Rajshahi Correspondent:

Government secondary education in Rajshahi division has been in a terrible crisis. The education program has collapsed due to the large number of vacant posts of officials and employees in the education departments and government secondary schools of eight districts for years. There is no head teacher in some places, and the posts of upazila or district education officers are vacant in others. As a result, proper supervision and management activities in educational institutions are being severely hampered.

Four out of eight posts of district secondary education officers are vacant in eight districts of the division. There is no officer in any of the four posts of school inspectors. 30 out of 67 posts of upazila secondary education officers are vacant and the remaining 37 are being run through officers in charge. As against 67 posts of assistant upazila secondary education officers, only eight are currently working, the remaining 59 posts have been vacant for a long time. More than 100 out of a total of 158 officer posts in the district-upazila education office are vacant. In addition, 158 out of 240 posts of head and assistant head teachers of district-upazila education offices and secondary schools are vacant.

Out of the 48 old government secondary schools in Rajshahi region, 38 out of 48 have not had a headmaster for a long time. Of these, only nine schools have acting headmasters, while the rest are being run by assistant teachers. During the previous government, one secondary school was nationalized in each upazila. Although more than a hundred schools were made government schools in eight districts of Rajshahi division in three phases, most of these schools do not have headmasters and sufficient teachers. As a result, the schools are running in disarray.

The main reason for this disaster in Rajshahi's secondary education system is the long-standing lack of recruitment. The last time 86 people were appointed to the posts of Assistant District Secondary Officer and Assistant Headmaster through the Public Service Commission (PSC) in 2005. Even before that, 52 people were directly appointed as headmasters in 1998. Since then, no direct recruitment has been done. As a result, most of those who were appointed earlier have retired, and those who are still on the verge of retirement.

According to the rules, 20 percent of the posts in government secondary education offices and schools are supposed to be filled directly and 80 percent through promotion, but due to bureaucratic complications, regular promotions are not being made. As a result, vacancies are increasing. Due to the lack of responsible officers in offices and schools, proper supervision of educational activities is being hampered. Institution-based activities have collapsed and education has become largely dependent on coaching centers.

Although Professor Dr. Khan Moinuddin Al Mahmud Sohel, Director of the Secondary Branch of the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education, was called several times to inquire about this, he did not pick up the phone. As a result, Maushi's official statement on the matter could not be obtained.

Abdur Rashid, Deputy Director of the Rajshahi Regional Education Directorate, said that no direct appointments have been made to the posts of officer and assistant headmaster for many years. Again, vacant posts have not been filled through promotion either. There are no officers in many district and upazila education offices of the department, and there are no headmasters in many renowned schools. This crisis can be resolved if the Secondary Education Department is separated and the Directorate of Secondary Education is transformed into a separate Directorate of Secondary Education.