Khulna schools and colleges empty, coaching centres full

From primary school to college level, you will not find a full class in Khulna but visit any of the coaching centres that have proliferated in the city, and you will see every batch they run filled to the brim with students.

Concerned people urged the teachers to come back to their ethical responsibilities despite the Education Department taking no interest in this matter at all.

They also urged the guardians not to send their children to the coaching centres, many of them run by teachers otherwise employed by the schools or colleges.

It is known that there are about 200 coaching centres in Khulna metropolitan city run by those who do not belong to any institution. Besides, there are also a number of coaching centres run by the teachers working in various educational institutions.

Earlier, the teachers used to be somewhat worried about such involvements on the side, thanks to the vigilance of the government and the local administration.

Nowadays however, everything is going on unabated in the absence of any visible action to deter them, despite evidence of the direct involvement of teachers in coaching centres.

Due to this, at present these teachers are advertising their private coaching through posters mentioning their names, the name of the institutions where they work, positions, degrees and various other matters.

Many educational institutions are functioning on pen and paper only, and even have routines for the students. The teachers attend the classrooms according to the routine but sufficient students are not available there.

Ironically, they do not face problems for being absent in their classrooms, as long as they attend their batch at the coaching centres run by the teachers.  

Thus the educational institutions are growing bereft of students while the coaching centres are running at full capacity.

Golam Rabbani, guardian of a student of Khulna City College, said his college going ward does not want to attend classes at his college, but never misses his coaching batch.

Explaining the cause for this, he said that if his son misses his batch, it is being monitored by the coaching centre authority but there is no such monitoring in college.

“The major attraction of the school or college-bound students are to attend coaching centres or batches,” said Rekha Akhter, guardian of a student of Khulna BL College, adding that the teachers remain busy with their personal works when they come to college, on the other hand the students remain busy with their coaching centre batches.

When reaction was sought in this regard, Principal of Khulna BL College Prof KM Alamgir Hossain avoided the question and suggested meeting him at the college, but he was not available there either. He suggested seeking an appointment for coming to him with such queries.

TM Zakir Hossain, Principal of Khulna Government Women’s College, said his college also failed to keep the students in classes, suggesting “appropriate initiative of the administration is desirable”.

Prof Sheikh M Badiuzzaman, Principal of Government Model School and College at Boira in Khulna, said: “The teachers lack commitment, ethics and responsibilities. Moreover, the guardians should also come back from the coaching-batch oriented mentality. In this way, the classes can be filled with concerted efforts.”

When contacted, Prof Sheikh Harunur Rashid, Director of Secondary and Higher Education of Khulna district, said, “It wouldn’t be necessary for the students to rush to coaching centres if the teachers remain sincere in their classes.”

“The teachers also have their personal interest to be involved with coaching centres, but there’s no alternative for them to being attentive to their students in classes,” he pointed out.