School has 110 students on paper, but not a single student in class

A school in Rajapur, Jhalokathi, has more than 100 students on its official records, but not a single student was found on campus during a recent visit. Instead, goats were roaming freely inside the classrooms, where benches and floors were covered with faeces, mud, dirt and cobwebs.

The scene was found at Paschim Badurtala Lower Secondary School in Badurtala village of Mathbari Union under Rajapur upazila. The school was established to provide education from Class 6 to Class 8.

During a recent visit at around 11am, the school was found locked, including its office room. The national flag was flying outside, while the classrooms were visibly dirty and poorly maintained.

Benches were scattered around the classrooms, with goat faeces and urine on the benches and floors. Mud and dirt had accumulated on the furniture, while cobwebs covered different parts of the rooms. Goats were seen moving freely through the classrooms, which appeared to have become their shelter.

The whiteboards still contained writing from lessons marked “2024” and “2025”. This raised questions about whether regular classes had been held there since then. Local residents also alleged that regular classes had not been conducted at the school this year.

Assistant teachers Anamika Mrit and Ratan Lal Mistry arrived at the school after 11am. When asked why they had arrived so late, they could not provide a satisfactory explanation and hurriedly called the head teacher and other staff members, asking them to come to the school.

Head teacher Md Aktaruzzaman Bacchu and assistant teacher Md Hasan Mridha arrived at around noon. None of the other teachers or employees were seen at the school at that time.

When asked to show the attendance registers for teachers, employees and students, the school authorities could not produce them. They later said the registers were kept at the home of school founder Abubakar Siddiq.

The teachers also requested that the report not be published. At one point, head teacher Aktaruzzaman Bacchu allegedly attempted to offer money to The Daily Campus reporter through assistant teacher Md Hasan Mridha.

Allegations of students being shown on paper

Local residents said the condition of Paschim Badurtala Lower Secondary School was not new and that the institution had been operating this way for a long time.

According to their allegations, no local children attend the school. They claimed that head teacher Aktaruzzaman Bacchu and founder Abubakar Siddiq, also known as Abu, show children from different areas who do not attend school as enrolled students in exchange for money.

Residents further alleged that when auditors visit the school or programmes are held, children are sometimes brought from different areas of Jhalokathi Sadar in two auto-rickshaws in exchange for money and presented as students. They also alleged that children are occasionally brought in from outside during examinations and shown as students of the institution.

There are also allegations concerning the school’s founder. Local residents claimed that five members of his family hold different positions at the school.

They further alleged that Abubakar Siddiq and head teacher Aktaruzzaman Bacchu form the school committee with people of their choice and then run the institution according to their wishes.

Local residents also alleged that when a school president refused to sign the monthly salary sheets of teachers and employees because of irregularities in the institution’s management, signatures were sometimes forged and salaries were withdrawn.

The current president of the school is Mizanur Rahman Parvez, son of Moniruzzaman, the elder brother of head teacher Aktaruzzaman Bacchu. Residents alleged that the president does not regularly visit the school and signs documents from home, while around Tk 1.8 lakh in government funds is withdrawn every month.

Former presidents raise similar allegations

Arafat, Asma Begum and several other local residents said students sometimes came to the school during examinations but were otherwise rarely seen there.

They said goats, however, regularly entered and stayed inside the classrooms. They also alleged that teachers did not attend the school regularly and came only occasionally.

Hasnain Talukdar Dibas, a former president of Paschim Badurtala Lower Secondary School, said he was made president around 2006. He later discovered that the school had no students.

“After some time, he learned that there were no students at the school. When he went there, the teachers would bring students from a nearby school and make them sit in the classrooms. One day, he went to the school without informing anyone and found it locked,” he said.

Dibas also alleged that his signature was forged to prepare a meeting resolution claiming that the school had been damaged by Cyclone Sidr, through which Tk 50,000 was allocated as government assistance.

He said the matter came to his attention when the money was withdrawn in 2008. After realising what he described as widespread corruption, he submitted his resignation to then Deputy Commissioner Hariprasad Pal.

Jahidul Islam Jahid, president of the Rajapur Upazila Secondary Teachers’ Association and another former president of the school, made similar allegations.

Jahidul said he served as president of the school from 2014 to 2017, when he was chairman of Mathbari Union. He said there were no students at the school and no classes were held, despite students being listed on paper.

He said he subsequently held a meeting with teachers, employees and local residents and questioned why he had been made president if they were not properly conducting classes and running the institution.

According to Jahidul, he understood from their response that he had been made president because he was the union council chairman and could provide financial assistance to the institution.

He said he attempted to change the situation and also sought intervention through the upazila nirbahi officer and the secondary education officer. However, he resigned in 2015, nearly two years before the end of his committee’s tenure, after his efforts failed.

School authorities respond

Asked about the current situation, school president Md Mizanur Rahman Parvez said, “I am not obliged to tell you. Why did you go to the school without informing me? You went there and sat at the school to see whether teachers come or classes are held?”

When asked about allegations that he signs teachers’ and employees’ monthly salary sheets in exchange for money, he allegedly used abusive language and said, “I am not obliged to tell you. I have my DC and education officer; I will tell them.”

Head teacher Md Aktaruzzaman Bacchu acknowledged that the school has 110 students on paper despite students not regularly attending.

“Even though students do not come to the school, there are 110 students on paper. Sometimes students are brought from Jhalokathi town in two auto-rickshaws and classes are held at the school,” he said.

Asked why students were being brought from the town despite the school being more than 20 kilometres from the district headquarters, Bacchu said, “Four or five locals come, and no one else does. That is why we bring them from Jhalokathi.”

Rajapur Upazila Secondary Education Officer Md Mahmudul Hasan said the authorities had learned about the school’s situation and had asked the head teacher to provide a written explanation.

“The school will be kept under observation for a week. If the situation does not improve and the head teacher’s response is not satisfactory, the matter will subsequently be reported to the higher authorities,” he said.

Rajapur Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Rifat Ara Moury said the head teacher would be asked to explain the school’s current situation and that legal action would subsequently be taken against those responsible.

The contrasting picture of more than 100 students on official records and no students found at the school has raised questions about the institution’s actual academic activities. Allegations of students being brought from outside, the inability to produce attendance registers, irregular teacher attendance and the use of government funds have further intensified concerns over the school’s management.

Local residents have called for a proper investigation by the upazila secondary education office and administrative authorities to establish the actual number of students, verify the roles of teachers and employees and examine the use of government funds at Paschim Badurtala Lower Secondary School.