The opposition Jatiyo Party and independent MPs yesterday in parliament raised allegations of widespread corruption in the education system.

The level of corruption in the education sector cannot be expressed in words. Nothing happens without money. For getting monthly pay order (MPO) facilities, a teacher has to pay from table to table, they said.

They were speaking at the cut motion proposals against the demand of the Secondary and Higher Studies Division of the financial year 2024-25.

Today's education is like -- I have a house and bathroom but no food.

— Hafiz Uddin Ahmed Jatiyo Party MP

Education Minister Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury in his response speech, neither refuted the corruption allegations, nor acknowledged it.

Md Hamidul Haque Khandker of Kurigram-2 highlighted that the education budget consistently falls short of the GDP target. He pointed out institutional, curricular, and regional disparities, adding that field-level education officers remain in the same workplace for 5-7 years, leading to irregularities and corruption.

Independent MP Pankaj Nath from Barishal-4 praised the NTRCA's teacher recruitment process but added that teachers are often posted at places far from home, which ultimately ends up with them not joining their schools.

He suggested regionalising recruitment, especially in hilly areas, and called for filling vacancies swiftly. Jatiyo Party MP Hafiz Uddin Ahmed criticised the education system's focus on building unnecessary infrastructures over ensuring quality teaching.

"Today's education is like -- I have a house and bathroom but do not have food," Hafiz added.

Independent MP Abul Kalam from Natore-1 said no teachers get retirement allowances without paying bribe.

Nasser Shahrear Zahedee from Jhenaidah-2 proposed reducing administrative expenses to boost educational research funding.

The education minister acknowledged the issue of teachers not joining distant posts and mentioned ongoing efforts to amend laws to address this.