Rivalry among the influential locals over formation of the managing committee has kept this high school at remote Vati Kapasia, a char area on Teesta basin in Sundarganj upazila of Gaibandha district, virtually closed for six years. Photo: STAR

A high school in remote char area at Vati Kapasia under Sundarganj upazila of Gaibandha district has remained without any academic activities for the last six years, as two influential groups are in the race for control over its management.
The students, who were earlier admitted to the school, were compelled to migrate to five-kilometre away Chandipur High School.
During the period, three managing committees were formed while rivals engaged in violent clashes and filed lawsuits against each other.
Meanwhile an influential group has started vegetable farming on the school ground.
After setting up of the school in 2003 on the land donated by several locals including Delber Hossain, a two-story building was constructed in 2004 with the financial help under secondary education sector improvement project (SESIP) of the Ministry of Education.
An 11-member managing committee with main donor Delder Hossain as chairman recruited Shariful Islam as headmaster and 17 other teachers and staff and started academic activities of the school through admitting some students.
The then lawmaker of Jamaat-e-Islami Moulana Abdul Aziz formed another managing committee of the same school with Nesabuddin, chairman of Kapasia union, as chairman and recruited 18 teachers and staff with Moklesur Rahman, a Jamaat leader, as headmaster.
However, the upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) did not forward for approval any of the two committees to the Ministry of Education as neither of them followed rules and instructions of SESIP under the ministry.
As the two managing committees were formed ignoring rules of the ministry, recruitment of teachers and other staffs by them will be ultimately treated as illegal, said Azher Ali, district education officer.
The UNO in September last year called a meeting, where both the chairmen of earlier committees tendered resignation and a new nine-member committee was formed with the UNO as chairman and the district education officer as member-secretary and two formers chairmen as members, according to instruction of SESIP.
This committee also recruited four teachers and three office staff, including Jahiruddin as assistant headmaster of the school. But after a few days members of the two former committees rejected the UNO's committee and put the school under lock and key. Subsequently several clashes occurred between the rival groups. They later sought justice in the court.
To find a way out to start academic activities of the school, with the consent of local people a convening committee was formed with upazila Social Welfare Officer Akram Hossain as convener and Delder Hossain, Nasabuddin and Jahiruddin as members, said Sundarganj UNO Shamsul Azam.
"We are waiting for the good day, when our children will be able to go to this school," said a local.