Private education

Make unified law for all instts: HC

The High Court (HC) yesterday directed the government to enact within a year a comprehensive law, titled the ‘Bangladesh Education Code’, for all private educational institutions, including kindergartens and Qawmi madrasas.

 The secretaries of education, law, finance and public administration ministries have been asked to submit a progress report within a year by stating the steps taken to formulate the law in order to resolve problems plaguing the country’s education sector.

After the final hearing on a writ petition, the HC bench of Justice Salma Masud Chowdhury and Justice AKM Jahirul Haque issued the directive.

Senior Supreme Court (SC) lawyer Advocate ABM Nurul Islam had filed the writ petition with the HC in 2012 as public interest litigation, seeking the court’s directive on the matter.

On August 13, 2012, in response to the petition, the HC had issued a rule, asking the government to explain why it should not be directed to constitute a National Education Commission (NEC), with the most experienced and reputed educationists as members, to suggest uniform laws for smooth running of private educational institutions in the country.

 It also asked the government to explain why it should not be directed to enact a comprehensive law,  titled the ‘Bangladesh Education Code’, which would be applicable to all private educational institutions as per the suggestion of the NEC within a specified period. After the final hearing on the rule, the HC bench made the rule ‘absolute’, asking the government to formulate the strategic law within a year. Assistant attorney general Arobinda Kumar Roy told The Independent that responding to the rule issued by the HC, the government has cited a lot of cases that arose due to the non-compliance with laws/rules either by the governing bodies, or management committees of non-government educational institutions, or by the authorities concerned.

“We also told the court that there have been many instances of private litigation regarding the appointment/suspension/ removal/dismissal of teachers/other employees of colleges/ schools/madrasas due to non-compliance with the law/rules by the institution authorities,” he said, referring to the government’s response. The education ministry is aware of such litigation pending in different courts, including in the country’s highest court.

The government has already initiated moves to formulate a consolidated code for education, Roy said, adding that the HC has asked the government to inform the bench about the progress made in this regard. Advocate Nurul Islam told reporters that there was no specific code concerning the basic system of management and administration in different education institutions. As a result, the authorities of educational institutions are acting according to their own wishes, he said.

The government is now bound to prepare the Bangladesh Education Code within a year of the HC order, he said.

Private education

Make unified law for all instts: HC

The High Court (HC) yesterday directed the government to enact within a year a comprehensive law, titled the Bangladesh Education Code, for all private educational institutions, including kindergartens and Qawmi madrasas. The secretaries of education, law, finance and public administration ministries have been asked to submit a progress report within a year by stating the steps taken to formulate the law in order to resolve problems plaguing the countrys education sector. After the final hearing on a writ petition, the HC bench of Justice Salma Masud Chowdhury and Justice AKM Jahirul Haque issued the directive. Senior Supreme Court (SC) lawyer Advocate ABM Nurul Islam had filed the writ petition with the HC in 2012 as public interest litigation, seeking the courts directive on the matter. On August 13, 2012, in response to the petition, the HC had issued a rule, asking the government to explain why it should not be directed to constitute a National Education Commission (NEC), with the most experienced and reputed educationists as members, to suggest uniform laws for smooth running of private educational institutions in the country. It also asked the government to explain why it should not be directed to enact a comprehensive law, titled the Bangladesh Education Code, which would be applicable to all private educational institutions as per the suggestion of the NEC within a specified period. After the final hearing on the rule, the HC bench made the rule absolute, asking the government to formulate the strategic law within a year. Assistant attorney general Arobinda Kumar Roy told The Independent that responding to the rule issued by the HC, the government has cited a lot of cases that arose due to the non-compliance with laws/rules either by the governing bodies, or management committees of non-government educational institutions, or by the authorities concerned. We also told the court that there have been many instances of private litigation regarding the appointment/suspension/ removal/dismissal of teachers/other employees of colleges/ schools/madrasas due to non-compliance with the law/rules by the institution authorities, he said, referring to the governments response. The education ministry is aware of such litigation pending in different courts, including in the countrys highest court. The government has already initiated moves to formulate a consolidated code for education, Roy said, adding that the HC has asked the government to inform the bench about the progress made in this regard. Advocate Nurul Islam told reporters that there was no specific code concerning the basic system of management and administration in different education institutions. As a result, the authorities of educational institutions are acting according to their own wishes, he said. The government is now bound to prepare the Bangladesh Education Code within a year of the HC order, he said.