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Managing committee and governing body members of many schools and colleges across the country are allegedly involved with various irregularities and corruption.
The managing committee-members embezzle money from the institutions by applying different techniques and their controversial activities tarnish the image of many schools and colleges.
During the investigation and analysing a number of inspection reports on different schools and colleges, it has been found that they embezzle money by preparing fake bills to disburse money, and take hefty money in the name of bills for buying or repairing furniture.
They also get financial benefits from land purchase, building construction or its renovation while they take bribes for recruitment of teachers and staff at schools and colleges.
Besides, the members of the managing committees spend unacceptable amounts of money in the name of holding different programmes, and education tours, and collecting different fees from students without giving them receipts.
Even they are involved with the admission business in renowned schools while they enjoy financial benefits in the name of meeting allowances.
Political influence in managing committees
The monthly pay order-listed secondary schools are conducted by the school managing committees while the governing bodies are managing the MPO-listed colleges.
A Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) study has found that most recruitment by the governing bodies is made on the basis of political influence, nepotism and bribes.
There are such allegations made by the teachers joining educational institutions recommended by NTRCA. The ruling party leaders and activists are the presidents of managing committees or governing bodies at almost all educational institutions in the country.
The relatives, close friends, followers or party leaders loyal to local lawmakers hold various positions in the managing committees.
As there is no specific rule on educational qualification to become the president of the management committee of secondary schools and colleges, unqualified people also get the positions.
Recruitment business
The Non-Government Teachers’ Registration and Certification Authority (NTRCA) is a body that appoints subject-based assistant teachers and lecturers at private schools and colleges.
But the appointment of school headmasters, assistant headmasters, college principals, assistant librarians and office assistants is still in the hands of the management committees.
A research report of the anti-graft organisation Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) claims that most of these vacant posts are filled after taking bribes.
It said a candidate has to give TK3 lakh to Tk15 lakh for the post of the headmaster and assistant headmaster to the members of the managing committees and local political leaders.
A candidate selected by NTRCA has to give Tk50,000 to Tk2 lakh to the headmaster and governing bodies’ members to ensure their appointment.
Aspirants to the post of assistant librarian must give Tk2 lakh to Tk5 lakh to the headmaster and governing bodies’ members.
School-college fund embezzlement
Recently, the Directorate of Inspection and Audit (DIA) of the Education Ministry found widespread irregularities at the capital’s Monipur School and College.
DIA detected various types of irregularities, including enjoying illegal benefits by the members of the governing body of the institution and dodging the government a huge amount of VAT and tax.
The DIA probe also found unnecessary and unplanned spending of money by the authorities of the non-government school. It scrutinised and analysed all the records and found irregularities involving more than Tk100 crore at the schools and colleges.
The 11-page report said the Governing Body Regulations 2009 does not prescribe any remuneration for the members of the body. But Tk1.54 crore was spent as honorarium of the president, member secretary and members of the governing body of Monipur School and College between 2016 and 2022.
Besides, no tax was deducted at source as per income tax law that depriving the government of Tk15.41 lakh.
The school and college authorities have evaded taxes and VAT worth Tk35.3 crore between 2015 and 2022, the report said.
The probe team found evidence of massive irregularities in the repair and painting of the school’s Ibrahimpur campus.
The Education Ministry in its earlier report on Habibullah Bahar College in Dhaka revealed that the governing body of the college and the committees formed under different names took Tk20.15 lakh from the college as honorarium in three years starting since the fiscal year 2017-18.
One day’s meeting cost was Tk1 lakh at the college. The president of the governing body and members of various committees used to attend non-routine work apart from the college meetings. For this, the president used to take Tk3, 000 per day and other members took Tk2,000 each.
On the other hand, a former president of Sheikh Borhanuddin Postgraduate College Governing Body of the capital used to receive an average of Tk65,000 per month. Besides, the governing body members embezzled the funds of the institution in the name of building renovation and furniture making.
In another case, a DIA report last year found that the allegations of fund embezzlement, irregularities and misdeeds were true against Mirpur College’s principal Md Gholam Wadud.
DIA unearthed that the principal started embezzling college funds soon after he was appointed as the acting principal in February 2012 by late local MP Aslamul Haque, who was the president of the college’s governing body.
Wadud took Tk5 lakh from the college fund for his father-in-law’s medical treatment, Tk3 lakh for the construction of a three-storey building at his village home and Tk2 lakh for purchasing floor tiles for one of his flats. But none of the amounts was returned.
Wadud embezzled Tk6.8 lakh producing fake vouchers on purchase of construction materials for the extension of the fifth and sixth floors of a college building in 2013 and another Tk9.93 lakh producing a fake bill for making students’ uniform.
Another Tk15.04 lakh was spent on ‘repairing benches’ just 10 months after those were purchased from Lipi Furniture Mart. He also disbursed Tk12.33 lakh as honorarium to the members of the development sub-committee. DIA probe also found that Wadud spent Tk18.49 lakh on a street rally of the college while another Tk6.45 lakh on education tours.
When asked, DIA joint director Bipul Chandra Sarker told The Business Post that they are regularly conducting probe into the allegations against the schools and colleges.
He also said the allegations of irregularities against the schools and colleges were found true during most of the probes.
‘Now no need of managing committee’
Insiders said since 2004, the government has been paying 100 per cent salary. Locally, most educational institutions generate a lot of money using their own resources, which in many cases are shared among the members of the management committees.
Apart from salary and allowances, the government is bearing all expenses of the institutions, including students’ books, all furniture, different education materials, construction of new buildings, building renovations, teachers’ training costs.
The government is bearing everything but the managing committees dominate these institutions where the government has less opportunity to manage the institutions.
Teachers say that the committees were needed to collect the teachers’ salary when the government did not pay full salary. Various furniture including chairs and tables had to be bought for the schools but now the government is bearing everything, so what is the need of managing committee now?
DSHE officials also said there is no need for such committees in educational institutions. The education ministry has the ability to manage these institutions.
Some officials of the education board expressed their opinions in favour of abolishing such managing committees and they have urged the government to rethink the matter.
DSHE officials said institutions like BL College, BM College and Carmichael College are being conducted by the education ministry without the governing body. So, the government can decide whether there is need for a managing committee or governing body to run the institutions.
According to the rules, the managing committee and the governing body have 16 types of duties but most of the managing committees do not do any of these works rather they are interested only in the works where there is the scope of their financial benefits.
Abhibhavak Oikko Forum president Ziaul Kabir Dulu told The Business Post that the post in school managing committee has now become one of the sources of income for most of the members of the managing committee.
The committee members are involved with various irregularities, including embezzlement of money, and admission business at the institutions, he said.
Referring to a High Court directive, Dulu also suggested that no one should be made a member of the managing committee for more than two years.
