The deal was that if the land was given to the school, one member of the family would get a job as the school's office assistant. But more than two years after the land was taken, with no job given, Md Kalam Khan has angrily sown jute on his share of the land inside the school ground. The school's normal activities and the pupils' space to play are being disrupted.

The incident is at Murarikhola Government Primary School in Ratandia, Kalukhali upazila, Rajbari.

Pupils and locals say the jute field is spoiling the school environment: children cannot play properly and live in fear of insects. They want the jute field removed quickly.

The school, founded in 1997, has 68 decimals of land in total. In the 2022–23 financial year money was allocated to build a boundary wall, but because there was privately owned land on one side, the authorities faced a problem straightening the boundary.

The then MP Md Zillul Hakim, upazila chairman Aliuzzaman Chowdhury Tito, union parishad chairman Mehedi Hasina Parvin Nilufa, the school authorities and local notables then met Kalam Khan, who claims the land. It is alleged that on a verbal understanding, with an assurance that his son would be given a job as the school's office assistant, about 13 decimals of land were taken and the boundary wall was built in early 2024. The land was to be registered once the job came through.

But with no job after two and a half years, following the change of government, Kalam Khan started farming his land inside the school's boundary wall again. Although Kalam Khan claims to own the land, the name of Saheb Ali has come up as the actual owner; the two are brothers-in-law.

The school now has 142 pupils from pre-primary to class five. With a jute field on one side of the ground, their play and movement are being disrupted. The pupils say they cannot play and move about normally, are always afraid of insects, and want the jute field removed from inside the boundary quickly.

Head teacher Nurunnahar Khanam said the move to straighten the boundary had been made to improve the look of the school. Local public representatives and notables then used about 11–12 decimals of the neighbouring land to build the wall. "But I don't know on what terms the land was taken. It was not registered at the time," she said.

She added that the matter stalled after the change of government. The landowners had farmed there from the start and the school authorities did not stop them, because it is not the school's own land. But having a crop field inside the boundary is causing some problems, and she wants the land registered in the school's name.

Kalam Khan said the upazila chairman, the union parishad chairman, the head teacher and local people had asked him to give the land, saying it was being done on the MP's instructions. After much discussion he agreed to the land being used on the assurance of a job for his son. He said that although he objected at the time, the wall was built on the plea of finishing the work quickly. He was told the land would not be registered for now and everything would be completed once the job came through. But two to two and a half years have passed without the job, so he has started farming the land again.

Kalam Khan demands that either his son be given a job, or land of the same size be bought for him elsewhere; otherwise the wall must be broken down and his land handed back. He says he brought his son back from a job in Dhaka and is now suffering a loss.

Kalukhali upazila education officer Muhammad Mizanur Rahman said the then MP and local notables had discussed including the neighbouring land to build an even, straight wall. Later, because the land was neither paid for nor registered, the owners took it back and began farming.

He added that under government rules, government structures must be built on government land, but at the time the boundary wall was built in the presence of political leaders. The pupils' safety has now been reported to higher authorities, and further steps will be taken as instructed.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.