Yesterday, he told some reporters at his Banani office
It took seven years and nearly Tk40 lakh for Jatiya Party chief HM Ershad, former military ruler and now a special envoy to the prime minister, to finally realise that he had “destroyed his son’s life.”
Yesterday, he told some reporters at his Banani office that his younger son Eric – a special child – had learnt nothing during the seven years that he had studied at the capital’s Australian International School.
According to Ershad, his son, who was an eighth grader at the Australian International School, knows elementary English and mathematics only and no Bangla, sports, computer, singing and drawing.
“As a result, although he [Eric] should have been in the eighth grade, I had to recently admit him in the third grade in another school. Such was the poor standard of the previous school,” Ershad alleged.
He told reporters that he had been so busy with his political enterprises that he did not get the time to take proper care of his son during the time he studied at the Australian school.
Eric is Ershad’s second son with his divorced wife Bidisha. Ershad’s first wife is the current leader of the opposition in parliament Rawshad Ershad and they had another son.
Thirteen-year-old Eric has been living with his father since his parents got divorced in 2005. He is now studying in a school named Proyash, which is an army-patronised educational institution.
When contacted yesterday, Bidisha said: “Do not ask me anything about Ershad and his son. I do not know what he said about his son. It is all up to him.”
Earlier, while talking to reporters, Ershad claimed that despite being a special child, his son was very talented because he knew by heart at least 70 songs of Rabindranath Tagore.
“The Australian International School had been charging me Tk5 lakh annually for [Eric’s] regular education. They also charged Tk17,000 per month as an additional fee considering that Eric is a special child,” Ershad said.
According to a written statement of Ershad, the school appointed one Moshiur Rahman to take care of Eric as a special student; but the person did not have any experience in this regard he alleged.
“The school did not provide any progress report over the last seven years; all the annual report cards mentioned that he got good grades in all subjects,” Ershad alleged.
The Dhaka Tribune correspondent visited the Australian International School in Gulshan yesterday but could not meet Principal Michael Bowmer, an Australian national.
When contacted, Jebun Nessa, the school’s human resource executive, said she was in a meeting and could not talk.
After waiting an hour, this correspondent was told the authorities would not comment on this regard.
Source: Dhaka Tribune
