Supreme Court orders fresh primary teacher recruitment results

The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Thursday (July 9) ordered the republication of the results of the 2023 government primary school assistant teacher recruitment examination for 46,199 candidates and directed the government to appoint 151 writ petitioners as assistant teachers within 60 days.

A five-member bench headed by the Chief Justice Zubayer Rahman Chowdhury passed the order in this morning, disposing of the government's appeal against an earlier High Court judgment.

According to the ruling, the recruitment results for the Dhaka and Chattogram divisions must be republished on the basis of merit instead of the quota system that was applied during the recruitment process.

Senior Advocate Tajul Islam, who represented the petitioners, said the Appellate Division issued three key directives.

First, the government has been instructed to appoint the 151 writ petitioners to the post of assistant teacher within the next 60 days.

Second, the court ordered the authorities to republish the results of 46,199 candidates in line with the Supreme Court's earlier verdict that redefined the application of quotas in public recruitment, ensuring recruitment is primarily based on merit.

Third, the Appellate Division upheld the appointments of 6,531 assistant teachers who had already been recruited while the case was pending, observing that their appointments would remain valid in the interest of justice.

The case stemmed from the 2023 recruitment circular for assistant teachers in government primary schools. The petitioners challenged the recruitment process, arguing that appointments had been made under the previous quota structure despite the Supreme Court's subsequent ruling favouring merit-based recruitment.

The High Court had earlier declared the recruitment process illegal and directed the appointment of the 151 petitioners. The government later challenged that ruling before the Appellate Division, which on Thursday largely upheld the High Court's decision while issuing fresh directions for implementing the recruitment process.