Dhaka Bureau: You must remember Parimal Jayadhar, the controversial teacher. In 2011, this Bengali teacher at Vikarunnisa Noon School raped a female student during coaching. In response to the incident, Dhaka Women and Child Torture Prevention Tribunal judge Vikarunnisa sentenced the teacher of Noon School’s Bashundhara branch to life imprisonment and fined Tk 50,000.
According to the complaint, Parimal Jayadhar first raped the girl on May 28, 2011, by luring her while giving coaching at a house near the school. At that time, video images were conceived on mobiles. A few days later, he raped her again, fearing that the video would be published.
A student of the Class IX day wing of Vikarun Nisa’s Bashundhara branch was studying privately with the branch’s English teacher, Abu Sufian. The teacher used to send indecent SMS to the student during private lessons. Which are very offensive and disrespectful. The student’s parents complained to the institution’s authorities about the matter. The English teacher, named Abu Sufyan, was dismissed in September 2023 after receiving proof of the matter. The latest incident is this week. These teachers are getting the opportunity of sexual harassment by bringing under their control the coaching center without getting the opportunity of the Azimpur branch of the same school. This is why they are afraid.
Recently, another incident happened in Chittagong. A student became pregnant after being raped by a teacher at a coaching center in Chandgaon, in the city. As the family members learned about this, the girl tried to commit suicide by taking sleeping pills out of shame. Finally, the girl died after being under treatment for 10 days in the hospital. Teacher Hamid Mustafa Jisan, accused in this incident, is currently in jail.
The parents say that three to four such incidents are coming to light. Apart from this, how many incidents of torture are happening, which students are enduring with their faces for various reasons? They remain unaccounted for. They say all these private coachings have created opportunities for sexual harassment by unethical teachers. Students are forced into coaching. And with coaching, it destroys this.
No implementation of policy to stop coaching trade: The Ministry of Education issued a policy just after the 2011 High Court directive. It was about stopping the ‘coaching trade’ of teachers. It was named “Policy on Prohibition of Trade in Coaching of Teachers in Educational Institutions, 2012.” It was issued by the Ministry of Education on June 20 of that year. But in 2024, 12 years after the policy was issued, it was found that the implementation rate of this policy at the field level was almost zero percent. There is no monitoring program. Teachers who benefit from coaching and private tuition are happy with this. And the destruction is happening to the students.
The main purpose of this policy was to protect parents and students from coaching teachers, reduce additional financial burden on families, and focus teachers in the classroom. Although the government did not make this policy to protect female students from sexual abuse, now it is becoming necessary to implement this policy to prevent sexual abuse.
The significant part of the policy is, ‘No teacher can coach the students of his institution. However, with the permission of the head of the educational institution, a maximum of 10 students from other institutions can be taught privately. In this case, the head of the institution should mention the list, roll, name, and class of the students. There is no example of this policy being implemented anywhere. No matter the name of the capital, the number of teachers who have not joined private coaching is comparatively low.
Vikarun Nisa Noon school teacher accused of sexual abuse Murad Sarkar is the district-level master trainer of the new curriculum. But he himself is accused of coaching businesses. Apart from this, the names of two more teachers came up regarding the allegations of involvement in coaching. They are Lovely Islam and Kaniz Fatema. Principal Keka Roy Chowdhury himself knew that they were involved in the coaching trade. But he was silent on this.
When questioned about the role of the education department in stopping the coaching trade, Education Minister Mahibul Hasan Chowdhury Naufel told Ittefaq yesterday, “The opportunity for coaching in the new curriculum has decreased. I will take action regarding the implementation of the coaching trade policy. The Education Minister said that instructions will be given to take stricter measures against sexual harassment.
Three types of punishments were mentioned for non-compliance. First, MPO will be suspended, canceled, salary reduced, or dismissed if MPO is involved. Secondly, if there is a non-MPO teacher in an MPO-affiliated institution, action will be taken, such as payment from the institution, suspension of salary, or dismissal from the job. Thirdly, measures such as dismissal from employment and suspension of salary will be taken if the organization is not under MPO. And if action is not taken against the teachers involved in the coaching business, the government will dissolve the board of directors of those institutions. But there is no example of such punishment against any teacher involved in coaching.
In this regard, Director General of the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education, Professor Nehal Ahmed, said, “According to the policy of banning the coaching trade, no student of his educational institution has the opportunity to teach private coaching. But we know it is being taught. But due to the lack of manpower in the Department of Education, there is less opportunity to monitor the matter. The subject can be monitored by the principal or head teacher. However, steps will be taken by the Department of Education to implement this policy.
