Rain-damaged ground deprives kids of sport

As at any government primary school, many of the 208 students of the school in Balapukur village in Lalmonirhat's Aditmari upazila are keen on sport. It used to be that the schoolyard was regularly brought to life with ballgames. But for the last five months it hasn't been possible. Excessive rain damaged the school's grounds, which now feature ruts and holes in place of a level playing field.

“School is so boring now,” says Al Amin, a student of Class V. “We used to play games during breaks every day, but now we can't because of the damaged playground.”

“We can hardly move freely,” adds his classmate, Ripa Akther Moni. “We fear falling in one of the holes. We have requested our school authority to fix the school grounds several times, but it hasn't happened,” she says. “It's quite upsetting.”

“The holes in the school grounds which are up to four feet deep developed during the heavy rainfall in July and August 2017,” says the school's head teacher, Bodiuzza-man Mithu. “Earth was washed away into an adjoining pond. It's a situation that also causes difficulties for teachers. The education officer and school management committee have been informed.”

Aditmari Upazila Education Officer (UEO) Chand Miah says he is aware of the problem and that it will be addressed jointly by the school authority and the school managing committee, as the education office has no applicable funds for the earth-filling works required.

The managing committee president Abdul Jalil says he has raised the issue with the local public representative. He assured The Daily Star that support for repairing the playground would be provided by the end of the year.