Dhaka Bureau: According to the existing governing body and managing committee regulations of schools, colleges, and madrasas, there is no clear reference on how many times a president or chairman can be elected. As a result, there are instances of a president serving for more than one consecutive era.
However, in the revised new regulations, there will be no opportunity to hold the post of president for more than two consecutive terms. After being president for two terms, there should be a break. Later, he can become president again.
The Governing Body and Managing Committee Regulation of Private Educational Institutions for 2023 has been finalized with such provisions.
The Ministry of Education Parliamentary Committee and the Ministry of Education, Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education, Dhaka, have already finalized these regulations. The Dhaka Board said that these regulations will be sent to the Law Ministry for vetting very soon.
In 2021, an opinion of the High Court also said that no person could be the president or chairman of the governing body or managing committee of any school, college, or madrasa for more than two consecutive terms. The court suggested that the matter be included in the relevant regulations of the boards.
Besides, the educational qualification for becoming president of the existing management committee has not been determined. As a result, self-educated people have also served as presidents of many institutions in the country. Principals and head teachers suffer irony while running the institution. Due to this, the minimum educational qualification will be determined this time. The proposed regulations stipulate a minimum HSC pass for the president. And to become president of the government officials, they have to take the no-objection letter from their respective offices. A person can be president of a maximum of four institutions, including two secondary schools and two colleges.
Besides, in this revised regulation, the education boards have been empowered to form special committees in special situations. At present, the Boards of Education have the power to form ad hoc committees in special situations. The tenure of this ad hoc committee is six months. During this period, the ad hoc committee cannot make any appointments or make any major decisions except for routine work. During this period, a full-fledged regular committee has to be formed through elections. The tenure of the regular committee is two years.
A special committee can be constituted if the revised regulations are approved. This committee can perform all the duties like a regular committee. This committee can serve for two years. The officials of the board said that this special committee will be formed in those institutions where there has been a dispute over the committee for a long time.
The existing management committee has obligations to perform 16 duties of the managing committee and governing body as per the regulations. But the president of the governing body has other responsibilities that interfere unduly with the running of the institution. Recently, the president of the governing body of Manipur High School, a famous institution in the capital, announced the closure of the school for five days. But the president has no power to grant such leave. As a result, the Dhaka Education Board issued a notice to the president, asking him to explain why he acted outside of his jurisdiction. In response to the notice, the president said that he “did this without knowing” and also sought “forgiveness” from the board for this act. Teachers say it is normal if the committee president is incompetent or unaware of his responsibilities. Therefore, more conditions should be imposed on the chairman of the committee.
The qualification of the chairman of the management committee of primary schools is graduation or degree pass, which is mandatory. However, there is no mention of qualification in the existing regulations for secondary schools. The proposal to conduct HSC has been finalized in the revised proposed regulations. However, the educational qualification of the president should be graduation from secondary and higher secondary school, not HSC. Teachers say that the qualification of the president of a secondary institution must be different than that of a primary school. It is important that the qualifications of the president of the governing body of the honors-masters colleges be higher.
Dhaka Education Board Chairman Professor Tapan Kumar Sarkar said that the work of amending the regulations has been completed. Now it will be sent to the Law Ministry for vetting. After this, the government order implementing these regulations will be issued.
