DOT Desk: Multiple teachers said education cadres have been the victims of discrepancies for a long time.
The education administration is set to receive a major reform with the creation of 12,944 new cadre posts, reports The Dhaka Tribune.
A total of 444 posts will be created, with 15 and 429 posts under the second and third grades respectively. Moreover, 12,500 posts stretching from lecturer to professor will also be created.
According to sources, presently there are more than 15,000 posts available in the education cadre.
Of them, 515 posts are approved for professors, 2,200 are for associate professors and 4,300 are for assistant professors.
Moreover, there are more than 8,000 lecturer posts available, bringing the total cadre posts to more than 15,000.
Recently, the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (DSHE) has taken an initiative to increase the number of cadre posts, and submitted a proposal to the education ministry for creating 12,500 new posts stretching from professor to lecturer. The ministry took the proposal under consideration and forwarded it to the Ministry of Public Administration.
Upon receiving the proposal, the public administration ministry asked for the demands of the education ministry for enquiry.
According to education ministry sources, only the post of Director General of DSHE is under the first grade, and there is currently no other first grade post from the education cadre.
This scenario will be unchanged even after the reform is made.
Sources said promotion to second grade had been previously given directly through selection grade. But this opportunity is not available now as there is no selection grade in the 2015 national pay structure, and education cadres are stuck in the fourth grade.
DSHE will also send a proposal to the public administration ministry in this regard.
When asked, DSHE Additional Secretary (College) Dr Molla Jalaluddin said: “In the education cadre, there is no scope to move forward above fourth grade. Previously promotion was give through selection grade but now it is off-limits following the national pay structure announcement.”
“That is why a total of 15 posts will be recommended for second grade and half of the professor posts will be created under the third grade,” he said.
He continued: “Currently there are 858 lecturer posts available in the fourth grade. A proposal will be submitted to create half of the 858 posts, which is 429, under the third grade. Fifteen posts will be proposed for second grade.”
“Moreover, we will propose to create 12,500 posts including professor, associate professor, assistant professor and lecturer posts.”
Molla Jalal also said lobbying and corruption will come down with the creation of the new posts, and education cadres will be honoured.
The reform will be made soon with the approval of the public administration and finance ministries.
When asked, multiple teachers said education cadres had been the victims of discrepancies for a long time.
There had been no scope for them to get promoted and advance their posts, and such disparity should end now.
A reform is necessary and it will make positive effect on the whole education sector, with less lobbying and grafts.