Bhandaria (Pirojpur) Correspondent

Teachers of Bhandaria Thana Girls’ Secondary School in Pirojpur have locked the headmaster’s office and nailed the door shut, alleging that the headmaster suspended the salaries and allowances of seven teachers and committed various irregularities at the institution.

The teachers reportedly locked the office from Thursday and secured the door with nails. Meanwhile, the headmaster, who has reportedly been absent from the school since September 8, sent a leave application via WhatsApp to the school’s governing body president, who is also the Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO), on Sunday (September 13).

According to the allegations, the headmaster has recently faced accusations of misappropriating school funds, harassing assistant teachers and failing to provide prizes to students who participated in sports competitions.

Following the allegations, Bhandaria UNO and school governing body president Md. Hasibul Hasan conducted an on-site inspection and formed a committee for further investigation. During the inquiry, assistant teachers provided statements, and the administration reportedly found preliminary evidence supporting some of the allegations.

During the investigation, teachers accused the headmaster of financial irregularities, abuse of power, mental harassment and administrative arbitrariness. The headmaster subsequently suspended the salaries and allowances of seven assistant teachers, according to the allegations. This led to a dispute between the headmaster and the assistant teachers.

In protest, the affected teachers locked the headmaster’s office and nailed the door shut. The headmaster was reportedly absent from the school at the time.

Md. Sohrab Hossain, a religious studies teacher at the school, confirmed the incident and alleged that the headmaster had unlawfully suspended the salaries of seven teachers.

“He is running the school arbitrarily and damaging the academic environment. Teachers testified during the administrative investigation into allegations of financial irregularities against him, after which he became angry and suspended the salaries of seven assistant teachers. This is completely unlawful,” Hossain said.

Accused headmaster S.M. Mujibur Rahman said he was currently on leave. Regarding the suspension of teachers’ salaries, he said the main reason was that the teachers were engaged in private tutoring.

“I temporarily suspended their salaries and allowances for administrative reasons,” he said. Regarding the locking of his office, he said he was unaware of the matter.

Bhandaria UNO and school governing body president Md. Hasibul Hasan said the allegations of corruption and irregularities against the headmaster were under investigation.

“I have heard that the headmaster’s office has been locked. The reasons behind it will be investigated and necessary action will be taken,” he said.