Abdus Salam, Dinajpur
The appointment of Masuma Begum as head teacher of Dinajpur Shaheed Colonel Qudrat Elahi Public School has come under question over alleged recruitment irregularities, forged signatures and discrepancies in official resolutions.
Reports on the allegations have appeared in several national dailies and other media outlets. School authorities have also found several discrepancies in relevant documents and their investigation, but no visible action has yet been taken.
An advertisement for the head teacher post was published in a national and a local newspaper on January 16, 2018, asking candidates to apply within 15 days. Masuma Begum was then serving as acting head teacher and later applied for the post.
The allegations include that Masuma, while being a candidate, also served as member-secretary of the recruitment process. She allegedly scrutinised her own application and those of two other candidates and declared herself a valid candidate.
Assistant Maulvi teacher Zahurul Islam and Cambridge Kindergarten teacher Rahmat Al Masud were also shown as candidates despite allegedly lacking the required qualifications. Their documents were allegedly not properly scrutinised and they were used as “proxy candidates”.
Then acting head teacher Shahidul Islam said he did not sign the answer scripts or assessment sheets of the recruitment examination and that his signature was forged. Although a March 21, 2018 resolution showed him as acting head teacher, he was not allowed to perform his duties. Forged signatures of Shahidul and then chairman Mahbub Morshed were reportedly found on answer scripts from the April 4, 2018 examination.
Masuma said the school is run through Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) and that she would accept the authorities’ decision after investigation.
Zahurul Islam said he had neither applied for the post nor possessed the required qualifications. He said he was called on the examination day for another task and was shown as a candidate.
Lieutenant Colonel Abdullah Al Moin, executive committee chairman of the school and commander of Dinajpur 42 BGB, acknowledged the allegations and said a BGB preliminary investigation had found evidence of recruitment fraud. He said the process of taking action was underway.
Dinajpur Anti-Corruption Commission Deputy Director Ataur Rahman Sarker said media reports had brought the matter to their attention. Preliminary documents had been collected regarding the advertisement, recruitment process and alleged forgery. He said an application had been made to the commissioner for enforcement activities and a detailed inquiry would follow approval.
Dinajpur-2 MP and Parliamentary Standing Committee member Alhaj Sadik Riaz Chowdhury Pinak said he learned about the allegations through newspaper reports and instructed Lt Col Abdullah Al Moin to investigate the matter and take prompt action. #EK
