The Madrasa Education Directorate has directed all private madrasas to assist in the recruitment, joining, and MPO inclusion of teachers recommended by the NTRCA. Institutions failing to comply may face cancellation of their MPO benefits and legal action.

The directive, signed by Director Muhammad Mahbubul Haque on Thursday (August 28), highlighted complaints that the absence of regular principals or governing committees in some madrasas has caused complications in implementing the process.

According to the notice, in such cases, the process must be carried out by acting heads or ad-hoc committees. Where these are unavailable, the responsibility will fall on the Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO), Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC), or Deputy Commissioner (DC).

The Directorate further warned that any institution found violating the directive would face closure of its MPO benefits under the Private Educational Institution (Madrasa) Manpower Structure and MPO Policy-2018 (latest amended on November 23, 2020).

The government has issued a new regulation for teacher recruitment in government primary schools, prioritizing merit-based appointments. According to the new policy, 93 percent of the posts will be filled based on merit, while 7 percent will be reserved under quotas.

The directive was announced on Thursday (28 August) by the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education with the approval of President, and signed by Secretary Abu Taher Md. Masud Rana.

As per the new rules, quotas will be distributed among three groups: 5 percent for freedom fighters’ families, 1 percent for ethnic minorities, and 1 percent for persons with disabilities and the third gender. If suitable candidates are unavailable, these posts will also be filled based on merit.

The 2019 system, which reserved 60 percent of posts for women, 20 percent for descendants of teachers, and 20 percent for men, has now been abolished. New positions for music and physical education have also been introduced.

In addition, 20 percent of posts will be allocated to graduates in science and 80 percent to graduates in other fields. Recruitment will be conducted at the upazila and police station levels.

The new regulation takes immediate effect, officially repealing the 2019 recruitment policy.

The government of Bangladesh has decided to call for international tenders to print free textbooks, scrapping the earlier tenders for secondary-level books.

The cabinet purchase committee has amended section 83(1)(a) of the Public Procurement Rules 2008, reducing the tender submission time from 42 days to 15. However, the Education Ministry and NCTB have not officially commented on the move.

Printing press and paper mill owners have strongly opposed the decision, warning that it could devastate the local printing industry, leaving 1–1.2 million people jobless and putting nearly Tk 900 billion in investments at risk. They fear that foreign firms, especially from China, South Korea, and India, may dominate the sector due to lower costs.