Govt decentralizes education cadre transfers into 3 tiers

Government is bringing major changes to the transfer process for the education cadre. Breaking the ministry-centered absolute control, the authority for transfers is being divided into three distinct levels.

Under the new policy, the transfer of lecturers and assistant professors will be handled through nine regional offices. Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE) will oversee the transfer of associate professors.

Meanwhile, Ministry of Education will retain the authority for postings of professors, principals, vice-principals, as well as positions in city corporations, metropolitan areas, and various agencies and offices.

Stakeholders hope that once this decentralization is implemented, it will ensure transparency and merit-based postings while ending the long-standing culture of lobbying.

The education cadre is the largest in terms of numbers in the cadre service, with over 16,000 cadre teachers working in 377 colleges across the country. On average, more than 200 applications arrive daily from across the nation, and over a hundred transfer seekers crowd the Secretariat.

Ministry officials complain that this severely hampers regular operations. Taking advantage of the situation, some middlemen has emerged who facilitate transfers in exchange for large sums of money.

After the information reached Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, he directed the following of the “Regional Education Committee (ASHIK) Model” for teacher transfers - a model used during the 2001-06 BNP tenure to reduce harassment.

Following the PM’S directive, the ministry has prepared a draft of the new policy. They expect that the three-tier process involving the regions, the DSHE, and the ministry will stop long-standing irregularities and reduce unwanted clerical pressure on the Ministry.

Explaining the rationale for decentralizing the transfer process, Education Minister ANM Ehsanul Hoque Milon told Agamir Somoy on Sunday, “Transferring cannot be a regular job of the ministry. A lot of time has to be spent on transfers every day.

“Due to the pressure of lobbying, we cannot perform our main policy-making tasks properly. That is why transfers will be decentralized and completed in three separate stages.”

Senior teachers of the cadre also view the model positively. They said this is not new; during the 2001-2006 period, transfers for the post of Lecturer were conducted transparently through this model.

Although there were no separate regional offices of the DSHE at that time, the committees were very powerful.

Noting that there are now nine full-fledged regional offices where senior officers, including nine directors from the BCS Education Cadre, are posted, the teachers believe these officials can make transfer decisions by considering the needs of local colleges and the qualifications of the interested teachers.

How the three-tier transfer committees will work

College branch officials said a draft of the new transfer policy was created on Sunday, and a gazette will be issued soon after verification. According to the policy, responsibilities have been distributed among three separate committees based on rank and workplace to ensure quick disposal of transfer applications.

lecturers and assistant professors of government colleges will apply for transfers within their respective regions. The regional committee will verify and decide on those applications.

Director of DSHE for the respective region will serve as the committee chairman, and the assistant director (College) will serve as the member secretary.

College Inspector of the respective region’s Education Board and the additional district commissioner (Education and ICT) of the district administration will serve as members.

A committee at the DSHE will settle transfer applications for associate professors working across the country, excluding posts in Dhaka North/South and various agencies/offices.

Director General (DG) of DSHE will be the committee chairman, and the deputy director (College-1) will be the member secretary. Deputy secretary (College-2) of the Ministry of Education and the assistant director (College) of DSHE will serve as members.

Another committee, led by the secretary of the DSHE, will operate at the ministry level. Transfers and postings for positions in various agencies and offices will remain directly under the ministry’s control.

Moreover, the committee will decide on the postings of professors, principals, vice-principals, and positions in city corporations and metropolitan areas. Deputy secretary (College-1 or 2) will be the member secretary, with the additional secretary and joint secretary of the College Wing serving as members.

DSHE Secretary Abdul Khalek told Agamir Somoy, “Transfer is a fundamental job right of a teacher. But for so long, teachers had to rush to the Ministry from far away for a simple transfer. This caused great suffering to the teachers and hampered our official work as well. Therefore, transfer decisions are being divided into regional and directorate levels.”

Director General of DSHE and Convener of the BCS General Education Cadre Association Khan Moinuddin Al Mahmud Sohel added, “Officers in the rank of director of the education cadre are in charge of the nine regional offices.

“They can directly evaluate the actual vacancies in field-level colleges and the reality of the teachers. As a result, they will be the best to evaluate which teacher should be posted to which college.”

Member Secretary of the BCS General Education Cadre Association Masood Khan Rana noted, “It has been a long-standing demand of the association to decentralize transfers from the Ministry.

“Finally, the government has taken that decision, and for this, we applaud it. However, strict supervision must be maintained so that harassment and ‘business’ (corruption) do not occur in regional-level transfers. Transparency, equality, and justice must be ensured.”

Former president of the BCS General Education Cadre Association IK Selim Ullah Khondoker told Agamir Somoy, “This is a very good decision. However, the committees must be given extensive power to avoid the black shadow of political intervention. At the same time, a strict eye must be kept so that corruption, such as the transfer trade, cannot be involved in the committees.”

Earlier, the interim government decided to conduct transfers online to stop the “transfer business” and harassment in 2025. At that time, those involved were asked to apply for transfers online, and it was said applications sent or presented by any means other than online would not be considered.

Although some transfers were made based on online applications for about a month, it could not ultimately be sustained.