The High Court on Thursday declared illegal and scrapped the November 20, 2024 appointment of 6,531 assistant teachers in government primary schools in Dhaka and Chattogram based on job quotas as per the 2019 recruitment rules.
A bench of Justice Fatema Najib and Justice Sikder Mahmudur Razi delivered the verdict while disposing of a writ petition filed by 30 job seekers in November 2024 challenging the legality of the recruitment process.
The 2019 recruitment rules allow 60 per cent quota for women, 20 per cent for wards, and 20 per cent for males in recruiting teachers for government primary schools.
The Ministry of Primary and Mass Education on June 14, 2023 invited applications for recruiting assistant primary schoolteachers in Dhaka and Chattogram.
The ministry published the results on October 31, 2024, selecting 6,531 candidates for appointment. Their appointment letters were issued on November 20, 2024.
The High Court in its Thursday verdict observed that the appointment contradicted the July 21, 2024 Appellate Division verdict that restructured the quota system in government jobs.
The Appellate Division in that ruling upheld a 7 per cent quota鈥�5 per cent for the children of freedom fighters, and 1 per cent each for national minorities, persons with disabilities, and third-gender individuals.
Following the High Court鈥檚 Thursday ruling, nearly a hundred selected assistant primary school teachers staged a demonstration outside the courtroom, chanting slogans against the judges and the government for scrapping their appointment.
Lawyer Kamruzzaman Bhuiyan, representing the petitioners, argued that the recruitment was based on a quota system abolished by the Appellate Division in July 2024.
A cabinet circular on October 4, 2018, abolished all quotas following mass protests by students and job seekers.
Before the abolition, 56 per cent of government jobs were reserved under various quotas鈥�30 per cent for freedom fighters鈥� descendants, 10 per cent for women, 10 per cent for underdeveloped districts, 5 per cent for national minorities, and 1 per cent for persons with disabilities.
The quota issue resurfaced in 2024 when a June 5, 2024 High Court ruling ordered the government to reinstate the 30 per cent quota for freedom fighters鈥� descendants, triggering nationwide student protests.
The movement escalated, eventually demanding the resignation of prime minister Sheikh Hasina.
Sheikh Hasina fled to India on August 5, 2024 amid a student-led mass uprising.
