An expert committee, formed by the Ministry of Education, has recommended the removal of the controversial “Sharifa’s Story” from the seventh-grade history and social science textbook.

The committee has sent the recommendation to the education ministry, highlighting multiple “inconsistencies” in the story, members of the expert committee said.

Sharifa’s Story was included in the textbook to create public awareness about transgender people.

“Sharifa's Story” came into discussion on 19 January when BRAC University part-time teacher Asif Mahtab teared up pages containing a lesson on the third gender community and urged others to do the same.

A video of the incident instantly went viral on social media. Fierce discussion and criticism spurred up across the country on the matter. In the wake of controversies, the Ministry of Education formed an expert committee on 24 January to review “Sharifa’s Story” and revise it if necessary.

The Ministry of Education formed a five-member expert committee to review the story amid debates across the country. Five months after the formation of the committee, they sent recommendations to the Ministry of Education.