Staff Correspondent

Persistent promotion stagnation within the Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) General Education Cadre has sparked severe frustration, leaving numerous 37th BCS officers stranded in the entry-level 9th-grade lecturer position while counterparts in other cadres advance to higher administrative ranks.

While officers from the 37th BCS in non-educational services secured 6th-grade promotions in 2024 and 38th BCS counterparts achieved similar advancements by 2026, education cadre officers continue to face institutional bottlenecks. Although a round of promotions in 2025 elevated 1,870 officers, uncertainties have deepened regarding remaining eligible candidates from the 37th batch.

Data from the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE) indicates that the structural mismatch lies in authorized cadre strengths, which account for 9,782 lecturer posts against only 4,451 assistant professor positions. The wide gap between entry-level slots and promotional posts prevents qualified educators from advancing, a crisis exacerbated by delays in creating regular posts, upgrading designations, or implementing administrative restructuring.

To address the backlog, Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC) meetings for the 37th BCS were convened on September 16, 17, and 21, 2026. However, despite the successful completion of committee evaluations, the official Government Order (GO) regarding promotions remained unissued, intensifying anxiety among affected officers who are demanding swift gazette notifications and retroactive financial benefits.

In an effort to bypass structural shortages, proposals to create 2,823 supernumerary posts at the assistant professor level were submitted to the relevant ministry on January 4, 2026. While supernumerary creation could clear promotion queues independently of regular vacancies, final administrative approval remains delayed.

The widening gap between education and other civil service branches has fueled inter-cadre grievances, with affected professionals warning that lingering stagnation compromises career progression, administrative responsibilities, and future pay-scale adjustments. To press their demands, deprived education cadre officers from the 36th, 37th, and 38th BCS batches staged a sit-in demonstration on the DSHE premises on October 25, 2026.

Protesting educators have placed four core demands before the administration: immediate issuance of promotion GOs for eligible 37th batch officers based on DPC recommendations, settlement of due financial privileges, urgent creation and implementation of supernumerary posts to resolve structural shortages, and the establishment of fixed timelines for regular promotions. Academics and administrative observers caution that failing to resolve the structural crisis risks impairing the working environment across government colleges and educational administration.