New hearing date set for appeal against primary teacher recruitment cancellation

Dhaka, Feb 18 (V7N) –The chamber judge of the Appellate Division has set March 2 for the hearing of an appeal against the High Court’s verdict cancelling the recruitment of 6,531 government primary school teachers. However, the court did not stay the High Court’s ruling.

The order was issued by the Chamber Judge Court of the Appellate Division on Tuesday.

Earlier, on February 6, a High Court bench comprising Justice Fatema Najib and Justice Sikder Mahmudur Razi delivered the verdict, cancelling the recruitment.

Following the ruling, the petitioners' lawyer, Kamruzzaman Bhuiyan, said that the third phase of recruitment of 6,531 teachers violated the notification issued on July 23.

As a result, 153 deprived candidates filed a writ petition, leading to a rule being issued. After hearing the petition, the High Court declared that the results published on October 31 were inconsistent with the July 23 order and the Appellate Division’s verdict on July 21.

In its ruling, the High Court ordered the cancellation of the October 31 recruitment results and directed authorities to publish new results based on merit, in accordance with the July 23 notification.

The notification had set a 93% merit-based selection criterion, with quotas allocating 5% for freedom fighters, 1% for ethnic minorities, and 1% for persons with disabilities and third-gender individuals.

The recruitment notification was initially published on June 14, 2023. Subsequently, 6,531 candidates were selected, and the final results were released on October 31.

According to a notification from the Directorate of Primary Education on October 31, candidates were selected based on their written and oral examination scores, following the Government Primary School Teacher Recruitment Rules-2019. The Ministry of Primary and Mass Education issued recruitment orders on November 11, with appointment letters initially scheduled for distribution on November 20.

However, candidates who were denied appointment challenged the results, filing a writ petition in the High Court. They alleged that the quota system had not been properly followed.

The court then issued a rule questioning the legality of the October 31 results and the November 11 appointment instructions.

The respondents, including the secretary and director general of the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education, were asked to respond.

Following the initial hearing on November 19, the High Court suspended the recruitment process for six months, effectively stalling the appointment of 6,531 candidates. The final ruling was delivered on February 6. An appeal against this verdict was filed in the relevant branch of the Appellate Division on February 13.