Education Ministry Adviser Professor Dr. Chowdhury Rafiqul Abrar. Photo: BSS

By Mustak Ahmed 

DHAKA, Dec 14, 2025 (BSS) - Education Ministry Adviser Professor Dr. Chowdhury Rafiqul Abrar has criticized previous governments for their lack of initiative in promoting teachers.

“Long delays caused serious injustice to the teaching community,” he said in an exclusive interview with Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) at his office in the Ministry of Education at Bangladesh Secretariat here today. 

Dr. Abrar said that by addressing past shortcomings, around 3,000 teachers have now been promoted. Of them, 995 associate professors were promoted to professor, while 1,800 assistant professors became associate professors. Earlier, teachers were also promoted from lecturer to assistant professor.

The education adviser said that on the very first day after assuming office, he announced that improving the status of teachers would be one of the government’s priority issues.

He noted that although the government is unable to provide teachers with the level of financial remuneration they deserve due to limited resources, it   must ensure their respect and dignity. 

“What we can give them is recognition, and we have tried to do that,” he said.

Dr. Abrar explained that for many years the promotion process, particularly from lecturer to assistant professor, remained stalled due to court bans and cases, leaving the government unable to act. 

After the restrictions were lifted, the ministry implemented the promotions, benefiting nearly 2,000 teachers, some of whom had been waiting for up to eight years.

He added that some teachers had been waiting for promotions for 10 to 12 years, and expressed personal satisfaction at seeing their long-standing problems resolved. 

“I felt good because I myself a teacher,” he said.

The adviser said the government has fulfilled its commitment to teachers’ development by ensuring promotions from assistant professor to associate professor and from associate professor to professor, though he admitted it would have been better if the process had been completed earlier.

“There was no justification for delays of eight to twelve years in teachers’ promotions,” he said.

He added that the denial of deserved promotions year after year is one of the biggest disincentives for teachers.

Dr. Abrar said teachers expressed happiness after receiving news of their promotions and thanked him for the initiative. 

While acknowledging that the system failed to deliver promotions on time, he said he was pleased that the injustice was eventually addressed.

He urged future governments to remain attentive to such fair demands so that teachers do not face similar hardships again.

“That will be my appeal to the next government, so that teachers do not fall victim to such injustice,” he said.