Fake Headmasters' Training
Outsider engaged to scrutinise documents!
The education ministry yesterday formed a committee to investigate enrolment of 56 fake headmasters for a government-run training programme at Secondary Teachers Training Institute in Rajshahi, five days after disclosure of the incident.
The one-member committee chief Prof Taslima Begum, director (Training) of the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE), has already started her investigation.
"The investigation so far reveals that Abdul Hannan, one of the alleged persons, usually serves as a peon at the institute although he is not an employee there. But he was engaged in scrutinising the papers of the training participants. The officials concerned need to answer why and how he was given the charge,” said Prof Taslima, who was seen taking written statements of the officials and employees and examining pieces of evidence at the institute yesterday noon.
Hannan earlier worked in a project that ended in 1999.
"Two other employees Jahangir Hossain and Shafik Ahmed were also not supposed to be engaged in the scrutiny. Even if they were given the task, the officials concerned failed in their duty to properly supervise and guide so that the scrutiny is done properly,” the probe team chief said.
Following an anonymous telephone call on May 26, the institute authorities found that a staggering 56 of 84 participants in the May 22-27 teaching quality improvement (TQI) training programme were fake.
Students, small traders, non-teaching service-holders, even nearly illiterate people were enrolled for the six-day training programme meant for headmasters.
The 56 people were listed as 'headmasters' of non-existent schools apparently to embezzle a portion of the money allocated for the training under a project funded by Asian Development Bank and Canadian Development Agency (Cida).
Institute Director Dr Swapan Kumar Dutta supervised the training while Additional Director Dr Shelina Afroze and assistant directors M Shamsuzzoha and Sirajum Munira coordinated the programme.
Earlier a three-member probe committee headed by Rajshahi New Government College teacher Shamsul Kalam Azad was formed to probe the irregularity in the training programme but the investigation faced difficulties after a certain stage as the institute director is senior to the probe body chief in government service rank.
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