The technical wing of the Ministry of Education has issued a directive for the transfer of a female teacher of Barisal Technical School and College, calling her characterless and dishonest in its letter.
The letter, signed by Technical and Madrasa Education Division Deputy Secretary Muhammad Abdus Salam and dated October 10, also ordered an investigation into allegations against the teacher.
The division issued the letter on the basis of a complaint by Anwar Hossain, who is supposedly a part-time teacher of the college.
The principal of the college, Zakir Hossain, said he received a copy of the letter on Wednesday.
The subject of the letter is “Regarding the transfer of a characterless, dishonest teacher from Barisal Technical School and College”.
It requested further action after investigation.
Zakir Hossain held an emergency meeting of the academic council after receiving the letter, and he said everyone at the meeting had condemned such instructions.
“It is not desirable for the ministry to refer to a teacher as characterless and dishonest in its letter. The ministry has no right to undermine the honour of a teacher based on a complaint,” he added.
The female teacher and her colleagues questioned how a teacher could be termed characterless before an investigation.
They also said there was no teacher who went by the name Anwar Hossain at the college, adding that the ministry letter did not give detailed information about the complaint.
The female teacher in question said the ministry should have discussed the matter with the principal before issuing a letter, in plain language.
She said she would file a complaint with the education minister for defamation.
Deputy Secretary Muhammad Abdus Salam said a person named Anwar Hossain had filed the complaint, stating that the female teacher was characterless and dishonest.
“We wrote to the office of the director general [of the Directorate of Technical Education], directing it to investigate the complaint. We used the words characterless and dishonest while mentioning the accusations levelled by the complainant. The words are not ours but the complainant’s.”