No child left behind

These children from poor landless families, who live in shanties inside government forestland in the district's Sohadia Khaspara under Sreepur upazila's Bormy union, have fallen through the cracks of the formal education system. They have either dropped out of primary schools or never attended one. 

Thanks to Habibunnessa Mimi Sarker, Rajlakshmi Debnath, Mafia Sarker Mithila and Shimu Akter, the Sohadia Khaspara children are getting a second chance at education.

The four friends, all residents of Bormy, started running the free school 'Khudey Bornomala Shishu Pathshala' for the Khaspara kids from January this year.

"Since I was in college, I felt an urge to do something for people within my own means. Soon, I heard about the landless people who live in the forest [of Gazipur], 2.5 kilometres away from my home," said Habibunnessa, a Bachelor of Science student at Freedom Fighter Rahmat Ali Government College.

"I shared my idea with my friends and started collecting more information about that community. We found that many of their children do not go to school or drop off before completing the primary level because of the cost of school materials and conveyance," she said.

Thus, the four young women decided to start teaching the children for free in a field next to the forest under the open sky.

Every day, except for Friday, classes of grade I and II are held together while classes of grade III, IV and V are conducted separately from 8:30am to 12:30pm.

Rajlakshmi, a third-year Honours student at Bhawal Badre Alam Government College, and Habibunnessa give more time in the school, as their own undergraduate classes are held only three days a week.

Mafia and Shimu, both higher secondary students of Mizanur Rahman Khan Degree Mohila College, help out their friends whenever they get time.

Inspired by their effort, others in Bormy, like Mir Mizan, have donated educational materials and books.

"When I saw that poor children from adjacent neighbourhoods are also coming here to take lessons, I joined in by providing some copies and pencils," Mir said.

Bormy Union Parishad Chairman Shamsul Haque Badal Sarker collected old textbooks for the Khaspara children from primary school teachers in the union.

"Because of familial reasons, these children had fallen through the crack of the formal education system. The initiative of these women will bring them back on track," he hoped.

The parents of the Khaspara children are also happy with the Pathshala.

Rowshan Ara, who has two kids, is glad that the school is right beside her home in the forestland. She does not have to worry about sending them to the nearest primary school 2.5 kilometres away.

Another resident of Khaspara Latifa Akhter, said she used to send her son to the local primary school, but could not afford the conveyance, tiffin and educational material costs.

"The trip to and from the school used to cost at least Tk 40 per day," said Latifa, whose husband is a small farmer. Now, her son gets a free education with no additional expense.

Six-year-old Ayesha Akhter said, "My father is physically challenged and my mother works at a farmland. My family cannot afford my educational expenses. So, I have started going to this free school."

Sadly, classes of the school, which now has 50 students, often get cancelled during bad weather.

"Sometimes during bad weather, the locals allow us to take the classes on their verandahs or inside a room or two. But that cannot be a permanent solution," said Habibunnessa.

"It would help if we had two tin-roofed schoolrooms and four blackboards," she said.

A case on the ownership claim of the land, where the school runs, is currently underway in the court between a private individual and the government.

Yet, Habibunnessa is hopeful that even if the private individual wins the case, their school won't face a problem.

She feels if the authorities concerned want, a school building could be erected in the same land or on adjacent fallow government land.

"We will apply [for it] to authorities concerned," she said.

Her friend Mafia added that they will try to enroll their students to different nearby primary schools so that the students can sit for the public examinations.

The Bormy upazila chairman is helping the young women in this regard.

Upazila Education Officer Kamrul Hasan told The Daily Star that they visited the school and assessed its curriculum.

Kamrul said, "They [the young women] will be able to enlist their school with the Upazila Primary Education Office as per the rules."

The Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) has supplied them with some new textbooks, he added.

Sreepur's UNO Sk Shamsul Arefin told The Daily Star that necessary cooperation will be extended to the young women who are working for the expansion of children's education.

He said a request has been made to look for a piece of khas land to build a permanent structure for the school.