Rehana Parveen becomes first female education secretary

Rehana Parveen, Executive Chairman (Secretary) of the National Skill Development Authority (NSDA), has been appointed as the new Secretary of the Secondary and Higher Education Department of the Ministry of Education. 

She is the first woman to be appointed as the Secretary of the Ministry.

A notification was issued by the Ministry of Public Administration on Monday transferring Rehana Parveen. 

Rehana Parveen is the first woman Secretary in the history of the Ministry of Education.

In November 2016, the Ministry of Education was divided into two departments named ‘Secondary and Higher Education Department’ and ‘Technical and Madrasa Education Department’. 

Since 1971, 33 Senior Secretaries/Secretaries have served in the undivided Ministry of Education. After the division into two, seven Senior Secretaries/Secretaries have been in charge of the Secondary and Higher Education Department so far. None of them were women.

On July 23, Senior Secretary (Contractual) of the Secondary and Higher Education Department, Siddique Zubair, was withdrawn in the face of objections from students. He was attached to the Ministry of Public Administration on that day.

On July 21, a plane crashed at Milestone School and College in Uttara, Dhaka, killing students, teachers and guardians. Information and Broadcasting Adviser Md. Mahfuz Alam announced the postponement of the next day's HSC and equivalent exams in a Facebook status at around 3 am on Monday.

The next day, students staged a protest demanding the resignation of Education Adviser C. R. Abrar and Secondary and Higher Education Secretary Siddique Jobayer. 

They protested in front of the secretariat, and at one point, the students entered the secretariat. The students vandalised cars inside the secretariat, and the law enforcement forces charged the students with batons. 

After that, Siddique Jobayer was removed from his post.