Govt to form local-level bodies for primary teacher transfers: Bobby Hajjaj

The government has decided to decentralise the transfer process of government primary school teachers, placing transfer decisions in the hands of committees at the upazila, district and divisional levels in an effort to curb alleged corruption and influence trading in the sector.

State Minister for Primary and Mass Education Bobby Hajjaj announced the decision while speaking at a UNICEF organised workshop titled Validation Workshop on the Bangladesh Education Sector Analysis (ESA) at a hotel in the capital on Sunday.

He said teachers seeking transfers would apply to committees formed at three administrative tiers, which would meet once every month to consider applications and decide whether transfers should be approved.

Claiming that a “big syndicate” had developed around teacher transfers in recent years, Bobby Hajjaj said, “Prime Minister Tarique Rahman himself has paid attention to this issue. Our minister, Dr ANM Ehsanul Haque Milon, and all of us have adopted a new policy. In primary education, teacher transfers will be localised.”

Under the new system, an upazila level committee headed by the Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) and comprising education officials will scrutinise applications. Similar committees will operate at the district level under the Deputy Commissioner and at the divisional level under the Divisional Commissioner.

“The same arrangement has been made at the district level under the DC and at the divisional level under the divisional commissioner. By doing this, we want to close all the places of corruption,” he said.

Education Minister Dr ANM Ehsanul Haque Milon attended the programme as chief guest, while educationists, senior officials and UNICEF representatives, including its country director, also participated.

Previously, transfer applications were submitted online during designated periods and processed through a multi tier approval mechanism involving upazila and district primary education officers before being forwarded to the Directorate of Primary Education for final approval.