A new six-storey building is currently under construction on the only playground of Shaheed Monu Miah Govt. High School in Dhaka’s Tejgaon Industrial Area. While the structure aims to solve the classroom shortage, it has laid bare a more fundamental crisis—an acute shortage of teachers.
Established in 1974, Shaheed Monu Miah Govt. High School was nationalised in 2013. The school currently has only nine teachers, including the headmaster, to manage 420 students. This results in a teacher-student ratio of 1:47, far exceeding the government’s standard of one teacher for every 30 secondary students.
Headmaster Halima Khatun told Prothom Alo that the shortage forces each teacher to take five to six classes a day. Even the headmaster and assistant headmaster are required to teach regular classes.
She said the school has repeatedly submitted requests to the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE) seeking additional teachers. As a single-shift government school, it is supposed to have 25 teachers in PSC in addition to the headteacher and assistant headteacher.
Most government secondary schools across the country are similarly struggling with teacher shortages. Many also lack permanent headteachers.
383 headteacher posts in government secondary schools remain vacant, accounting for nearly 55 per cent of all sanctioned positions. Some schools still do not have approved headteacher posts at all.
At the same time, the long-standing vacancies in key administrative positions have weakened school management and supervision. Education experts warn that under these circumstances, ensuring quality secondary education is difficult.
When contacted, Professor Khan Moinuddin Al Mahmud, Director General of the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE), told Prothom Alo that the government is actively working to mitigate the teacher shortage in government high schools.
He said that the Education Minister and Secretary are in discussions with the Public Service Commission (PSC) to expedite the recruitment for these vacant posts. Efforts are also underway to fill vacant administrative positions and resolve promotion-related complications.
The problem is not new.
Education sector stakeholders say more than 300 schools have been nationalised over the past 15 years. In addition, most secondary schools have received new buildings. While considerable emphasis has been placed on infrastructure development, comparatively less attention has been given to addressing teacher shortages, appointing headteachers and improving the quality of education. They allege that infrastructure projects offer opportunities for commissions and irregularities in procurement and tendering.
They further noted that many headteacher positions remain vacant simply because of administrative negligence, arguing that the posts could be filled easily if the authorities took the necessary initiative.
18% of assistant teacher posts vacant
According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Educational Information and Statistics (BANBEIS), more than 20,000 schools currently provide secondary-level education across the country. There are currently 702 government high schools, with a combined total of 15,293 approved assistant teacher positions. Of these, 2,842 posts are vacant, meaning more than 18 per cent of assistant teacher positions remain unfilled.
Questions have also been raised over whether the existing staffing structure is adequate. On top of that, a large number of posts have remained vacant for years. The Public Service Commission (PSC) recently recommended the recruitment of 728 assistant teachers. However, even after the appointments are completed, a significant number of vacancies will remain.
The 2010 National Education Policy set a target to achieve a teacher-student ratio of 1:30 by 2018. However, government schools still struggle with an average ratio of 1:37. In many institutions, the disparity is even higher.
Alongside the teacher shortage, the secondary education system is also grappling with a leadership crisis. Out of the 702 government high schools, 383 headmaster positions remain unfilled. Additionally, 249 assistant headmaster posts are currently vacant.
The administrative structure of secondary education is facing similar challenges. All 10 deputy director posts at the nine regional offices of the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE) and its headquarters are currently being managed by officials in acting capacities. In addition, 23 of the 64 district education officer posts are vacant. All 16 school inspector positions also remain unfilled. Officials say prolonged delays in promotions have created a degree of stagnation within the education administration.
Shortage of teachers disrupting classroom activities
The situation at Mohanganj Pilot Government High School in Netrokona is particularly concerning. The school has 1,134 students across its morning and day shifts, but 15 of its 53 sanctioned teaching posts remain vacant.
With the headteacher's post lying vacant for a long time, assistant headteacher Syed Abdul Wadud has been serving as acting headteacher. He told Prothom Alo that, in addition to the headteacher's position, vacancies include one assistant headteacher, two English teachers, two mathematics teachers, one social science teacher, three biology teachers, three religion teachers and two fine arts teachers.
As a result, the shortage of subject-specific teachers is disrupting classroom activities. He said the school submits requests to the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE) almost every month to fill the vacant posts.
Abdullah Al Nahian also said that improving educational quality requires more than focusing on teachers' performance alone, stressing that the overall teaching environment must also be taken into account.
Abdullah Al Nahian also said that improving educational quality requires more than focusing on teachers' performance alone, stressing that the overall teaching environment must also be taken into account.
Promotion bottlenecks
The entry-level position in government secondary schools is that of an Assistant Teacher. Historically, the majority of these teachers would retire after 30 to 35 years of service in the same post without ever receiving a promotion. In 2018, a new 9th-grade position titled ‘Senior Teacher’ was created to address this, and the first batch of promotions was granted in June 2021. However, further promotions to this grade have since been stalled due to various complications.
Similarly, many teachers are currently holding Assistant Headmaster posts on an ‘acting’ basis only. Similarly, regular appointments to deputy director positions have been held up due to complications related to recruitment rules.
Insiders noted that teachers are already frustrated by low wages. The lack of timely promotions only deepens this resentment. They argue that it is unrealistic to expect high-quality teaching while educators remain demoralised by a lack of career progression.
Teacher shortage contradicts commitments
The BNP government’s election manifesto emphasises a major focus on the education sector. The party pledged to build a modern, work-oriented and time-befitting education system, with a specific priority on primary education. The manifesto also committed to gradually increasing the education budget to 5 per cent of the GDP.
In the current 2026-27 fiscal year budget, Finance Minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury raised the education allocation to 2 per cent of the GDP. The sector has been allocated Tk 1.366 trillion, an increase of Tk 494 billion compared with the previous fiscal year.
In his budget speech, Finance Minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury stated, "In this budget, we have considered education and human resource development as the 'nucleus' (core center) of national progress."
However, education experts argue that while significant physical infrastructure has been built, the focus must now shift toward quality, a goal that is impossible to achieve without a sufficient number of skilled teachers.
Commenting on the crisis, Professor SM Hafizur Rahman of the Institute of Education and Research at the University of Dhaka told Prothom Alo that an educational institution can function effectively only when it has the required number of teachers in line with its approved staffing structure.
He said secondary education depends heavily on subject-specific teachers, making the shortage of teachers in government schools particularly concerning. Because of the shortage, teachers are often required to teach subjects outside their areas of expertise simply to keep classes running. This weakens students' learning outcomes and undermines the quality of education.
Hafizur Rahman stressed that the teacher shortage must be addressed without delay to ensure quality education, expressing hope that the government will take the necessary steps to resolve the problem.
