Bangladesh: Students No Longer Required to Write Father's Name as Guardian

Dhaka: The first time in the history of Bangladesh, students are no longer required to write their father's name as a guardian while filling out any government form, including an education certificate and passport. The High Court of the country has given instructions to add the name of the mother or the name of the legal guardian along with the name of the father.

According to a recent ruling of the Bangladesh High Court, from now, one can enter the name of the mother or legal guardian without using the father's identity if one does not have a father, or willingly, while filling out any government form, including an education certificate and passport.

The High Court of Bangladesh gave this judgement on January 24 based on a writ petition filed in 2009.

After this historic verdict, lawyer Ainunnahar Siddika, who filed a petition in court, said in an interview with the media that a student was not allowed to register because the father's name column was not filled in the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and Higher Secondary School Certificate (HSC) forms in Rajshahi Board. After report was published in the newspaper “we filed a public interest writ in 2009, adding that report,” she said. Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST) later filed a supplementary affidavit in court on behalf of the petitioners on June 6, 2021.

In the judgement, the court said the student can fill out the registration form by naming someone as his or her father, mother, or legal guardian. This can be done when completing any government form, including a passport application. The government has been asked to implement this directive immediately.

According to the writ, in April 2007, a young girl from Thakurgaon district in Rajshahi Education Board of Bangladesh refused to give her the admit card to participate in the SSC examination because she could not fill out the student information form with her father's name, as required before participating in the SSC examination.

Later, on the basis of this information and demanding the recognition of the mother as the guardian of the child, three human rights organisations jointly filed this public interest writ on August 2, 2009. The human rights organisations are Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST), Bangladesh Mahila Parishad, and Nari Paksha.

The court's ruling has provided a list of mandatory information regarding the names of both the student's father and mother when obtaining a registration card for the SSC examination in any education board, as well as how eligible students who are unable to state the identity of their father can participate in the examination. A report on the action taken has been directed to be submitted.