Teachers close schools for wedding of minister’s son

Schoolteachers in Chilmari, Roumari and Rajibpur upazilas of Kurigram showed up at the wedding reception of Safayet Bin Zakir Sourav, son of State Minister for Primary and Mass Education Zakir Hossain, on Sunday closing their schools for the day.

Over 1,200 teachers of 264 schools were invited to the reception in Roumari town.

Sources said attendance of teachers was "compulsory".

Many teachers at the reception claimed that they used a "reserved holiday" for the school so that they could join the programme.

The teachers went to the reception with gifts like TV sets and refrigerators.

Abdul Gaffar, head teacher of Majiderpar Government Primary School in Chilmari, said teaching activities were suspended on Sunday as it was a "reserved holiday".

However, Nur Islam, a guardian, told The Daily Star that his son returned home from Majiderpar school on Sunday as his school was closed. His son went to school on Thursday, but he was not aware of the closure. It is unethical for teachers to close the school to attend a wedding reception, he added.

District education officials were also present at the reception.

Kurigram Primary Education Officer Shahidul Islam told The Daily Star that head teachers of all government primary schools in the three upazilas used one of the three "reserved holidays" on Sunday.

Asked why this was allowed, he said, "It is a matter of head teachers alone. They told me that attendance of students at the schools was low due to extreme cold."

However, State Minister Zakir Hossain could not be reached for comments despite repeated attempts.