Bangladesh moves to scrap music, PE as school subjects for children: Report

As per reports, this decision by the Muhammad Yunus-led government comes amid growing opposition from Islamist groups.

As per local news outlet bdnews24, the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education issued a gazette on Sunday regarding the changes.

“Although the rules issued last August had four categories of posts, two categories have been included in the amendment. The posts of assistant teachers for music and physical education are not in the new rules,” Masud Akhtar Khan, additional secretary of the schools division told bdnews24.com.

Dhaka gives in to Islamist pressure

Several protests have been carried out by Bangladesh’s largest Islamist political party, Jamaat-e-Islami. JeI, along with other Islamist organisations have raised their concerns regarding the inclusion of music in school curricula, stating that the policy “goes against Islam”.

“Imposing music and dance is a conspiratorial move and goes against Islam,” Sajidur Rahman, a senior leader of Hefazat-e-Islam, an influential pressure group made up of multiple political parties, organisations and religious schools, was quoted as saying by AFP.

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Many have also criticised the government’s decision to scrap music. Speaking to AFP, Rasheda K. Chowdhury, a prominent education expert, said the Yunus government should have established that music and religious studies can go hand and hand.

“What kind of nation are we trying to create? The government should have convinced them that religious studies and music can go hand in hand; there is no conflict between them,” she said.