Recruiting govt primary teachers HC issues rule over quota system

Staff Reporter :
The High Court has questioned the quota system in recruiting the teachers in the government primary schools.
It has issued a rule upon the concerned bodies of the government to explain as to why the Sections 8(2)(Ga) and 8(2)(Gha) of the ‘Government Primary School Teacher Recruitment Rules, 2019’ dealing with recruitment of the teachers based on different quotas should not be declared unconstitutional.
Law Secretary, Public Administration Secretary, Education Secretary and Director General of the Directorate of Primary Education have been asked to comply with the rule within four weeks.
The High Court bench of Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice Biswajit Debnath passed the order on Thursday after hearing a writ petition filed by 152 job seekers.
In the rule, the HC also wanted to know from the respondents as to why they should not be directed to appoint the writ petitioners in the vacant posts of their respective district or upazila according to the merit list.
Advocate Shamim Sardar appeared in the court hearing on behalf of the writ petitioners, while Additional Attorney General Sk Md Morshed and Deputy Attorney General Tushar kanti Roy represented the state.
The Directorate of Primary Education issued a circular on October 18 in 2020 to recruit teachers. The writ petitioners applied for the job and they appeared in the viva voce after qualifying the written test. However, finally they didn’t get the job.
Now they are claiming that they have been deprived of the job due to the quota system described in the rules.
A total of 60 percent of the vacant posts will be fulfilled by the female candidates, 20 percent by the dependant candidates and remaining 20 percent by the male candidates, according to the Sections 8(2)(Ga) and 8(2)(Gha) of the ‘Government Primary School Teacher Recruitment Rules, 2019’.
It also provides that 20 percent of the total teachers must be recruited from the science graduates. If 20 percent science graduates could not be found, then the authorities will follow the merit list.
Lawyer Shamim Sarder said 20 percent man quota is discriminatory. That is why we have challenged the quota system of the rules, he added.