Irregularities at Viqarunnisa exposed following student’s suicide

Irregularities have been exposed at Viqarunnisa Noon School and College, a famed 60-year-old private school in Dhaka, following the suicide of student Aritry Adhikary.

A panel formed by the Ministry of Education has found irregularities adopted by the governing body and the administration of the school, many of which were backed up by several guardians and teachers.

Teachers and guardians have also informed bdnews24.com of some other irregularities at the school, but most of them did not want to be named.

Golam Ashraf Talukdar, chief of the school’s governing body, claimed that all of the school’s activities were within the scope of the law.

The true picture of Viqarunnisa school will come out and we will make the people aware of the issues, Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid had said citing the data provided by the panel, earlier on Wednesday, two days after Aritry took her own life over alleged ‘humiliation’ at the hands of the teachers. 

Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid speaks to the students during his visit to Viqarunnisa Noon School and College in Dhaka after the suicide of Aritry Adhikary on Tuesday.

“We’ll expose them,” Nahid said.

The school was inaugurated by by the then West Pakistan Governor Feroz Khan Noon’s wife Viqarunnisa Noon on Jan 14, 1952 at Dhaka’s Bailey Road.

The school has a history of performing well on public exams and currently has more than 17,000 students studying in it. The school has expanded to other campuses in addition to the one on Bailey Road.

Many people began to discuss irregularities at the school after Aritry, a student in class nine at the Bailey Road branch, committed suicide last Monday.

Aritry was spotted with a mobile phone during her exam and the principal called her parents over and allegedly 'humiliated’ them. It is believed this led the teenager to end her life.

The school authority claimed Aritry was caught cheating on her mobile phone during the final examinations on Sunday.

Two separate probe committees were formed by the education ministry and the Viqarunnisa Noon School and College to investigate the incident.

The education minister shared the report from the panel with journalists on Wednesday.

"The school did not have a principal for a long time, only an acting principal. They have not followed our repeated directives to appoint one. This is also an act of irregularity," the minister said in the context of the report.

All three principals at the school since July 2011 were acting principals.

Students carry placards in front of Viqarunnisa Noon School and College to protest Aritry Adhikary’s death on Tuesday.

One of them, Hosne Ara Begum had to resign on Jul 13, 2011 amidst protests triggered by teacher Parimal Joydhar being charged of 'rape.'

Manju Ara Begum took over as the acting principal and retired on Dec 11, 2011. The governing body again appointed an acting principal. 

Acting Principal Sufia Khatun took over on Dec 12 that year and retired on Jul 3 in 2017.

This led to Acting Principal Nazneen Ferdous taking the post. She was later been fired after the death of Aritry.

Aritry's father has filed a case against Ferdous and other two teachers for provoking Aritry to commit suicide.

The acting principals are never formally appointed as principals as the governing body wants to 'exercise its power', complained a Viqarunnisa teacher.

"The governing body is the supreme power here. The acting principals are appointed so they can follow the directions by the governing body," they told bdnews24.com, requesting to remain anonymous.

Allegations that guardian representatives are spending a fortune to be elected to the governing body are also widely discussed.

The panel formed by the education ministry found complaints against Nazneen Ferdous, who has been teaching in the school since 1990, of misbehaving with students and guardians.

The principal and the morning shift in-charge have avoided meetings with guardians and have regularly misbehaved with them, the report said.

Even when they managed to get meetings, the teachers were very rude, some guardians remarked during the investigation.

Students carry placards in front of Viqarunnisa Noon School and College to protest Aritry Adhikary’s death on Tuesday.

The authority often threatens the students with issuing transfer certificates without counselling or consulting the students and guardians, they said.

“We never had access to Nazneen but Sufia Khatun was cooperative,"  Dilara Chowdhury, a guardian told bdnews24.com.

Guardians are rebuked or threatened if they raise their voice against the governing body or the school authority, Dilara said.

"We tried to follow the regulations in dealing with the issue and have removed the acting principal," said Golam  Ashraf, chief of the governing body, when asked by bdnews24.com.

"Acting principals were appointed by the previous governing bodies as well," he added.

EXTRA STUDENTS, RAISED FEES

The school authority has been accused of granting admission to more students than are approved by the education ministry.

Information provided by students and guardians showed that additional students have been admitted in violation of government policy.

According to the Private Primary School Registration Policy-2011, the ratio of students and teachers should be 30:1. The Private Education Institute Manpower and MPO Policy 2018 limits the number of students in a single section of a grade in secondary level to 50.

It is possible for a new section can be opened if the number of students crosses 50, but every section is required to have a designated teacher.

But the school’s class four section B has 78 students while grade seven section A has 83 students in it, a parent with two daughters at the school told bdnews24.com.

"It could be 60 instead of 50. But here they have lots of students in a class. How will the children learn in such situations?" he said.

The guardians also complained of the school charging different extra fees, such as a Tk 2,500 development fee and others in addition to the regular fees fixed by the education board.

STUDENTS FAILED IF THEY DON’T ATTEND COACHING

Attending coaching classes by the Viqarunnisa teachers has become 'informally mandatory' for students, complain students and guardians. The school provide coaching classes for all subjects and classes take place even on week days.

The school charges Tk 1,200 to coach the students on two subjects.

The guardians accused the teachers of failing the students in the exams if they do not attend their coaching classes. Several accused a maths teacher and science teacher of doing so, but did not mention specific names.

"All of the students are compelled to attend coaching classes or they are failed," said Shahana Begum, the mother of a ninth grader.

"How will they learn if a coaching class has 40 students in it? But they are made to appear in the exam without studying the entire syllabus if they don’t attend coaching classes" said guardian Dilara Chowdhury.

The school authority was not available to discuss the allegations.

NO LONGER A 'TOP SCHOOL'

Viqarunnisa Noon School and College, which has long been a top school, has slipped in public examination rankings over the last few years.

It took third place in SSC in 2014 and dropped to fourth position in 2015.

None of the Viqarunnisa students made it to the list of top 10 students in SSC in 2018.

A student from AK School in Shyampur had topped the list.

Mushtari Sultana, a teacher representative in the governing body avoided the issue when asked during the  press briefing on Wednesday.

"We had top results among the girls," she said denying the allegation that coaching classes offered by the teachers are responsible for the slump in the exam results.

Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid speaks to the principal of Viqarunnisa Noon School and College in Dhaka on Tuesday after the suicide of Aritry Adhikary, a student.

 

THE CHIEF OF THE GOVERNING BODY SPEAKS

In response to allegations of irregularity and corruption by the education minister, Golam Ashraf, head of the governing body, said their position will be clarified through the report by the probe committee formed by the school authority.

"We accept the outcome of the probe report by the education ministry as it is a high-level probe done," he said about the education ministry report.

In June 2016, the Supreme Court had announced a verdict banning local MPs being elected presidents of the governing body at any school or college following a writ petition by some guardians of Viqarunnisa Noon School students. 

Golam Ashraf Talukdar, organisational secretary of Dhaka Metropolitan South Awami League, was elected the president of the governing body in April 2017.

"The law will follow its own course. We will act if any irregularity is proved," he said on the context of education ministry’s allegations.