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English medium schools in private sector should be brought under proper accountability for containing ‘mismanagement and irregularities of the school authorities’, discussants at a roundtable on Wednesday said.
   Although most of the schools are limited companies, which have no governing body and guardian representatives, and many of them even do not have the government registration, the owners are doing brisk business without any hindrance, they told the discussion in the CIRDAP auditorium.
   The minister for law justice and parliamentary affairs, Moudud Ahmed, state minister for education, Ehsanul Hoque Milan, South East University vice-chancellor, Professor Shamsher Ali, Justice Mohammad Abdur Rauf, Tazul Islam Chowdhury, MP, the chief metropolitan magistrate of Dhaka, Jalal Ahmed, actor Elias Kanchan and guardians of some students attended the discussion organised by the Federation of Bangladesh English Medium School Students’ Guardian Forum.
   The federation convenor, Mohammad Shahjahan, moderated the roundtable on ‘Endless mismanagement and irregularities at English medium schools and means of its resolution’.
   ‘Formulation of a strict guideline for the English medium schools is very much needed, but the school managements should be given certain freedom, Moudud said.
   Shamsher said he was much concerned over what the students were taught in the ‘factories of smart children’. ‘English as the medium of education is necessary for global competition. But our children must not be taught geography of other countries scarifying our own geography, culture and flora and fauna.’
   Milan said the government is set to establish a regulatory body to oversee the activities of the English medium schools in private sector, but the process is going on slowly for ‘bureaucratic tangle’.
   ‘In June 2004, we received recommendations from a coordination committee for reviewing the governance and academic activities of the private English medium schools and it is under evaluation.’
   ‘Perhaps the children of the policymakers are no more school students,’ Milan said when asked about the delay in implementing the recommendations.
   The government earlier set March 31 deadline, the second after the September 30, 2004 timeframe, for the English-medium schools to get registration.
   Although about half of the schools did not pay any heed to it and even did not bother to apply for registration, no school has been punished yet. Only 39 schools got registered with the Dhaka education board.
   According to the education ministry, there are 625 English medium schools in the country having standards for registration under the seven education boards and the secondary and higher education department.
   Guardians of some English medium school students said the authorities do not allow any governing body or guardian representatives to ‘continue their business undisturbed’. They termed the schools as limited companies.
   ‘Enrolment of students is the main earning source of the company owners and they increase the tuition fees and other charges every year without any logical ground,’ said a guardian.
   Saiful Bari Tutul, guardian of a Scholastica student, said the school authorities started harassing the guardians for silly reasons after they (guardians) had gone to the court for justice against illogical increase of tuition fees.
   ‘I was forced to withdraw my son from the school as I was participating in the movement against the mismanagement of the authorities,’ said the guardian of the former student of Bangladesh International Tutorial.
   Rina Rahman, another guardian of the school, alleged that her kids were kept isolated as she was leading the movement. ‘Our kids are not allowed to use the laboratories and even take part in the school picnic.’

Private sector real estate developers have played a key role in housing since the war of independence, said the minister for science and ICT, Abdul Moyeen Khan.
   He inaugurated a project, Euro Builders, of the Real Estate and Housing Association of Bangladesh at the Sheraton Hotel in Dhaka on Wednesday. The European Commission has extended financial support for the project.
   Moyeen said the project would make life more comfortable for the low- and fixed-income group people as they will be provided housing at an affordable price.
   The project manager, Zakir Hossain, said the project had been taken up to promote trade and business network in construction, housing and real estate sectors between Bangladesh and three European countries.
   The project will enhance bilateral economic cooperation through expanded trade, commerce, and investment and will facilitate technology transfer in low-cost construction from Europe.
   The cost of the 18-month project has been estimated at 128,882 euros.
   Esko Kentrschynskyj, ambassador and head of delegation of the European Commission in Bangladesh, was present as special guest.
   The REHAB president, Toufiq M Seraj, senior vice-president Abdul Awal, European Commission delegate Jean-Claude Malongo and honorary consul of Spain Jalaluddin also spoke.

Thirty-five passengers of a Dubai-bound flight of the Phuket Air were dropped just before departure at Shah Amanat International Airport in Chittagong Wednesday.
   Airport sources and passengers said the airlines did not allow them to get on the aircraft for seat shortage although they had confirmed tickets.
   All the 214 passengers, with tickets for the filght scheduled to fly at 10:30am collected boarding passes.
   The authorities dropped 35 passengers and included 35 others.
   Phuket sources said they had to accommodate 35 other passengers who failed to fly on April 3 for a technical glitch.
   The Phuket Air authorities had to drop 40 Dubai-bound passengers from the aircraft on April 3 and assured them passage to Dubai by the next scheduled flight on April 6.
   The Phuket marketing manager, Quamrul Islam, said the passengers would be flown to Dubai either in a special flight or with the help of other flight operators by April 12.

The hearing in the murder case of the Khulna-based New Age correspondent, Manik Chandra Saha, also a stringer of the BBC Bangla Service, will resume in the Khulna speedy trial tribunal today.
   The court officials said 21 witnesses, including the investigation officer, gave their deposition in court till March 23.
   There are 54 witnesses in the case and the deposition on January 4, the officials said.
   Haridas Biswas, medical officer of Khulna Medical College Hospital, who conducted the post-mortem examination of Manik, will give his deposition today, the officials said.
   Four of the accused are now in jail; three were killed in encounter and the remaining six are in hiding.
   Manik, a former president of the Khulna Press Club, was bombed to death on January 15, 2004 at Chhota Mirzapur in Khulna.

A mob lynched a suspected robber while the robbers injured four people in the Barisal city early Wednesday.
   The police said the robbers entered the house of Yunus Molla at Ward 29.
   The robbers hacked Yunus's wife, son and a neighbour.
   The local residents caught one of the robbers and lynched him at about 3:30am. Others managed to get away.
   The injured were treated in Barisal Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital.
   The police visited the place, recovered sharp weapons, torches and some tools used by the robbers. The body was sent for post-mortem examination in the morning.
   Hosneara lodged a case with the Barisal Kotwali police in afternoon.

All passenger motor vessels bound for Patuakhali, Amtali and Sureshwar from Dhaka will leave from Gabtali and all the motor vessels on the Dhaka–Dohri route will ply from Shinnirtek from April 12.
   The decision was made at a meeting of the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority and the launch owners’ association to make the best use of the circular waterway, said release on Wednesday.
   The transport authority chairman, M Reaz Hasan Khandakar, presided at the meeting. The launch owners’ association was led by its chairman, Gias Uddin Al Mamun.
   The meeting decided that four motor vessels on the Dhaka–Patuakhali route and two vessels on the Dhaka-Amtali route will ply from Gabtali from April 12 to ease congestion at the Sadarghat terminal.
   Motor vessels plying the Dhaka–Taltala–Dohri and Dhaka–Wapda–Sureshwar routes will ply from Shinnirtek via Sadarghat.

Speakers at a roundtable in the Rajshahi city on Wednesday stressed the need for concerted efforts to eliminate corruption from society.
   Cooperation from the opposition parties is essential in addition to the steps taken by the government to make the country free of corruption, said the speakers at the roundtable on ‘Jatiya Sangsad: people’s expectation and achievement’.
   The Committee of Concerned Citizens in collaboration
   with the Transparency International Bangladesh, Dhaka organised the programme in a Parjatan Motel conference room.
   Former adviser to the caretaker government and member of the TIB Trustee Board M Hafiz Uddin Khan attended as chief guest. The committee’s local unit convener Golam Arif Tipu was in the chair. TIB research officer Abdul Alim was the keynote speaker.
   Former vice-chancellors of Rajshahi University Saidur Rahman Khan and Abdul Khaleque, former vice-chancellor of the Islamic University in Kusthia Koyesh Uddin, Hassan Azizul Haque, Rajshahi University Teachers’ Association president Nazrul Islam, former Rajshahi mayor Abdul Hadi, Jaglul Haider Chowdhury of the political science department of the university and the local Institution of Engineers president Lutfor Rahman joined the discussion.
   The speakers referred to negative impacts of corruption and said it breeds social, economic and political crises, and traps millions of people in hunger and misery.
   Corruption disrupts law and order, undermines democracy, and distorts trade and fosters exploitation of natural resources, they said.

The Dhaka University Teachers’ Association on Wednesday demanded eviction of Professor Hasanuzzaman Chowdhury from the campus for his misbehaviour.
   An association release termed Hasanuzzaman of the political science department ‘mentally ill’ and said his misbehaviour with neighbours, including Dr Rahmatullah, is also tarnishing the image of the teachers.
   An emergency meeting was held on Tuesday with the association president, AAMS Arefin Siddique, in the chair to discuss the incident of March 29 involving Dr Hasanuzzaman, who is also a Public Service Commission member.
   A number of association members, including general secretary Dr Akhtaruzzaman, Dr Ashraf Uddin Chowdhury and Dr Hossain Mansor, addressed the meeting.
   The association also protested against the recent deployment of the police and the Rapid Action Battalion members in front of the residence of Hasanuzzaman, who stays in a quarter of Zahurul Haq Hall, despite the fact that he is no longer a resident teacher of the hall.
   The association decided to send a letter to Hasanuzzaman, warning him to change his conduct to retain his membership of the association.
   Dr Hasanuzzaman was not available for comments.

An organisation of photojournalists of the print and electronic media, Photojournalist Unity, was formed, said a release on Wednesday.
   The unity formed a 21-member executive committee with Janakantha photojournalist Hasanuzzaman Tarun as its president.
   Other members on the committee include vice-president Masud Parvez Anis from Bhorer Kagoj, general secretary Shafikul Islam Kajal, former photojournalist of New Age, deputy general secretary Mohammad Shahidul Haque Jiban, organising secretary Zakir Hossain of ATN Bangla and treasurer Jamal Uddin Ahmmad of Desh Bangla.

The Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation and the Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation will jointly introduce a tourist service.
   The decision was made at a meeting on Wednesday between Parjatan Corporation chairman Mahfujul Haque and transport corporation chairman Taimur Alam Khandakar, said a release.
   The transport corporation will provide air-conditioned minibuses to the Parjatan Corporation for airport services and organise package tours.
   It will also hire Parjatan Corporation transports for its training institute. The Parjatan Corporation will enjoy free maintenance of its vehicles in the transport corporation workshops.
   The Parjatan Corporation planning director, Mushfiqur Rahman, general manager (administration) Muhammd Ahsan Ullah and general manager (technical) M Golam Mostafa were present.

Agitation at DU against exam rules
The students of science, bioscience and pharmacy faculties of Dhaka University on Wednesday laid siege to the vice-chancellor’s office, demanding cancellation of the university system which does not allow a student to take improvement tests in more than 25 per cent of the total courses and cancellation of increased fees for the improvement tests from Tk 200 to Tk 400. They brought out a procession from the Curzon Hall in the morning and marched towards the administrative building. They damaged a few vehicles near Doel Square. Pro-vice-chancellor AFM Yusuf Haider assured the students of taking necessary steps.
— New Age

SME fair closed for tomorrow
The Small and Medium Enterprise Fair at the Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre in Dhaka will remain closed for Friday to ensure security for the visiting Chinese premier, Wen Jiabao, said a release of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and
Industry.
— BSS

Akheri Chahar Shamba observed
Akheri Chahar Shamba was observed at Aimpur Dayera Sharif in Dhaka on Wednesday. A prayer session was organised between fazr and maghrib prayers. A large number of people visited the place and attended the prayer session. Pir Alhaj Hazrat Maulana Shah Sufi Syed Ahmadullah (Zobaer) said the final prayer.
— New Age