Sherpur Correspondent

The Monthly Pay Order (MPO) enrollment of Kohinur Alam, an assistant teacher at Rangtia High School in Jhenaigati upazila of Sherpur, has remained stalled for 11 years due to his inability to pay bribes. Kohinur Alam is the son of the late Abul Kashem from Hatibandha Prodhanpara village in Hatibandha union.

According to reports, Kohinur Alam was appointed as an assistant teacher in the Social Science department at Rangtia High School in 2014 by the then-headmaster, Monjarul Haque. However, after 11 years, his MPO has still not been processed, forcing his family to lead a subhuman existence amidst extreme hardship. The aggrieved teacher alleges that his MPO has been blocked because he refused to pay bribes to education officials.

The victim claimed that he secured the appointment in 2014 by contributing Tk 700,000 for school development. However, processing MPO enrollment requires bribing the relevant authorities, which he could not afford. Recently, the current headmaster, Md. Jamshed Ali, allegedly resorted to forgery and accepted extra money to appoint a woman named Masuma, submitting proposals for MPO under her name in place of Kohinur Alam. When the Upazila Secondary Education Officer visited Rangtia High School to verify the authenticity, the discrepancy came to light. Other teachers at the institution stated that they neither recognize anyone named Masuma Khatun nor was any such teacher appointed.

When contacted, headmaster Md. Jamshed Ali stated that processing MPO enrollment incurs official expenses, which Kohinur Alam has been unable to pay. He claimed that Kohinur was offered an arrangement where others would cover the costs to secure his MPO, and Kohinur would repay them after receiving his salary, but the teacher disagreed. Consequently, authorities sought to replace him with another candidate.

Upazila Education Officer Md. Rafiqul Islam Bhuiyan declined to provide details, stating that no information can be shared until the investigation concludes.

Meanwhile, Sherpur District Secondary Education Officer Md. Rezwan assured that necessary steps would be taken upon investigating the matter.