M M Jasim :
The Headmaster of Godnail Tatkhana Primary School in Narayanganj has been suspended in connection with taking Tk 200 for each set of new textbooks from the guardians illegally.
The managing committee of the school has also been put under suspension for that offence.
The Narayanganj District Education Office on Sunday took the action after having confirmed that the headmaster Md Rois Uddin with the assistance of managing committee have pressured the guardians to give Tk 200 for each set of textbooks.
Syeda Mahfuza Khanam, District Education Officer, said that Godnail Tatkhana Primary School has compelled the students for money, which is totally illegal.
“We were astonished when we got the information of the incident. When it is prohibited to take any money from the guardians and the students they collected money forcibly. They violated the rules and regulations of the Education Ministry and the Primary and Mass Education Ministry. So the district education office took action against them,” she said.
She also said that an ad-hoc committee will run the school. The previous committee has no right to run the academic activities. The new committee will be formed soon, she added.
Meanwhile, the selling of free textbooks of primary and secondary level continues. The books are now available in the country’s book markets. The guardians are interested to buy the new books from the market due to substandard paper and colour of free books, and their faulty binding.
Many students did not get the full set books from the schools. So, the guardians go to the market to collect the rest of the books.
The businessmen also collect the books from the publishers, as the demand of the new books is high.
While visiting the Nilkhet Bakusah Book Market, this reporter observed that a good number of guardians went to there to buy the new books. When asked about the illegal books, a guardian told this reporter that the government distributed substandard books and their number is also inadequate. It is not enough to run the study for whole year. That is why he came to buy some books for his children.
Kamrul Hasan, a bookseller of Nilkhet Bakusah Market, told The New Nation that they collected huge books for selling and the response of the customers was better than the previous year. “My boss collects the books. I do not know about it. I just sale these,” he said.
Meanwhile, both the ministries are in embarrassing situation for the substandard books. They are also angry on the publishers. The ministries also think to form a probe committee to investigate the matter.
Officials think that the printing of substandard textbooks have tarnished the image of the ministries as well as the government. That is why the culprits behind the creating of such a situation must be punished.
