The decision to cancel the appointment of music and physical education teachers must be altered, and creative arts and sports teachers must be appointed in every primary school, Bibartan Sangskritik Kendra said on Wednesday.
Mofizur Rahman Laltu, the General Secretary, in a statement, said that it is deeply concerning that, due to pressure from reactionary groups, the opportunity to appoint teachers in music and physical education has been cancelled.
It goes against the basic spirit of the National Education Policy of Bangladesh and seriously undermines the concept of inclusive and holistic development of education.
The initiative was taken by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in 2020. The Yunus regime introduced changes to the โTeacher Appointment Rules in Government Primary Schools, 2025โ on August 28.
But, on November 3, the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education removed the rules and qualifications for the appointment of Assistant Teacher (Music) and Assistant Teacher (Physical Education) in the face of threats by the Jamaat-e-Islami, Hefazat-e-Islam, and other radical Islamist groups.
Bibartan Sangskritik Kendra says that from the perspective of pedagogy, music and physical education are essential elements of the cognitive, emotional, and social development of the human child. Music education develops children’s aesthetic sense, creativity, and human values; on the other hand, physical education helps them develop their physical ability, self-discipline, team spirit, and mental state.
Research data proves that art and physical exercise have a positive impact on improving the quality of education, mental health, and social cohesion of students. Stopping the appointment of teachers in these subjects under the influence of extremist ideology is not only a violation of cultural rights but also a threat to constitutional valuesโsecularism, free thought, and cultural diversity.
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Education cannot be conducted under fear, prohibition, or ideological pressure in any way; rather, it should be free, diverse, and focused on creative development. The spirit of the July Uprising was to oppose all types of fascist mentality. There, this surrender of the government to pressure from reactionary groups is a betrayal of the uprising.
โWe have also observed that the cancellation of teacher recruitment opportunities has not only blocked the path of children’s creative development but also closed the path of employment of 131,166 people in music and physical education in government primary schools.
โHowever, yesterday, the verified Facebook page of the interim government reported that the plan to recruit a small number of teachers was flawed, so they cancelled this proposal. This excuse of the government is in no way acceptable.โ
Soon after, religious organisations began to voice strong criticism of the move, particularly against the creation of the music teacher post, bdnews24.com reports. On the other hand, cultural activists demanded that the appointments begin and that the number of posts be increased.
On September 16, Islami Andolan Bangladesh Ameer Syed Mohammad Rezaul Karim condemned the decision and called for the appointment of religious teachers in primary schools instead.
That same day, leaders from Jamaat-e-Islami, Islami Andolan Bangladesh, Khelafat Majlis, Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis, and Bangladesh Khelafat Andolon also criticised the creation of the music teacher post during a seminar.
Earlier, on September 6, Hifazat-e Islam denounced the governmentโs move as an โanti-Islamic agendaโ and demanded the cancellation of the recruitment rules.
Yunus defends cancellation
The Chief Adviser’s Press Wing on Wednesday gave a clarification for the government’s cancellation of a proposal to appoint physical education and music teachers in government primary schools.
An earlier decision had approved the recruitment of an equal number of teachers for each subject across 2,500 school clusters. The Ministry of Primary and Mass Education moved away from the plan following recommendations from the secretary committee.
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According to the statement, the committee came to a conclusion that the project design was flawed, as such a limited number of teachers would not bring effective benefits for the primary education system and could create inequality.
With 65,569 primary schools across the country, most institutions would remain outside the scheme. Under the cluster-based arrangement, one teacher would have to serve more than 20 schools simultaneously, which the committee deemed unmanageable, added the statement.
Citing the committee, the statement further said, subject to the availability of funds, posts for physical education and music teachers could be created in all schools in the future, with recruitment carried out accordingly.
No Songs, No Play: A Policy Against Our Children
In a scathing critique published on November 5, 2025, in The Daily Star, education and child rights activist Khandaker Lutful Khaledโa former staff member of UNICEFโdenounces the Bangladeshi government’s regressive reversal of a progressive educational reform.
Khaled argues this decision, ostensibly bowed to pressure from “a few religious groups,” not only betrays Bangladesh’s National Education Policy 2010, National Children Policy 2011, and UNCRC commitments but also severs young minds from the nation’s soul-stirring traditionsโfrom Lalon Fakir’s melodies to the patriotic anthems that fueled the 1971 Liberation War.
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Khaled passionately defends music and PE as vital for cognitive growth, emotional resilience, social equity, and national identity, citing examples from Muslim-majority peers like Malaysia, Indonesia, and Turkey, where such subjects thrive alongside faith.
He warns that confining education to rote learning risks producing conformist citizens in a digitally sedentary era, undermining SDG 4’s vision of inclusive, quality education and depriving children of rights to recreation, arts, and teamworkโessentials for democracy and harmony.
This surrender to Islamist hardliners is a shameful pro-extremist policy that supports jihadist sympathisers, anti-Bangladesh forces such as Jamaat-e-Islami, Hefazat-e-Islam, and various militant outfits, whose regressive agendas have long aimed to Talibanize the curriculum and eradicate the secular, pluralistic ethos of our independence.
Amid escalating concerns over the interim Yunus administration’s flirtations with these venomous elementsโevident in the cancellation’s timing post-July uprising and echoed in JU student protestsโsuch concessions aren’t mere administrative tweaks but a deliberate erosion of child rights, cultural sovereignty, and national resilience.
By prioritising the shrill demands of bigotry over evidence-based pedagogy, the government betrays the very youth who toppled autocracy, risking a generation indoctrinated in division rather than diversity. Khaled’s urgent call for inclusive dialogue is crucial: Bangladesh must reject this jihadist pandering, reinstate these posts, and restore an education system that promotes unity rather than submission. Anything less is complicity in the creeping shadow of extremism.
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