HC issues ruling on appointment of psychologists at educational institutions
The court asked to respond to the ruling within four weeks
The High Court today has issued a ruling asking the government to explain why it should not be directed to appoint counselors and clinical psychologists at all educational institutions across the country.
Within four weeks, the Chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC), the director-general of the Directorate of Education and the secretaries to the ministries of education, public administration, health, primary and mass education have been asked to respond to the ruling.
A High Court bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Md Mostafizur Rahman issued the ruling following a writ petition filed by Supreme Court lawyer Farhad Uddin Ahmed Bhuiyan.
Writ Petitioner lawyer Farhad Uddin Ahmed Bhuiyan, himself, participated in the hearing in court. Deputy Attorney General Amit Talukder represented the state.
The lawyer filed a writ petition with the High Court seeking the appointment of a counselor and clinical psychologist at all academic institutions on November 27.
The petitioner said that the inaction surrounding the appointment of counselor and clinical psychologist at the educational institutions goes against the Constitution of Bangladesh.
According to Article 1 (a) of the Constitution, the basic responsibility of the state is to develop a planned economic and operational manpower. Also, the state shall ensure the right of every citizen to live in a healthy and quality manner, as per Article 12 of the Constitution.
Homicide, sexual harassment, drug addiction, suicide, personality disorder, reckless behavior and chaos are repeatedly taking place in our society due to moral degradation, Bhuiyan said in the petition.
Therefore, a counselor or clinical psychologist needs to be appointed at all the educational institutions in order to help the young generation from falling victim to immoral behavior and develop a strong sense of morality, the petitioner added.