Many candidates passed the recruitment process but did not take up the posts, leaving vacancies in government primary schools.
A total of 83 candidates who passed the recruitment examination for assistant teachers in government primary schools were denied appointment letters after verification. At the same time, 1,471 candidates recommended for appointment did not join their jobs.
Officials of the Policy and Operations Department of the Directorate of Primary Education (DPE) confirmed the figures to Jago News on Tuesday, October 6.
The Directorate said 14,385 vacant posts were available under the 2025 assistant teacher recruitment process. A total of 1,080,080 applications were submitted, meaning about 75 candidates competed for each post.
The recruitment notice was issued in two phases. In the first phase, 745,929 applications were submitted for 10,219 posts in Rajshahi, Rangpur, Sylhet, Khulna, Barishal and Mymensingh divisions.
In the second phase, 334,151 applications were submitted for 4,166 posts in Dhaka and Chattogram divisions.
Nearly 70,000 candidates passed written test
A total of 69,265 candidates passed the written examination and were selected for the oral test. The final recruitment results were published on February 8.
The Directorate recommended 14,384 candidates for appointment as assistant teachers in government primary schools.
District-based appointment orders were issued on September 24. The orders were issued in several phases, and selected candidates were asked to submit the required documents.
According to the Directorate, 13,831 candidates submitted their documents. Another 552 candidates did not submit the required documents, while one candidate had died.
After document submission, 13,748 candidates received appointment letters. Of them, 12,830 joined their jobs within the required time.
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This means 918 candidates received appointment letters but did not join. Another 553 candidates did not submit their documents. Together, 1,471 candidates did not take up the jobs.
Directorate faces teacher shortage
Abdur Rahim, Additional Director General of the Directorate of Primary Education, said many candidates did not submit their documents and showed no interest in joining.
He also said many candidates did not join even after receiving appointment letters. According to him, some may have chosen other jobs, although the Directorate has not given a specific breakdown of their reasons.
Rahim said such cases occur in government recruitment processes. However, the large number of non-joining candidates has created difficulties for the Directorate.
He said conducting another large recruitment process requires additional government spending. The vacant posts also mean some schools will continue to face teacher shortages.
Another recruitment notice planned
The Directorate said it is preparing to publish another recruitment notice. The new recruitment process is expected to help fill the posts that remain vacant after the latest appointment process.
The Directorate will take further steps through the next recruitment process to address the shortage of assistant teachers in government primary schools.
