Zakir Hossain from Dhaka
In a controversial policy reversal, Nobel peace prize laureate Muhammad Yunus-led Bangladesh’s interim government has dropped plans to recruit music and physical education teachers in government primary schools, following weeks of pressure from conservative Islamist groups who denounced the move as “anti-Islamic.”
The Primary and Mass Education Ministry on Monday confirmed that the newly approved recruitment rules no longer include the two teaching categories. Officials described the change as part of a “policy revision,” though multiple sources in the ministry privately admitted that religious pressure groups had lobbied strongly for the exclusion.
Asked whether the revision came in response to street protests, a senior ministry official told this correspondent, “You can check for yourself what happened after the initial announcement.”
The rollback follows fierce demonstrations by Islamist organisations including Jamaat-e-Islami, Islami Andolon Bangladesh, and Hefazat-e-Islam, which claimed that teaching music in primary schools would “corrupt children’s faith and moral values.”
Hefazat leader Syed Rezaul Karim, speaking at a rally in Dhaka, said, “You want to make our children unruly and faithless? We will never tolerate that.”
Educationists and cultural activists have sharply criticised the decision, calling it a setback for secular and holistic education in Bangladesh. “This is not just about music or sports,” said Dhaka University education expert Dr. Asma Rahman. “It’s about whether we want a balanced, creative generation— or one raised in fear of extremists.”
The policy reversal marks yet another retreat under Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus’s interim government, which has faced growing criticism for bowing to hardline clerics. Earlier, it had quietly shelved women’s rights reforms following similar protests.
Analysts warn that the latest decision could embolden radical groups and erode the secular foundation of Bangladesh’s education system — once seen as a model for pluralism in South Asia.