Legal tangles hamper academic, administrative activities
A bitter strife that ended up in court for the position of acting superintendent of a vocational school in Nilphamari’s Domar upazila is hampering the academic and administrative activities of the institution.
Twenty-one teachers and staffs of Motukpur Vocational High School, listed under the Monthly Pay Order (MPO) system, are not getting paid and students complained of irregular classes.
Mesbahul Miskat, who will appear at the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examination next year, said, “Classes of our school with 270 students seldom are held.”
Another 10th grader Sathi Akhter alleged that the school often goes into recess after the tiffin-break.
Shahidul Islam, one of the 15 teachers of the school not receiving their salaries, said, “It has become very difficult to run our families. We have been living on loans and buying essentials on credit.”
He explained that the acting superintendent of their school along with the chairman of the school managing committee (SMC) sign the bill sheet that confirms the salary of staffs and teachers.
“In April and May, we did not get the salary as the SMC chairman refused to sign the bill sheet because of some teachers’ attendance issue. Then, from June onwards because of the indecision surrounding the acting super’s post, the bill sheets did not get signed,” he said.
Hence, upazila accounts department have withheld the salaries of teachers and staffs, he added.
Mentionable, established in 2000, Motukpur Vocational High School, did not have a permanent superintendent since 2003.
Assistant teacher of the school Sadikul Islam alleged that the school managing committee never wanted to appoint permanent supers as the committee’s power would decline.
In 2003, Erfanul Islam, 47, was appointed as acting superintendent by the then committee and on December 30, 2015, he resigned from the post.
“I wanted to be a candidate for the permanent superintendent post as call for application was advertised in mid-December that year,” he said.
Accepting his resignation on personal grounds, the then committee headed by Domar Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Sabiha Sultana appointed 45-year-old Abdul Mannan as the acting super.
In a letter dated Jan 11, 2016, the UNO asked for the opinion of Bangladesh Technical Education Board regarding this appointment because the second senior most teacher of the school Mohammad Zakaria had refused to take charge and there was another contender for the post of acting super.
Mentioning Erfanul’s seniority and qualification, the then inspector of the board in reply admonish senior teachers’ unwillingness in accepting the acting super’s role and asked the UNO to take steps accordingly.
Meanwhile, the appointment process for permanent super got stalled and on October 16, 2016, Erfanul filed a petition with the managing committee to reinstate him as the acting super but the committee declined his request allowing Mannan to continue.
Three years later, on April 2019, the technical education board under the education ministry’s directive wrote to the newly appointed Domar UNO Umme Fatima to reinstate Erfanul as the acting super.
On June 3, through an executive order the UNO re-appointed Erfanul and directed Mannan to transfer his responsibility over to the former.
Mannan said, he filed a case with a Nilphamari court, seeking injunction against Erfanul’s appointment and challenging the UNO’s order, and refused to hand over charge until the case is settled.
Manan now shares a desk with Erfanul in the office of the acting super.
When contacted, the UNO said, “I have written to concerned authority requesting suggestion and will take action accordingly after getting guideline.”
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