Slow progress in reclaiming the land of 23 government primary schools in the capital from land-grabbers is creating problems for students, who are being forced to study in dilapidated classrooms made of tin sheets. Sources said the Directorate of Primary Education (DPE) has been successful in reclaiming 60 per cent of the occupied land and is trying to reclaim the rest. Bonoful Government Primary School had been operating in the same campus as Shahid Zia Mahila Degree College at Balurmath of Pallabi area, but the school was shifted to another place in the same area in 2014.
Sohrab Hossain, headmaster of the school, told The Independent that the present school building, established in 1987, has four tin-sheet rooms where 130 students study with much difficulty due to the terrible hygienic condition of the area. He said that the students do not want to come to school as there are piles of garbage near the school and the condition of the road is not good.
About the recovery of the school land, Sohrab said: “I have heard of it, but I don’t know about its progress.”
Sources said the authorities concerned are gathering relavant documents to place before the court for reclaiming the land .
Like Bonoful Govt Primary School, at least 23 other government primary schools in the capital are facing problems due to occupation by influential people and various establishments like community centres, garages, shops and clubhouses.
The Standing Committee on Primary and Mass Education on October 22, 2014 formed a sub-committee to reclaim the primary school land. The committee submitted several reports and recommended reclaiming the occupied land.
The committee delegated this task to the DPE and Dhaka primary education officer (DPEO). However, it has not been possible to recover all the plots. In fact, the plots of several new primary schools, including Brahmabchiran Government Primary School in Demrah, have been occupied afresh.
The DPEO has recently forwarded the progress report of the reclaiming of the occupied land to the parliamentary committee.
As per the report, Gendaria Mahila Samity has set up illegal shops on the primary school land. Though a notice has been served to remove the shops,
there has been no headway in this regard. Businessmen have suggested setting up the primary school at a vacant plot nearby, but the recommendation has not been accepted. Illegal occupants of the Abdul Mannan Govt Primary School plot could not be evicted due to a High Court stay order. “We’re trying to recover the occupied land from the grabbers. We’ve been successful to a great extent. At least 60 per cent of land has been recovered,” DPEO Shahin Ara Begum told The Independent.
She said there are various complications in recovering the occupied land and thus the authorities are unable to construct new buildings for the primary schools. “The occupants have considerable muscle power. But we’ll continue our efforts to recover the land,” she added.