Five wings without chiefs as education ministry struggles with staff shortages

The Ministry of Education, one of the government’s key ministries, is facing a shortage of officials in its Secondary and Higher Education Division, with several important positions remaining vacant for a prolonged period. Five of the division’s nine wings currently have no wing chief, while several deputy secretary-level posts are also vacant. As a result, some officials are handling responsibilities across two or three branches, raising questions over the effectiveness of administering the country’s vast education system under such conditions.

An analysis of information from relevant sources and the Education Ministry’s website shows that the five wings without wing chiefs are Administration and Finance, Development, Secondary-2, College, and Audit and Law. The wings are generally headed by officials of additional secretary rank. Sources alleged that although several additional secretaries are serving as officers on special duty (OSDs) at the Ministry of Public Administration, they have not been posted to key positions at the Education Ministry, contributing to the prolonged vacancies.

Those familiar with the matter said the absence of a wing chief affects not only the pace of administrative work but also decision-making and coordination among different branches. Such vacancies could have a broader impact on the division, particularly in sensitive areas such as development, budget, administration, colleges, and audit and law.

One official handling three branches

The shortage is particularly evident at the deputy secretary level. There are currently no deputy secretary-level officials in three important branches of the Secondary and Higher Education Division: University, Secondary-2, and Audit and Law.

At the same time, a significant number of serving officials are handling additional responsibilities in multiple branches. This is placing administrative, policy and official workload from several branches on individual officials.

According to the division’s website, Deputy Secretary (Coordination) Liuza Ul Jannah is also handling the Performance, Innovation and Service Improvement branch and the Budget branch in addition to her regular responsibilities. This means she is currently handling three separate responsibilities.

A similar situation exists in the Development wing. Deputy Secretary Shahina Parvin is handling Development-4 and the SDG branch in addition to her primary responsibility for Development-2.

The government secondary education wing is also facing a significant shortage of officials. Tania Ferdous is handling the responsibilities of Deputy Secretary (Government Secondary-1), Deputy Secretary (Government Secondary-2) and the Government Secondary-3 branch. Meanwhile, the Secondary-2 branch has no deputy secretary-level official.

The government college branches are facing a similar situation. A S M Shahriar Jahan serves as Deputy Secretary (Development-3) while also handling the additional responsibilities of Government College-1 and Government College-2.

Dr Jannatul Ferdous’s primary responsibility is Government College-4, while she is also handling the additional responsibility of deputy secretary of the SDG branch. Deputy Secretary of Development-1 Muhammad Delwar Hossain is also handling the Planning-1 branch alongside his regular responsibility.

Vacancies at joint secretary level too

The shortage also extends to the joint secretary level. There is no joint secretary in the Government Secondary-1 branch, creating a gap at an important level of leadership and supervision.

Technical and madrasa education division also affected

The staffing problem is not limited to the Secondary and Higher Education Division. An important branch of the Technical and Madrasa Education Division is also operating without an additional secretary.

The additional secretary post in the Technical branch is vacant, resulting in Rehana Yasmin, additional secretary of the Administration and Finance branch, being given the additional responsibility of the Technical branch. She is therefore leading another important wing alongside her regular duties.

Education stakeholders said joint secretaries and deputy secretaries play key roles in policy implementation, file processing, inter-branch coordination and major decision-making within the ministry. A shortage of officials at these levels therefore directly affects routine administrative activities.

They said the workload of branches dealing with development projects, budgets, government secondary schools, government colleges, universities, audit and legal affairs is extensive. A shortage of personnel in these branches could increase the time required for everything from disposing of individual files to implementing major policy decisions.

Education Minister Dr A N M Ehsanul Haque Milon was contacted several times for comment on the staffing shortage but did not answer the calls. Questions were later sent to him via WhatsApp, but he did not respond.

Public Administration State Minister Md Abdul Bari was also contacted by phone regarding the posting of additional secretaries and deputy secretaries to the Secondary and Higher Education Division. He did not answer the call, and there was no response to a subsequent WhatsApp message.