Staff Reporter :
The government is destroying Bangladesh’s education system in a pre-planned manner through introducing new educational policy and curriculum, which are against national interests and religious in values.
The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Senior Joint Secretary General Advocate Ruhul Kabir Rizvi made allegation during a press briefing at the party’s Nayapaltan central office in the capital on Thursday.
Meanwhile, a Supreme Court lawyer Mahmudul Hassan sent a legal notice on Thursday to the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) to remove ‘Sharifa’s Story’ from class VII history and social science textbooks.
“Following the capture of state power by the Awami League, talks of the decade were the incidents of leaking question papers and providing opportunities for cheating in the examinations. This time new education policies and curricula against the country’s culture and values have been added,” Advocate Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said.
He also said that if this new anti-national educational policy and curriculum are allowed to be implemented, the education system of the country will be destroyed.
He further said that whenever the Awami League comes to power, democracy and freedom of speech are taken away, and the “education system is arranged in such a way that the new generation becomes their slave.”
The people of the country have rejected the new education system, Advocate Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said.
The BNP leader said, “One-party rule has been established in the country again. One-party government, one-party parliament, one-party laws, judiciary, administration-everything is one-party rule.”
However, Secretary of the Ministry of Education and the Chairman of the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) were made respondents in the legal notice sent by the Supreme Court lawyer Mahmudul Hassan.
According to the legal notice, in ‘Sharifa’s Story’ in a class VII history and social science book, it is stated that Sharif Ahmed is physically a boy but thinks that she is a girl. Therefore, she changed her name to Sharifa. It is admitted here that Sharif Ahmed has not undergone any physical change; only mentally, she thinks she is a girl.
The legal notice states, “The story has attracted young students towards transgenders. It is subtly inspiring young minds for transgenders.”
The notice demands the withdrawal of the book, including the removal of ‘Sharifa’s Story’ from class VII history and social science books, from all educational institutions and bookstores within 30 days of receiving the legal notice.
Furthermore, revised books must be provided to the students. Failure to comply will lead to the filing of a writ petition in the High Court under Article 102 of the Constitution to address this matter, according to the notice.
A chapter in the seventh-grade history and social science textbook, adapted to the new curriculum, incorporates a public awareness lesson on the transgender community. Recently, it has sparked debate.
The issue gained prominence after a part-time teacher at BRAC University tore the pages of the book apart during an event.
The video of the incident went viral on social media. Following this, the Ministry of Education formed a high-level expert committee to review the story of Sharifa.
Students from different universities have been demanding for the last few days to remove the story from the book considering the religious values of Bangladesh.
