The Department of Primary Education has included a condition in the recruitment process for assistant teachers in government primary schools stating that candidates who smoke or consume any addictive substances will not be eligible to apply. This condition was formally announced in a notification signed by the Director General on Wednesday.
The National Heart Foundation of Bangladesh (NHFB) has welcomed the decision. In a statement issued on Thursday, NHFB President Professor Dr Khandakar Abdul Awal Rizvi said, “Declaring candidates who smoke or consume addictive substances ineligible for teaching positions is a historic milestone for public health. Smoking drives young people towards nicotine addiction. Nicotine hampers the brain development of adolescents and has severe long-term physical and mental health consequences.”
He further praised the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education’s initiative as a “far-sighted and courageous step” for the future generation.
Earlier, on 22 October, at a seminar organised by the National Heart Foundation, Professor Dr Bidhan Ranjan Roy Poddar, Adviser to the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education, stated that measures would be taken to make schools tobacco-free. He noted that all forms of tobacco, including smoking, chewing tobacco and jorda, are harmful. Teacher training will include tobacco awareness so that educators can incorporate it into classroom teaching.
He also emphasised the need to recognise tobacco as an “addictive substance”.
The National Heart Foundation congratulated the Ministry’s Adviser and all involved for including this condition in the recruitment notification.
Professor Dr Sohel Reza Choudhury, Head of the Department of Epidemiology and Research at the National Heart Foundation Hospital and Research Institute, added that children learn from adults; if teachers smoke, it negatively influences students’ behaviour. Therefore, including this requirement in recruitment notifications is both timely and appropriate.
According to the Global Youth Tobacco Survey (2013), 9.2 per cent of boys and 2.8 per cent of girls aged 13–15 in Bangladesh smoke, while 6.2 per cent of boys and 2.9 per cent of girls use smokeless tobacco. Currently, 35.3 per cent of the population uses some form of tobacco, resulting in more than 161,000 deaths annually and economic losses of nearly BDT 30,000 crore each year.
The press release also outlined six policy recommendations aligned with the FCTC (Framework Convention on Tobacco Control): banning designated smoking areas in all public spaces and public transport; prohibiting the display of tobacco products at points of sale; ending corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities of tobacco companies; implementing effective measures to regulate e-cigarettes for the protection of children and adolescents; banning retail and loose sales of tobacco products; and increasing pictorial health warnings on tobacco products from 50 per cent to 90 per cent.
The NHFB also called for the rapid approval of the proposed amendments to the Tobacco Control Act by the Advisory Council.
AU/BP
