B'baria schoolchildren at risk

For up to three thousand schoolchildren in Brahmanbaria's Nasirnagar upazila, dilapidated school buildings are a usual hazard. At twelve government primary schools some or all of the classrooms that should house daily lessons are unusable due to neglect. In the worst instances the designated buildings are at risk of collapse. Classes are often relocated, to be held in rented tin sheds, in corridors or under the open sky, which for the students is hardly a scenario that can inspire. Understandably, enrolment rates are falling.

Durgapur Government Primary School in Bhalakut union is one school facing such circumstances. “Plaster falls from the ceiling of our classroom,” says Arina Akter, a student of class five. “When the rain starts our classrooms are also wet. From fear we don't go inside.

Instead, our classes are held in a tin shed.”

“Roof cracks in the three classrooms and the office room at our school first appeared fifteen years ago,” says the assistant teacher, also acting headmaster, Kohinoor Begum. “Every day, plaster falls from the ceilings. It's really terrible,” she adds. She says that there was no choice but to rent a tin shed for classes, with the teachers themselves paying the rent.

“The original contractor used such low quality materials,” says president of the school management committee Hemendra Chandra Das. “Plaster routinely falls, and at any time the building can collapse. The risk of a major catastrophe is very real.”

Due to the condition of the classrooms, the school is failing to attract students. “In light of the situation, many families prefer to enrol their children in kindergartens in neighbouring villages,” says Das. “The number of students we have is decreasing day by day.” It's a reality that's also true for the eleven other schools with dilapidated buildings.

Requests to fix the buildings have been sent. “The authorities should allocate funds to urgently repair the buildings at several schools in this area,” agrees the upazila's Primary Education Officer Umme Salma.

“Most of the schools with risky buildings are in haor areas,” says Nasirnagar's Upazila Nirbahi Officer Md Liakot Ali. “Immediate steps will be taken to construct safe buildings at these schools.”