School land ripe for the taking

Inside Lalmatia Housing Society School and College in the capital, four shops stand tall, after being inaugurated by a local councillor. During a visit in mid-January, it was seen that three more shops were under construction.

Criticising the move, former teachers, residents of the area and urban planners blasted the school authorities for damaging the premises' environment like this.

School authorities have taken Tk 1 to 2 lakh as advance payment from each shopkeeper and are taking Tk 8,000 to 16,000 as rent, according to sources. The shops are built on the south-west side of the premises.

A retired teacher told The Daily Star, "Constructing shops on school land like this is unacceptable. It will destroy the ambience of the school, which was once renowned for its education quality."

Another former teacher said at least three big trees were cut down during construction of the shops, which is an additional woe that the premises have to face.

Besides, five to 10 years ago, a local councillor constructed the councillor's office and two shops at the school's north-west side of the premises. The shops, however, were not in use at that time, he said.

However, locals said the shops opened for business around a year ago.

Adil Mohammad Khan, former general secretary of Bangladesh Institute of Planners, said it is illegal for school authorities to construct shops on school land.

He said if authorities come up with half-hearted excuses like fund crisis for going through with this, it will only set a bad example.

Md Ashraful Islam, town planner of Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk), said schools are public facilities, and any kind of commercial activities on their premises is totally prohibited.

Contacted, Syed Hasan Nur Islam, councillor of Ward-32 under Dhaka North City Corporation, who is also head of the school's governing body, said the area where the new shops were built was abandoned, and there were no trees there.

Hasan said they constructed four shops following the governing body's approval. While three others, which did not get approval, are under-construction. They will take further decisions based on demand for the shops.

He said 50 percent of teachers' salaries come from the government while the rest are from school earnings.

"We were struggling to run the school during the pandemic. So, we decided to generate money this way," the councillor said.

He added that they also constructed a canteen at the location for students.

School principal AKM Akmal Hossain echoed the councillor's reasoning, saying that the school has a shortage of funds to pay salaries, and there are 10 teachers who are not under the government's monthly pay order (MPO).

Akmal said the school was constructed in 1962 on 3.37 acres of land and has more than a thousand students. He said they took permission from the environment ministry before cutting 15 trees for the development works.

Some residents of the area, however, said the shops will attract many people, which will form huge gatherings on school premises and in turn harm the school's environment.