial transactions in recruitment for these positions. Now that the authority to recruit employees has returned to the governing committees, questions have arisen over how transparency and accountability will be ensured in the recruitment process.

Currently, assistant teachers are recruited based on examinations and recommendations by the NTRCA. Principals and vice-principals, as well as head teachers and assistant head teachers, had been recruited through governing committees. In the past, there were allegations of irregularities, nepotism and financial transactions in most cases of such recruitment.

A research report published by the anti-corruption organisation, Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB), in September 2021 said that, in most cases, transactions ranging from Tk 350,000 to Tk 1.5 million took place illegally in the recruitment of people for these positions. The research found that the money had to be paid to local political leaders and members of governing committees.

Following various allegations, an initiative was taken to recruit heads and assistant heads of educational institutions through the NTRCA as well. To this end, the recruitment examination for heads and assistant heads was held on 18 April. A total of 53,069 people applied for 11,151 vacant posts. The results of the examination were published on 22 April, with 14,942 candidates passing.

Candidates who passed the written examination will have to sit for a viva voce. However, nearly four months after the publication of the written examination results, the viva has yet to be held.

An NTRCA official told Prothom Alo on 11 August, “The date for the viva has not yet been fixed. Preparations for the examination are underway.”

This is the first time an initiative has been taken to recruit heads of private educational institutions (heads and assistant heads) through the NTRCA. The aim is to bring qualified people into the leadership of educational institutions. However, as the viva has not yet been held, the issue of delays has emerged under the new system as well.

A head teacher of an educational institution in Mymensingh, speaking to Prothom Alo on condition of anonymity, said the recruitment process was supposed to be completed quickly by holding the viva soon after the publication of the results of the written examination for heads and assistant heads. However, the viva has not been held even after several months. Meanwhile, the previous system has been restored for employee recruitment. Discussions are also underway on whether teacher recruitment will again be handed over to the committees. As a result, doubts and uncertainty have emerged over the recruitment of heads and assistant heads.

Returning the recruitment of teachers, including heads and assistant heads, to the committees would be a suicidal decision, the head teacher remarked.

There are currently more than 35,000 private educational institutions at the secondary and college levels in the country. In these institutions, governing committees are responsible for many important administrative functions, including fund collection, partial recruitment, dismissal, cancellation, removal and granting casual leave.

Most of the institutions’ administrative activities are also carried out through managing committees, including approving budgets related to development projects and annual budgets, maintaining and preserving assets, managing reserved, general and other funds, and signing salary bills for teachers and employees.

In most educational institutions, managing committees are allegedly more interested in activities that offer opportunities for financial gain than in improving the quality of education.

Private educational institutions are governed under the Governing Body and Managing Committee Regulations. At the college level, the governing committee is called the governing body, while at the secondary level it is called the managing committee.

Under the regulations in place before 2009, there was no limit on the number of private educational institutions up to the higher secondary level for which a member of parliament could serve as the chairperson of the managing and governing committees.

Under the 2009 regulations, a member of parliament could serve as the chairperson of a maximum of four educational institutions in their constituency. Following allegations of various irregularities, the High Court in 2016 declared some provisions of the regulations illegal. As a result, MPs cannot serve as chairpersons of educational institution governing and managing committees in their own constituencies, even if they wish to do so.

In another High Court verdict in 2020, MPs were also barred from serving as chairpersons of governing committees of colleges affiliated with the National University.

However, after the new government came to power, there has been an instance of an MP becoming the chairperson of a governing committee. There is also discussion among teachers that some MPs from the ruling party are trying to have the authority to recruit teachers returned to governing committees.

At one time, governing committees had significant authority over the recruitment of teachers in private educational institutions. The system had long been plagued by allegations of irregularities, nepotism and corruption.

Against this backdrop, the Non-Government Teachers’ Registration and Certification Authority (NTRCA) was established in 2005 to help recruit qualified and competent teachers for private educational institutions. It is a statutory authority. One of its main responsibilities is to prepare lists of qualified candidates, register and certify them through examinations.

For this purpose, the Non-Government Teachers Examination, Registration and Certification Rules, 2006 were formulated. The rules were subsequently amended in 2012 and 2015.

Through a circular issued by the Ministry of Education on 30 December 2015, the NTRCA was given the responsibility of recommending candidates for recruitment to entry-level teaching positions in private educational institutions.

The NTRCA selects candidates online from among registered applicants based on merit and the demand for vacant positions at institutions and recommends them for appointment to the respective institutions.

Since 2016, the authority has been recommending candidates for teacher recruitment in private schools, colleges, madrasahs and technical educational institutions. The maximum age for applying for entry-level teaching positions is 35.

A head teacher of a secondary school in the country, speaking to Prothom Alo on condition of anonymity, said meritorious candidates are being recruited through the NTRCA. Five teachers have been recruited at his school. They did not have to spend any money apart from the application fee. Two of them graduated from public universities. These recruitments are having a positive impact on studies.

The basic concept behind recruitment through the NTRCA is to select teachers through competitive examinations and on the basis of merit.

People from education sector believe the logical approach would be to reform and address the problems and weaknesses in the existing recruitment system through the NTRCA. There is scope to ensure the accurate assessment of vacant positions, conduct examinations promptly, complete viva voce examinations within a specified timeframe, make the recruitment recommendation process more effective, and eliminate delays in recruitment.

Education-sector stakeholders say the purpose of a merit-based recruitment system is to reduce individual- or institution-centred influence and select qualified teachers through competition.

According to them, if the system returns to the old arrangement instead of addressing the weaknesses of the new one, there is a risk that the previous problems will return.

If the authority to recruit is once again given to governing committees, there is a risk of the irregularities, nepotism and financial transactions that were alleged in the past resurfacing, they added.

Therefore, the focus should be on whether the NTRCA’s recruitment process can be made faster, more transparent, accountable and merit-based by addressing its weaknesses, they noted.

Mohammad Mazharul Hannan, president of the Bangladesh Principals’ Council and a veteran teachers’ leader, has questioned the need for managing and governing committees in private educational institutions in the current context.

Speaking to Prothom Alo on 14 August, he said private educational institutions once received no financial assistance from the government for salaries and allowances. At that time, governing committees were formed with prominent members of society to raise financial support for the institutions. Members of the governing committees literally worked for the welfare of the institutions.

Now, teachers and employees of MPO-listed educational institutions receive 100 per cent of their basic salaries from the government. They also receive at least some allowances. Therefore, the need for managing committees in private educational institutions should be reconsidered in the current context, he added.

Mohammad Mazharul Hannan further said government secondary schools and colleges are comparatively functioning well without governing committees. In this regard, he said the question of whether governing committees are actually necessary in private educational institutions could be reviewed.

According to him, even if governing committees are retained for now, their primary responsibility should be to focus on improving the quality of education and overall management of educational institutions. The responsibility for recruiting teachers and employees should not rest with governing committees, as this could create scope for a recruitment business.

He said that the NTRCA should be strengthened to make the teacher recruitment process more dynamic, transparent and up to date. At the same time, the government should consider establishing a separate education service commission.

It should also take initiatives to enhance salaries, allowances and social status to attract meritorious people to the teaching profession, he added.