Teachers bribing to stay in Dhaka for coaching business

A staggering number of teachers, 522 to be exact, of government schools in the capital have been bribing education directorate officers to stay in the city, an investigation report prepared by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) revealed.

These teachers of 24 government schools have been evading their transfer orders for 10 to 33 years by making underhand financial deals with the officers at Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education, the ACC found.

The capital's lucrative coaching business is behind the illegal transactions, observed the state body to prevent and detect corruption.  

As per the education policy, a government school teacher has to be transferred to another school every three years. 

Concerned citizens of the country have long been blaming the teachers' involvement in coaching businesses for the downward trend in the quality of education in schools. They allege that instead of giving lessons at schools, the teachers prefer tutoring their students at commercial coaching centres for a hefty income.  

The ACC investigation on teachers at secondary level government schools in the capital was conducted by a five-member team, led by its director Mir Md Zainul Abedin Shebly. 

“Many teachers don't pay attention while giving lessons at schools. They stay busy tutoring privately,” the ACC report reads. 

Many of the teachers who have been evading their transfer orders are from the capital's renowned schools. These include Government Laboratory High School, Motijheel Government Boys High School, Dhanmondi Government Boys High School, Sher-e-Bangla Government Boys High School, Gonobhaban Government High School, Kamrunnesa Government Girls High School and Khilgaon Government High School.

These teachers stop their transfer orders through “lobbying, pressure and bribery”, says the report. “Many teachers made a large amount of money through coaching business and they remain in Dhaka for years by bribing the administrative officers.”

The ACC found out that “by staying in the same school for years, these teachers have created an environment where students are forced to obtain private tuition from them.”

Many schools have too many teachers for a particular subject such as English or mathematics. The schools that have teacher shortage for the same subject cannot get these extra teachers because they stop their transfer through bribery, the ACC explained.