Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury (born 26 July 1983) is a Bangladesh Awami League politician. He is the current Deputy Minister of Education and a Jatiya Sangsad member representing the Chittagong-9 constituency. He was the eldest son of Awami politician ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury.
Early life and education
Chowdhury was born in Chattogram, Bangladesh on 26 July 1983. His father, ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury, was a Bangladesh Awami League politician who served as the mayor of Chattogram, the second-largest city in Bangladesh. Mohibul Chowdhoury's entry and patronage in politics is connected to his father's career. His step mother, Hasina Mohiuddin, is the incumbent Chattogram City Mohila Awami League (AL) president
Mohibul's birth mother Shahida Mohiuddin died in a bomb explosion. Although he survived the incident, his sister Fauzia Sultana Tumpa was badly injured. Information on his birth mother is controversially missing from his election affidavit filed at the election commission.
Chowdhury graduated from London School of Economics with a law and anthropology degree and was called as a barrister of Lincoln's Inn following post graduation from the University of Law.
Career
Chowdhury was elected to Jatiya Sangsad on 30 December 2018 in 2018 general election from Chittagong-9 as a Bangladesh Awami League candidate. He was appointed as the Deputy Minister of Education in the 4th Cabinet of Sheikh Hasina.
From 2016 to 2019, Chowdhury held the position of "Organising Secretary" of the Awami League's Central Committee. During his tenure in the secretarial body, he helped win the Narayanganj City Corporation Election in 2016 which was the first City election with direct political party nomination in Bangladesh. He was one of the youngest organising secretaries of Awami League and was credited for managing the party in important districts such as Gazipur, Faridpur, Kishoreganj, Shariatpur, Gopalganj, etc. which districts are considered Awami League heartlands. On 25 June 2018, he apologized to Bangladesh Election Commission for violating electoral code of conduct.
Chowdhury was a partner of The Legal Circle, and an Advocate of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh before his ministerial appointment. On 27 December 2019, he was removed from central executive committee of Awami League as part of the party's strategy to separate the government from the party.
Policy initiatives
From 2022 Education Ministry of Bangladesh is introducing new curriculum at secondary level to make mandatory provision for technical and vocational education. Under the guidance of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Education Minister Dipu Moni, and Deputy Education Minister Mohibul Hassan Chowdhury is leading the transformation effort in light of the 2018 Awami League Election Manifesto. Bangladeshi Deputy Education Minister shared the government reformation plan with Anadolu Agency on 13 October 2021. To implement this plan new curriculum is being brought to transform education sector into competency, skill and outcome based education. The government plan includes producing skilled manpower, focusing on specialized universities and importance of moral values in schooling. Mr Chowdhury said the existing education system in Bangladesh mostly fails to assess the skills and efficiency of students, “at the secondary level, we want to provide a minimum standard education in science, humanities, and business studies so that students can grow in line with a profession-based and Outcome-based education, with a reformed evaluation/assessment process ” he continued.
On 9 April 2021, Chowdhury said that the Bangladesh government might reconsider recognizing the highest degree from Qwami Madrassa Board if teaching of extreme religious interpretation is not regulated and basic academic standards are not met.
Ministry of Education in Bangladesh is in the process of rolling out a new school curriculum with a view to achieve newly promoted political and economic objective, "Smart Bangladesh". Regarding this new curriculum, Deputy Minister of Education Mohibul Chowdhury stressed the need to promote reading habits, implement continuous assessment methods and integrate essential soft skills and vocational education skills instead of conventional memory based public exam based assessments.