Under the direction of Gazipur Deputy Commissioner Dewan Muhammad Humayun Kabir, a two-member investigation committee has been formed to look into allegations that money was taken from teachers for the distribution of free textbooks in the district.
According to the deputy commissioner, the committee will be comprised of Additional Deputy Commissioner Yasir Arefin and Gazipur District Secondary Education Officer Rebeka Sultana.
The committee has been asked to submit their investigation report by Sunday.
Earlier on Thursday, teachers from educational institutions in Gazipur launched protests after Gazipur City Corporation appointed representatives asked for money to distribute the textbooks at Joydebpur Government Girls High School, despite money having already been collected.
Shaheen Parvez, joint collector of the Bangladesh Kindergarten Association, said around 800 kindergartens submitted their required lists to the upazila education office between March and April, 2017.
Subsequently, on the advice of Secondary Education Officer Ananda Kumar Bhowmik, one representative was selected from each of Gazipur City’s 57 wards to collect the money for the textbooks. The education office’s Abu Taher was selected to handle the deposits.
Initially, a total Tk700 was taken from each of the teachers over two installments and deposited with Abu Taher. However, Taher demanded an additional Tk1,200-3,000 from the teachers before the protests on Thursday.
Secondary Education Officer Ananda Kumar Bhowmik said he was not at the scene at the time when the books were being distributed, but he went there to insure all books were handed out upon hearing about the incident.
He added that those yet to receive the books would get them on Sunday.
However, when asked about the money collected for the books, the secondary education officer refused to comment.
Abu Taher could not be reached for comment.
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