School ground ripe for the taking

Inside the Lalmatia Housing Society School and College in the capital, four shops stand, having been opened by a councilman. During a visit in mid-January, it was found that three more stores were under construction.

Criticizing the move, former teachers, locals and city planners have lambasted school authorities for damaging the environment of the premises.

School authorities have levied Tk 1-2 lakh as advance payment from each trader and levy Tk 8,000-16,000 as rent, sources said. Shops are built on the southwest side of the premises.

A retired teacher told the Daily Star: “Building shops on school grounds like this is unacceptable. It will destroy the ambience of the school, which was once renowned for the quality of its teaching. “

Another former teacher said that at least three large trees were felled during the construction of the stores, which is an additional misfortune that the locals have to deal with.

Also, 5 to 10 years ago, a local councilor built the councillor’s office and two businesses on the northwest side of the school. The stores, however, were not in use at that time, he said.

However, locals said the stores opened about a year ago.

Adil Mohammad Khan, former general secretary of the Bangladesh Institute of Planners, said it was illegal for school authorities to build stores on school grounds.

He said if the authorities came up with half-hearted excuses like the crisis of funds to go through with it, it would only set a bad example.

Md Ashraful Islam, Urban Planner of Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk), said the schools are public establishments and any commercial activity on their premises is completely prohibited.

Contacted, Syed Hasan Nur Islam, Ward 32 Councilor of Dhaka North City Corporation, who is also the head of the school’s governing body, said the area where the new stores were built was abandoned and that there were no trees.

Hasan said he built four stores after approval from the governing body. While three others, which have not obtained approval, are under construction. They will make other decisions based on demand for stores.

He said 50% of teachers’ salaries come from the government while the rest comes from school revenues.

“We were struggling to keep the school running during the pandemic, so we decided to generate some money that way,” the adviser said.

He added that they have also built a canteen on site for the students.

The school principal, AKM Akmal Hossain, echoed the adviser’s reasoning, saying the school lacked funds to pay salaries and there were 10 teachers who did not fall within the monthly payroll order. (DFO) of the government.

Akmal said the school was built in 1962 on 3.37 acres of land and has over a thousand students. He said they had obtained permission from the environment ministry before cutting down 15 trees for the development work.

However, some locals said the shops will attract many people, which will form huge gatherings in the school premises and in turn harm the school environment.