The Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (DUCSU) has voiced concern over candidates who were finally selected for assistant teacher posts at government primary schools but have not received appointment letters. Alleging that many candidates were dropped because of negative reports in verification by the police, the National Security Intelligence (NSI) and the District Special Branch (DSB), the union has demanded an end to “harassment in the name of verification” and swift redress for the candidates who were left out.
The demand was made in a statement signed by DUCSU general secretary SM Farhad on Friday (September 25).
The statement said that keeping a candidate in uncertainty and harassment at the final stage of recruitment, after they have been finally selected, is unjust and unacceptable, and disregards candidates’ rightful claims, merit and qualifications.
Any objection against a candidate must have a specific, provable and lawful basis, and the candidate concerned must be given a chance to explain and seek redress, the statement said. Depriving a candidate selected on merit and qualifications through an opaque process is not acceptable.
DUCSU general secretary SM Farhad said one of the main aspirations of students and the public in the July mass uprising was to remove structures of discrimination from the state and society. After the sacrifice of about 1,400 people, there was no question of accepting any new form of the old discriminatory practices in state institutions, he said.
Students took to the streets against quota-based discrimination, he said. If harassment in the name of verification, or raising the marks for viva examinations, now creates room for political influence, it would amount to a new quota system. Trying to set up discrimination under a new name after breaking down its old structure runs contrary to the aspirations of July, he said.
He also voiced concern over various changes to the recruitment process for government jobs, including higher marks for the viva, and demanded that the criteria, marks and decision-making at every stage of recruitment be made clear and accountable.
In the statement, DUCSU demanded that the case of every primary teacher candidate who has not received an appointment letter be examined quickly and the real reasons made public, that harassment in the name of verification be stopped, and that candidates unfairly deprived be given swift redress.
DUCSU also urged the government to ensure a transparent, accountable, merit-based recruitment system for every government job, free of political identity and influence.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report