MEDIA reports said the Supreme Court has called for restriction on lawmaker from becoming head of the governing bodies of the private schools and colleges. The honourable High Court’s verdict is highly appreciable and also time befitting to free the educational institutions from undue political intervention in running those institutions and from misusing their resources by party men. But the question is whether the judgment will be effectively obeyed or lawmakers will create their way to retain control and force their presence over the governing bodies. They may also use their proxies and remain unaffected. In fact MPs involvement was visualized in the past in running such institutions as a way of their involvement in community development and strengthening democratic process at the local level. Before that government officials played the role as chairmen of non-government educational institutions from 1960s and even from before. For sometime after the fall of Ershad regime, guardians of students would elect chairman and members of the governing bodies and local political leaders would work to influence the voting to secure election of their nominees. The situation then further changed when local MPs claimed their position as head of the school and college governing bodies and it has become highly profiteering overtime and instrumental to politicize the local institutions for their own gains. MPs no longer look at their presence on the governing bodies as a case of community development through local educational institutions. It is the post of both exercising power and profiteering. MPs now pick governing body members who are loyal. They remain busy with income generating activities under the cover of admission and employment business to the schools and colleges. They also make hefty money in buying and selling of properties of the institutions and under supply contracts. They are now chairman of several dozens local institutions at a time and many look at the presence of the MPs on such bodies as leader of endless irregularities, mismanagement and corruption that are now engulfing each and every educational institutions. Every year a national meeting takes place where the Deputy Commissioners of all districts gather and share field level information with the Prime Minister. But MPs involvement with local educational institutions, their corruption and misuse of resources never come to the highlight. In this context we believe that the High Court’s verdict may play effective role to remove undue intervention of the MPs in the management of local schools and colleges by denying them to become head of such institutions. But it would need implementation of the order and we would see how the government would make sure its compliance. We hope the High Court order will go a long way to protect educational institutions from being further politicized and save their resources from continued misuse.
