Sabuz Polli College
No teachers, no regular classes: all students fail HSC exams
Collected Photo
Two buildings stand amid paddy fields. The plaster has peeled off one of them. Looking at the buildings, one might think they belong to an educational institution in a remote area affected by floods. But the reality is different. This is Sabuz Polli College in Khedapara Union of Manirampur Upazila in Jashore.
Twenty-three years after its establishment, the college has suffered a major academic setback in this year’s Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) examinations. None of the seven students who took the exams passed. A shortage of teachers, years of unpaid salaries and various other obstacles have brought academic activities at the non-MPO institution to an almost complete standstill.
If there are no teachers and no regular classes, how can students pass? This is now a question frequently raised by residents of the Khedapara area.
According to local sources, Sabuz Polli College was established in 2003 at the initiative of GM Omar Faruk, chairman of Khedapara Union Parishad and organising secretary of the upazila BNP. Initially, the institution received approval to offer humanities, science and business studies programmes. The college began its journey with 15 teachers.
However, shortly after its establishment, the college began facing political changes and various obstacles. College Vice Principal Ibrahim Hossain said he had been teaching there for 23 years without receiving any salary.
“I have been teaching at the college for 23 years, but I have not received a single penny in salary. I have children and a family to support. How long is it possible to continue like this?” he said.
The college authorities claim that the institution has repeatedly faced obstacles to securing Monthly Pay Order (MPO) status for political reasons because its founder is a BNP leader. According to them, there were no major obstacles during the tenure of former Manirampur lawmaker Khan Tipu Sultan. However, various difficulties emerged after Swapan Bhattacharjee became a member of parliament and state minister.
At one point, teachers from the science and business studies departments gradually left the college because they were not receiving salaries and allowances. As a result, student enrolment also began to decline.
Meanwhile, another educational institution named Matribhasha College was established nearby in Khedapara. The institution quickly secured MPO status, while the older Sabuz Polli College failed to receive the same opportunity, according to the college authorities.
Later, in 2025, lawmaker Yakub Ali arranged for the construction of a new building at the college.
The prolonged failure to secure MPO status has made it difficult for the college to retain teachers. Currently, academic activities are being maintained somehow with five lecturers in the humanities department.
S Alam, the only lecturer in the English department, died on March 4, 2025. As the college is a non-MPO institution, no one has shown interest in taking up the vacant position.
As a result, students had to sit for the HSC examinations without an English teacher.
College Principal Rezaul Islam said an attempt had been made to conduct classes with a part-time English teacher. However, the teacher stopped coming after two months because the college could not pay his salary. Subsequently, teachers of geography or economics had to conduct classes somehow.
A steady decline in results
An analysis of the college’s HSC examination results over the past few years clearly shows the deterioration in its academic performance.
In 2022, 29 of the 36 candidates passed. In 2023, 26 of the 27 candidates passed. In 2024, eight of the 10 candidates passed. In 2025, three of the five candidates passed.
In the latest HSC examinations this year, none of the seven candidates passed. Of them, three failed in one subject each, while two failed in two subjects each.
Abu Rahim, a shopkeeper near the college, said, “At one time, most of the boys and girls in the area studied at this college. But as the teachers gradually left, the students also stopped coming to the college.”
Regarding the poor results, Professor SM Hossain Ali, controller of examinations at the Jashore Education Board, said the board was taking a strict stance against educational institutions where no students had passed. No leniency would be shown in such cases.
College President Kabir Hossain said the institution had been established for the convenience of students in the area. This was the first time since its establishment that the pass rate had fallen to zero.
“If there had been an English teacher, such a situation would not have arisen,” he said.
He added that prompt measures would be taken to prevent a recurrence of such a disastrous result in the future.
