A headmaster of a secondary school in Sherpur has allegedly charged money for distributing free textbooks among students.Parents of several students have lodged complaints with Nakla’s Upazila Executive Officer (UNO) over the matter.Abdus Sattar, headmaster of Islamnagar Sailampur High School in Nakla, allegedly took Tk 200 from each student for the books.The government gave out free textbooks on Jan 1 to 40 million primary and secondary students across Bangladesh.The education and primary and mass education ministries have been celebrating the day as textbook festival.Nurjahan Begum said she had gone to the school with her granddaughter to receive books on Jan 1.”The headmaster demanded Tk 200 from me,” she claimed. “He (Sattar) finally gave the books after we had given him Tk 200.”Several other parents also made similar claims but Sattar has denied the allegations.”I took Tk 200 as yearly donation,” he claimed.UNO Abul Kalam Azad said he had received such complaints.”The Upazila education officer has been ordered to look into the allegations,” he said.
