HC questions legality of axing music, physical education teacher posts

The High Court has issued a rule asking why the notification amending the Government Primary School Teacher Recruitment Rules, which scrapped provisions for recruiting music and physical education teachers, should not be declared illegal.

An HC bench of Justice Fahmida Quader and Justice Md Asif Hasan issued the rule on Monday following a preliminary hearing on a writ petition filed in this regard.

The court directed the education secretary, the primary and mass education secretary, and the chairman of the Bangladesh Public Service Commission to respond within two weeks.

The writ petition was filed by Supreme Court lawyer Barrister Sarwat Siraj Shukla, who also presented arguments in favour of the writ in the court.

On November 2, the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education issued a gazette notification, amending the Government Primary School Teacher Recruitment Rules, 2025, and removing the controversial positions following sustained criticism and threats of protests from major Islamist organisations, which insisted on the appointment of religion teachers instead.

The original recruitment rules, published in late August, had introduced four positions under Schedule-1: head teacher, assistant teacher, assistant teacher (music), and assistant teacher (physical education).

Under the amended regulations, only head teacher and general assistant teacher posts remain, with all references to music and PE positions eliminated. The amendment also corrected a phrasing error regarding merit-based allocations, ensuring that 80% of common posts could be filled by candidates with degrees in "science and other subjects."

The government's decision has sparked widespread criticism from different quarters across the country.