PM's special assistant's sibling removed from Dhaka Education Board

Professor S M Kamal Uddin Haider, Secretary of the Dhaka Education Board, has been made Officer on Special Duty (OSD) and transferred to Cumilla Victoria Government College. He is the brother of Zia Haider, the Prime Minister's Special Assistant on Health Affairs. Kamal Uddin has been accused of exerting influence, irregularities in teacher transfers and appointments, and playing a role behind controversial changes in textbooks during the previous Awami League government.

On Monday, the Ministry of Education made him OSD and posted him to his new workplace. This information was learned from a reliable source in the relevant ministry.

The source said that in the period following the July uprising, questions were raised about his role in the controversial change to a story centered on July martyr Anas in textbooks and the removal of various references to the July movement and the previous government. This incident caused widespread anger in the education administration. It was in this context that he was transferred.

According to the source, Professor Kamal Haider was known as an influential officer in the education administration during the Awami League government. After the Awami League government was formed in 2009, he was appointed as Deputy Secretary of the Dhaka Education Board as a close associate of Professor Fahima Khatun, sister of then State Minister for Law Kamrul Islam. Later, when Fahima Khatun became Director General of the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE), Kamal Haider was posted to the directorate's government college branch.

Several people in the education cadre, speaking on condition of anonymity, claimed that at that time, he became a member of a circle of officers close to Fahima Khatun. At the same time, he also exerted influence as a member of a syndicate associated with Manthanth Ranjan, the discussed Assistant Private Secretary (APS) of former Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid.

"While serving in the college branch of DSHE, he extorted lakhs of taka in the name of teacher postings and transfers. In particular, there are allegations against him of taking crores of taka through the absorption of fake teachers during the nationalization of colleges in various upazilas. In addition, Kamal Haider used to behave uncooperatively toward teachers with BNP and opposition ideological leanings," alleged multiple education cadre sources.

"During the tenure of former Education Minister Dipu Moni as well, he was removed from DSHE and transferred to Government Titumir College due to various controversies," the source said.

After the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government in the student-people uprising on August 5, 2024, Kamal Haider began presenting himself as a deprived officer and a former Chhatra Dal activist. He then secured the position of Controller of Examinations of the Dhaka Education Board and later the post of Secretary. After that, this officer began financial transactions in appointments and postings to important positions.

Several photos of Kamal Uddin with the Education Minister and State Minister for Education of the Awami League government era have spread on social media. Since then, allegations of his Awami League affiliation have arisen.

Multiple calls were made to Professor S M Kamal Uddin Haider's mobile phone to learn about these allegations. As he did not respond, his comment could not be obtained.