Notices against 93 Barisal schools

Extra exam fees

Barisal Education Board (BEB) has sent notices to 93 schools for flouting an education ministry rule against collecting extra money from SSC candidates. Approval of the schools might be cancelled for violating the order.
BEB sources said these schools had collected extra money during the filling up of forms for the SSC examination in November 2015. The extra money collected amounted to around Tk. 1 crore, the sources added. Following complaints, BEB authorities had warned the schools to return the extra money to the students within February 9.
Since then, 89 of the 93 schools have submitted documents to show their compliance with the board’s notice. Of these 89 schools, three are in Barisal district, 40 in Pirojpur district, 30 in Borguna and 16 in Jhalakathi districts. However, four schools—Purba Dhawa Girls’ High School, Sehangal High School, Bamna Sher-e-Bangla High School and Sarwar Jahan Pilot School and College—are yet to file their reports.
It’s alleged that some of the schools had fudged their documents to show that the money was returned to the candidates. Sources revealed that the handwriting on some of the return forms detailing the amount of money, names of the students, their guardians and even their signatures were the same, pointing out to some wrongdoing. For instance, it was found that all the money return sheets of Batazor High School were made by school clerk Niranjon Bepary.  However, the school’s acting headmaster, Md. Abbas Ali Sardar, denied any wrongdoing. “We had collected a total of Tk. 394,775 during filling up of forms from the students. Of this, Tk. 166,695 was extra and we returned it to the candidates on February 9,” he said.
But a guardian, on condition of anonymity, said the school authorities had taken the signature of students, but not returned the money. On his part, the headmaster denied the charge. He, however, admitted: “We need huge amount of extra money to run the school smoothly. To make up for that extra expenditure, the school authorities had collected the money from the SSC candidates.”  Sekandar Ali, headmaster of Jayasrri Mudupasha SABM High School, claimed that although his school had not taken extra money, the BEB sent him the notice as well. He alleged that branded schools in Barisal city had collected three to four times of extra money during SSC form fill up, but none of them got the warning letter.
BEB chairman Prof Ziaul Haque said the board, with the help of intelligence department, had prepared the list of schools that violated the rule against taking extra money. He informed that the BEB has received documents on the return of extra money from 89 schools. The four schools that have not sent their reports will be punished as per law, he added. On the allegation of some schools submitting fudged reports, the board chairman said, “We are now verifying all the documents. If the schools are found guilty, they will be punished with suspension of their MPOs and even cancellation of permission to operate the school.” Asked why BEB had not served notices to the branded city schools, Haque said that they had not received any complaints against them.

Notices against 93 Barisal schools

Extra exam fees

Barisal Education Board (BEB) has sent notices to 93 schools for flouting an education ministry rule against collecting extra money from SSC candidates. Approval of the schools might be cancelled for violating the order. BEB sources said these schools had collected extra money during the filling up of forms for the SSC examination in November 2015. The extra money collected amounted to around Tk. 1 crore, the sources added. Following complaints, BEB authorities had warned the schools to return the extra money to the students within February 9. Since then, 89 of the 93 schools have submitted documents to show their compliance with the boards notice. Of these 89 schools, three are in Barisal district, 40 in Pirojpur district, 30 in Borguna and 16 in Jhalakathi districts. However, four schoolsPurba Dhawa Girls High School, Sehangal High School, Bamna Sher-e-Bangla High School and Sarwar Jahan Pilot School and Collegeare yet to file their reports. Its alleged that some of the schools had fudged their documents to show that the money was returned to the candidates. Sources revealed that the handwriting on some of the return forms detailing the amount of money, names of the students, their guardians and even their signatures were the same, pointing out to some wrongdoing. For instance, it was found that all the money return sheets of Batazor High School were made by school clerk Niranjon Bepary. However, the schools acting headmaster, Md. Abbas Ali Sardar, denied any wrongdoing. We had collected a total of Tk. 394,775 during filling up of forms from the students. Of this, Tk. 166,695 was extra and we returned it to the candidates on February 9, he said. But a guardian, on condition of anonymity, said the school authorities had taken the signature of students, but not returned the money. On his part, the headmaster denied the charge. He, however, admitted: We need huge amount of extra money to run the school smoothly. To make up for that extra expenditure, the school authorities had collected the money from the SSC candidates. Sekandar Ali, headmaster of Jayasrri Mudupasha SABM High School, claimed that although his school had not taken extra money, the BEB sent him the notice as well. He alleged that branded schools in Barisal city had collected three to four times of extra money during SSC form fill up, but none of them got the warning letter. BEB chairman Prof Ziaul Haque said the board, with the help of intelligence department, had prepared the list of schools that violated the rule against taking extra money. He informed that the BEB has received documents on the return of extra money from 89 schools. The four schools that have not sent their reports will be punished as per law, he added. On the allegation of some schools submitting fudged reports, the board chairman said, We are now verifying all the documents. If the schools are found guilty, they will be punished with suspension of their MPOs and even cancellation of permission to operate the school. Asked why BEB had not served notices to the branded city schools, Haque said that they had not received any complaints against them.