The High Court has cancelled the appointment of 6,531 assistant teachers who had passed the final stage of recruitment in government primary schools in Dhaka and Chattogram divisions. The court has ordered that appointments be made based on merit.
The verdict was delivered on Thursday by the High Court bench of Justice Fatema Najib and Justice Sikder Mahmudur Raji.
Earlier, on November 19, 2024, the court suspended the recruitment process for these candidates for six months.
The recruitment process was challenged by 30 candidates who were denied appointment, citing alleged quota-based selection. Following the preliminary hearing, the High Court issued a rule and suspended the recruitment process.
The petitioners were represented by lawyers Foyez Uddin Ahmed and Mohammad Kamruzzaman Bhuiyan, while Deputy Attorney General Noor Muhammad Azmi and Akhter Hossain Md Abdul Wahab appeared for the state.
On July 23, 2024, the Ministry of Public Administration issued a notification abolishing all previous circulars and gazettes regarding the quota system, including one issued on October 4, 2018. However, the Government Primary Teacher Recruitment Rules, 2019 were still followed in the appointment of these 6,531 candidates.
Under these rules, 60 per cent of the positions were reserved for women, 20 per cent for descendants of freedom fighters, and four per cent for other quotas, which led to the legal challenge. The High Court had initially suspended the recruitment process for six months after hearing the petition.
The final results for the third phase of recruitment in Dhaka and Chattogram divisions (excluding three hill districts) were published on October 31 last year on the website of the Directorate of Primary Education, with 6,531 candidates passing.
Examinations were held in 21 districts of these two divisions, and the revised results of the written exam were published on April 22 last year. A total of 46,199 candidates were selected for the oral exam, which took place on March 29 at the district level.
Translated & edited by Fariha Nowshin Chinika
