The legal complexities of recruitment of non-government teachers are likely going to be solved as the High Court (HC) has withdrawn its earlier order that stayed the process for appointing over 54,000 teachers to schools, colleges and madrasahs across the country.
The HC in its fresh order on Monday (May 31) also directed the Non-government Teachers’ Registration and Certification Authority (NTRCA) to recommend to the authorities concerned for recruiting about 2,500 other applicants, who qualified the NTRCA exams. The NTRCA has to make its recommendation in four week, according to the HC order.
The HC bench of Justice Mamnoon Rahman and Justice Khandaker Diliruzzaman issued the order while hearing on 20 contempt of court petitions filed by about 2,500 qualified candidates in 2019. The HC bench also fixed June 30 for holding further hearing and passing final order on the petitions.
Earlier on May 6, the higher court stayed the process for appointing over 54,000 teachers to non-government schools, colleges and madrasahs and asked the NTRCA to recommend in seven days to the authorities concerned of the educational institutions to appoint the qualified candidates, who filed contempt of court petitions against the NTRCA.
The HC recalled the stay order after Attorney General AM Amin Uddin told the court that the NTRCA has agreed to recommend for appointment of the contempt of court petitioners.
Advocate Khurshid Alam Khan, Advocate Siddik Ullah Mia and Barrister Mahiuddin Mohammad Hanif moved for the petitioners, while Advocate Md Kamruzzaman represented the NTRCA during the virtual hearing on the contempt of court petitions.
The NTRCA has not appointed thousands of qualified candidates, who received certificates from the NTRCA through 1st-12th teachers’ registration exams, due to the existing policy. Many of the candidates have already crossed 35 years of age and most of them have not been appointed to other institutions.
However, the NTRCA has made a fresh move for recruitment of non-government teachers in thousands of vacant posts. The NTRCA on March 30 issued a public notice to recruit 54,304 teachers in MPO-listed educational institutions. Against this backdrop, the High Court stayed the public notice for seven days.
The contempt of court petitions were filed against former NTRCA chairman Ashfaq Hossain for not appointing the petitioners as directed by the High Court. He had been asked to implement a 2017 HC directive in 15 days.
The court earlier in 2019 issued a contempt ruling against the-then NTRCA chairman for not implementing the HC order even after passing two years.
The High Court delivered its verdict with seven directives on December 14 in 2017. In the directives, the court had asked the NTRCA to propose appointment of the petitioners as per a combined national merit list. The HC also directed to publish the merit list on website so that applicants could see the list and their positions.
Later, the NTRCA made a merit list after formulating the ‘Manpower Structure Policy-2018’, and the High Court’s directives were not followed in the merit list.
The NTRCA has been holding teachers’ registration exams since 2005. A total of 15 registration exams have already been held till now. NTRCA sources said, a total of 6,34,127 candidates received certificates from the NTRCA through the teachers’ registration certificate exams from 1st-15th exams.
Of them, the age of over one lakh candidates are over 35 and they will not get the scope to be appointed to the institutions as per the existing policy.
The authorities concerned had taken a plan to appoint teachers to 80,000 vacant posts in two phases. Of them, 54,304 teachers will be appointed in first phase and then 26,000 will be appointed through the16th NTRCA registration exam.
