Transparency International Bangladesh yesterday criticised Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid for his recent remarks on bribe and corruption.

In a statement, the graft watchdog said, “The honourable minister declaring himself corrupt might be an act of courage, but he needs to step down on ethical grounds for the sake of validating that courage and set an example -- this is what TIB expects.”

Speaking at a laptop and certificate distribution ceremony of the Directorate of Inspection and Audit (DIA) on Sunday, the minister claimed that corruption has come down significantly in the education sector due to measures taken by his ministry.

Referring to a situation of eight years back, Nahid said, “When I sat with EED [Education and Engineering Department], I told them that please do good works. My request to you is that you take bribe, but you must keep it within a tolerable limit. [I said that] because I didn't have the courage to tell them not to receive any bribe. It would have been a meaningless remark. But now we have made tremendous efforts and brought many changes here.”

The TIB yesterday said, “At the programme broadcast live in social media, he [the minister] at one point of his speech commented that apart from government officials, he and his cabinet colleagues are corrupt.”

“Such a comment of the education minister is a matter of concern for the nation. At the same time, it only reflected his confusion and frustration,” said Iftekharuzzaman, executive director of TIB.

He said the ill-attempt that the minister made to term all the government officials and ministers corrupt was unrealistic and unacceptable.

“The minister labelling himself and all his cabinet colleagues as thieves created confusion in people's mind about the government,” Iftekharuzzaman said.

A day after his speech, the education ministry explained its position over a report carried out by some newspapers and online portals on the bribe issue, saying that the reports gave scope for some misunderstandings.

The reports were presented considering the old information and evaluation related to the DIA as the latest position, said the ministry in its official handout.

“It's [report] unfortunate, confusing and opposite of the education minister's basic speech and goes against the current policy of the education ministry.”

Speaking at the function, the minister referred to a situation of eight years back and described the scenario of corruption and irregularities among the DIA officials at that time, said the ministry.

The minister said the situation has changed significantly due to the introduction of a digital monitoring system, it added.

Nahid will hold a press briefing at his ministry today to give his statement on the issue.