M M Jasim :
The government is yet to evict the land grabbers from at least 12 primary schools, though the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Primary and Mass Education Ministry recommended recovering the schools’ land in 2014.
The ministry cannot take any initiative to recover the lands as the local influential persons occupied the land of the schools, sources said.
The ministry sources said the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Primary and Mass Education Ministry identified that 23 schools lost their lands. The lands have been occupied by the different quarters. The committee recommended the ministry to take steps to recover the lands from the grabbers in 2014.
The ministry officials claimed that they recovered at least some schools’ land and they have been working for getting back the other lands.
Dhaka District official of the Primary Education Shahin Ara Begum said, “Some powerful persons have been using the land of the schools for long. Someone lodged the cases claiming that they are the owner of the lands. So it is not so easy to recover it, but we have already gotten back some lands.”
Visiting different schools on Monday, this correspondent found that of the 23 schools, 12 schools’ land have been occupied by the local influential persons, five by the secondary schools and private colleges, and other schools’ land are using by different quarters.
Government Shahin Primary School in Mohammadpur has 36 decimals land. Now it can use only 6 decimals. The grabbers built residential building there and they have been living there. Even they virtually closed the gate of the school. There is no chance to know from outside that a school is here.
Headmaster of the school Mahfuza Ahmed said, the grabbers are not Bengali speaking people. The High Court imposed a ban that no scope to oust the grabbers before their rehabilitation.
“The local people are not good. They have no interest to the education. Even they are reluctant to send their children to the school for learning. The teachers are taking classes in a dirty environment. I don’t know when the problem will be solved,” the headmaster said.
Gendaria Mohila Samity Government Primary School has been occupied by a local influential businessman. He established a factory in front of the school. He also uses most of the lands of the institution. The students lose their attention in the classes due to the sound of the factory.
The grabbers occupied all the lands of Pallabi Government Primary School and M A Alim Government Primary School in Sutrapur.
Like the aforementioned primary schools the grabbers occupied almost 23 primary schools in the capital. Of them, some schools’ land was recovered, but 12 schools’ land is still under the control of the influential persons.
A headmaster of a school wishing anonymity told The New Nation that it was the failure of the Primary and Mass Education Ministry.
“I requested the ministry officials for several times to take initiative to recover the land of my school. But the officials are not to do it. But it is urgent for the school to get back its land,” he said.
