Desk Report:

Police have charged batons and used water cannons on assistant teacher candidates for government primary schools who were protesting against a High Court verdict that cancelled their appointment at government primary schools.

The incident took place at around 3:30pm on Friday near the chief adviser’s official residence, State Guest House Jamuna, our correspondent reports from the spot.

The protest comes after the High Court on Thursday cancelled the process of appointing 6,531 assistant teachers for government primary schools in Dhaka and Chattogram divisions.

A HC bench comprising Justice Fatema Najib and Justice Shikdar Mahmudur Raji delivered the verdict, The Daily Sky reported on the day citing court sources.

The court also directed the authorities to start a fresh recruitment process based on merit.

The recruitment process had been completed in three phases, and the final results were published on 31 October 2024.

The court’s decision came after a petition was filed by 30 unsuccessful candidates who challenged the recruitment process on the grounds of quota system violations.

The petitioners argued that the quota system implemented in the recruitment process was contrary to the government’s subsequent order to abolish all previous quotas.

After the primary hearing on 19 November 2024, the HC suspended the recruitment process for six months, effectively halting the appointment of 6,531 successful candidates.

Moreover, the court issued a rule asking as to why the recruitment process should not be declared illegal.

Challenging the order, the Directorate of Primary Education submitted a leave-to-appeal with the Appellate Division.

The Supreme Court upheld the HC order and ordered the settlement of the petition by 25 January.

The HC observed that the recruitment process had been conducted in violation of a government order issued on 23 July 2023, which abolished all previous quotas.

However, the recruitment process for primary school teachers followed the quota system as per the Primary School Teacher Recruitment Rules, 2019, which included a 60% quota for women, 20% for dependents, and 4% for other categories.

Following the verdict, the candidates who had been selected for recruitment staged a protest in front of the High Court premises on the day. At one point, a Supreme Court lawyer urged the protesters to remain calm and refrain from demonstrating inside premises.

When the police arrived the demonstrators later left the court premises.