The donors and school management committee of local junior high school in Natore have accused the headmaster and former president of the committee of improperly appointing teachers as well as misappropriating funds.
Members of the management committee, including some donors, alleged that the headmaster and the management committee’s founder president defrauded the authorities by claiming some of the junior high school teachers and staff were secondary school employees, securing monthly salaries for them at secondary school levels.
Members of the management committee including Saiful Islam Mannan, who is also a school donor, submitted a complaint to the deputy commissioner, upazila secondary education officer, education ministry and the Anti Corruption Commission against headmaster Mohammad Ali Luton and managing committee president Siddiqur Rahman.
The appointment of four teachers and a worker has been questioned. The school currently has just 22 students and 12 teachers and staff members.
The complainant said the headmaster and committee head falsely advertised secondary school posts in Rajbarta newspaper on July 11, 1997.
Following the advertisement, they showed the school had five teachers and three workers in the junior section and four teachers and two staff in the high school section.
They then passed the monthly pay of three teachers as high school teachers under the Monthly Pay Order (MPO), the allegation said.
Upon receiving the complaint, upazila secondary education officer Anowarul Islam Chowdhury investigated the matter on two separate occasions and the Rajshahi regional deputy director (education), Dr Sharmin Shirin, investigated the allegation following a directive from higher authorities.
The upazila secondary education officer’s report signed on May 7, 2014, said the school is included in the Monthly Pay Order as a junior school with an allowance for five teachers and two staff members.
Anowarul’s report said assistant teacher Shahinuzzaman was appointed using a fake signature of a government education board representative.
The report said assistant teacher Kumari Shikha Rani’s teacher registration certificate was confirmed to be fake by the education authorities.
When contacted, headmaster Mohammad Ali Luton and management committee president Siddiqur Rahman denied any wrongdoing and said they were the victims of a conspiracy.
The complainant in the accusation, now president of the management committee, Saiful Islam Mannan, said director general (education) Fahima Khatun had sent show cause letters to assistant teachers Shikha Rani and Shahinuzzaman asking why their monthly pay should not be rejected.
Abdur Rahid and Jarina Khatun were also show-caused about why their MPO salaries were passed in 2013 and not earlier. They have been asked to meet with the director general.
When contacted, Dr Shadhan Kumar, deputy director (education) confirmed that show causes letters had been sent and said the Rajshahi regional deputy director had investigated the matter on March 3 and submitted her report on March 16.
Krishnapur junior high school was established on October 23, 1995, and included in the Monthly Pay Order on May 1, 2004 as a junior school.
