School in Tripura-populated remote Ctg village shuts as lone teacher quits over unpaid salaries

Highlights:

• The school's only teacher resigned over unpaid salaries
• The school's closure may end education of 50 children in the village 
• Remote location makes it harder to hire new teachers
• Authorities were unaware of the school closure 

The pre-primary school at a remote Tripura village that once stood as a testament to good governance on the part of local administration has been shut for four months due to the school's only teacher resigning earlier this year over non-payment of salaries. 

The school is located at Manai Tripura, a secluded village about 18km away from Hathazari town.

The Hathazari Upazila Nirbahi Office received the "Public Administration Award 2020" for implementing the "Amar Zila Amar Shahar" model at Manai Tripura. 

The authorities are aloof about the school's closure as there has been no move yet to hire a new teacher and reopen the school, locals alleged.  

The Manai Para Pre-Primary School could not be reopened even after contacting the upazila administration and related authorities several times, they said.

Meanwhile, Biron Bala, the resigned teacher, said she was forced to quit because she has not received her salary for a year and a half. 

Biron Bala said life was already hard with the meager Tk5,000 salary she was getting. 

"Even then, thinking about the children in the area, I continued teaching for one and a half years. I was forced to resign because I need to make a living," she added.

Sachin Tripura, President of Manai Tripura Para said he had personally approached the government officials several times to reopen the school.

"But they are not recruiting any new teachers. Education of about 50 children of the village is about to end due to the school's closure," Sachin said.

Beginning of the school

Sonai and Manai Tripura Palli are two hilly villages where 140 tribal families live for hundreds of years without all government facilities.

These two villages came to the attention of the administration due to the landslides in 2017 and the deaths of four children in measles in 2018.

The then Hathazari Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Ruhul Amin and the Chattogram district administration started working to improve the quality of life of the residents of these small villages.

As there were no schools in the remote area, the first and only school was established in 2018 under the "Amar Zila Amar Shahar" model. 

Teachers were appointed under the government's "Temple Based Child and Mass Education Program". 

Education scholarship was introduced to keep their studies regular. The then upazila administration took the initiative of providing free uniforms to all the students.

Nonchalant authorities

When contacted over the phone on June 25, Hathazari UNO Md Shahidul Alam initially claimed ignorance on the matter.  

After a while, however, the UNO called to acknowledge the school's closure saying the teacher was being paid from the "Temple Based Child and Mass Education Program". 

The teacher is no longer teaching as the salary has stopped," he said.

Notices were issued for a replacement but teachers are not willing to go to the remote location of the school, he added.

"Since the matter came to our attention, the upazila administration will reopen the school with measures from its own funds," he said.

However, rejecting the UNO's claim of ignorance, Sachin Tripura said, "The matter has been informed several times to the upazila administration." 

Sachin Tripura added that they have urged the administration to at least provide jobs to the students who have already studied in the school. "But our calls remain unheard"

Rinku Kumar Sharma, project director of the District Temple Based Child and Mass Education Program, said part of the due salary of the previous teacher has been paid, but the teacher is no longer willing to join work. 

"In this situation, we are trying to recruit new teachers. But nobody wants to go there because the area is remote. Besides, those who applied locally are not eligible," he said.

"Next month we will sit for the appointment of teachers in the school," he added.

Chattogram District Commissioner Abul Basar Mohammad Fakhruzzaman told The Business Standard that he too was unaware of the situation. 

However, he assured full cooperation with the reopening of the school as soon as possible.

Earlier in February, the South Sonaichari Tripura Para Pre-Primary School in Sitakunda was also closed. There too two teachers of the school resigned because of non-payment of salaries.