The government is going to order all English medium schools to form managing committee to govern the institutions what officials said a bid to bring accountability and transparency.
These institutions will also be instructed to disclose the statement of expenditure to the guardians.
“Such moves have has taken to bring transparency and dynamism in running English medium schools,” said Professor Abul Mansur Bhuiyan, inspector of school at Dhaka Education Board.
A notification will be issued soon in this regard, he added.
Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, English medium schools face a myriad of allegation that include charging high tuition fees, being strict on other charges and not permitting students to attend online classes until tuition fees are paid.
President of English Medium School Parents Forum AKM Ashraful Haque said, they have been demanding 50 percent tuition fee waiver amid the pandemic.
“Besides, some schools did not allow students in attending online classes or cancelled admission as tuition fees remain unpaid,” he added.
Prof Bhuiyan told Bangladesh Post, “English medium schools do not charge fairly since their governing bodies are run by the board.
These schools do not often comply with the rules and regulations, shows reluctance in registration and disclosure of financial statement, guardians alleged.
“They cannot charge any fee at their will and must run the institutions in line with the rules and regulations,” Bhuiyan said.
He further said, “Like other schools, managing committee is required for English medium institutions. The committee including the head of the institution oversee the expenditure. After reviewing costs, expense details will be sent to the people concerned at the end of the financial year. ”
On August 20, the Dhaka Board through a letter directed the English medium schools to confirm registration and follow the policy.
Before that, the Board published a list of some 115 registered English medium schools on August 4.
On July 29, the Education Ministry directed the English medium schools authorities to let the guardians know about the former’s expenditure details.
Guardians, however, appreciated the government’s move on the formation of managing committee for English medium schools.
Parents Forum President Haque said, they, too, want these schools to obey the rules and regulations.
“We have long been demanding that English medium schools have separate governing body to oversee tuition fees… We are frustrated over the future of the students,” he lamented.
Freedom fighter and President of Guardian Unity Forum Ziaul Kabir Dulu said “It is a good initiative and should have been taken earlier.”
“English Medium schools are operated without registration and charge tuition fees as much as more than Tk 1 lakh,” he added urging the government to look into the matter.
“The government should form a monitoring committee on these school,” Dulu said.
