bash doesn't recognize shebang

I have a server on my internal network running Red Hat Linux 8.
I intend to use this for web development and development of Perl scripts (CGI and other) for my clients. The problem is this:

The (default) bash shell does not seem to recognize the shebang line at top of my Perl programs (#!/usr/bin/perl). I have confirmed (using which) that I have the correct path to Perl and Perl is in my path.

I am able to execute Perl programs with a command such as:
perl whatever.pl so I know that I have the permissions right.

I believe this is a shell problem, and please correct me if I am wrong. I don't know what version of the bsh shell I am using, nor do I know how to determine this.

I am an experienced user of the korn shell in other environments and would gladly switch back to korn if it was available. Note, of course, that I say user. I am, by no means a system administrator (in case you haven't already figured this out).

Perhaps an upgrade to bsh is the answer? If so, please tell me where I can get this and how to install it.

Thank you for your patience and assistance.

is perl really installed in /usr/bin? - what is the output of "which perl"?

if you want the korn shell back, install it. i never used redhat, so i cannot tell you where it is located, but in doubt get it from their webserver. Then edit /etc/passwd to replace your default shell with ksh.