A college in Chittagong has demanded Tk43,200 each from two newly admitted HSC students who sought transfer certificates – a fee education officials say they should not have to pay.
The students, Syed Hasnat Tanvir and Azhar Uddin, filed an official complaint with the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education Board, Chittagong on Monday afternoon in this regard, sources said.
The Dhaka Tribune acquired a copy of the written complaint yesterday.
In the complaint, the students said they were currently admitted in the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) course at Chittagong Science College and wanted to transfer to Islamia University College under the same board, availing the newly introduced transfer opportunity at the HSC level.
But when they asked their current college for transfer certificates (TCs), the authorities demanded Tk43,200 – the total fee of the two-year HSC course in the college – to issue the certificates.
However, the Chittagong Science College authorities denied the students’ claim and said they had asked the students to pay some money to make up for the loss caused by their transfer from the college.
When contacted, Chittagong education board Chairman Prof Mohammad Shahjahan confirmed the Dhaka Tribune that the students had met him on Monday and he received the written complaint yesterday.
Sumon Barua, college inspector of the board, said any HSC student can transfer from one college to another if there were places available, and there is no rule of a special fee for issuing a TC.
“College authorities can only claim fees for the time a student studies in the college,” he told the Dhaka Tribune.
Prof Shahjahan said the board had received similar complaints against a few other private colleges, but it can do little to prevent this trend.
When the Dhaka Tribune contacted Mohammad Jahedul Alam, principal of Chittagong Science College yesterday afternoon over phone, he hung up after saying the college had already issued one transfer certificate and was in process of issuing the other one.
However, an official said on condition of anonymity that the two students were still attending classes at the college as they did not yet receive the TCs.
The Dhaka Tribune again tried to contact the principal several times, but his phone was found busy.