SWAC
Better opportunities for the autistic children

Autism, according to the dictionary, is a serious mental condition that develops during childhood in which one becomes unable to communicate or form relationships with others. Identified in 1943, it is still a relatively unknown disability. Autistic children are extremely sensitive, requiring special care, attention, and a special way of learning. This is what the Society for the welfare of autistic children (SWAC) is offering. This school for special children is located in Lalmatia.

SWAC was founded by a group of parents of autistic children. According to them, they wanted to set up a place where these children could learn to communicate with people and manage to do their own work properly. SWAC has defined autism as a spectrum disorder, which means the condition has wide ranging degrees of severity. The term autism spectrum disorder is often used to describe all degrees of the condition. SWAC now has about 54 students. They assign only six students per class and the teacher-student ratio is such that each student gets the proper concentration. The parents bring the children here on their own or various hospitals and clinics also sometimes refer them here. The principal here herself is a doctor.

Mrs. Sabina Hossain, a member of the SWAC committee, confesses that right now their tuition fees are a bit high as they are providing all kinds of stationery and toys for the kids from the school. They also take students to various places like shopping centres, ice-cream parlours, and amusement parks so that they know how to behave at these places. They also celebrate the birthdays of the children at the school. They have continuous effort on decorating the school nicely so that the kids enjoy their stay at the school. Till now school hasn't received any government support but they are planning to ask for it soon. They have received some donations from personal contacts and hope to get more from the helping hands of the society. Then they can decrease the fees so that more parents can afford to send their autistic children to SWAC.

They have plans to add more facilities to the students. The organisation is a non-profit institute and the members of its committee work on a non-payment basis. The members are thankful to the teachers also as they have also supported them a lot by being so caring to the children and being devoted to the profession. They are also thankful to those who came forward with donations and being a part of this noble cause.

At present SWAC is raising awareness and creates a better understanding of autism throughout the country. It expects everybody to be more co-operative with the autistic children. It offers diagnosis and assessment of autistic children, arranges training programs for both parents and teachers. SWAC encourages everyone to treat the autistic as any other normal child and not side with him/her in any social affairs. Going to SWAC would definitely melt your heart. The handwork and other creative works of the students would make your visit enjoyable there. Maybe you would also want to help SWAC in offering better opportunities to the autistic children.

By Syeda Nafiza Ahmed

A guideway to success

Just as we graduate from school, confusion finds us. We do not know what to study next. Students rush to their friends, relatives, next-door neighbours, and where not. Some gets enrolled in three tiered universities, some others get admitted in some of the private universities which hardly has any recognition, they graduate by twenty (which seems to be new trend) and end up having no jobs. These youngsters lack the proper guidance as to what they should do, and what they shouldn't. Is it worthy to rush off to higher levels or not. Whether they should take their A-levels. For the first time ever, Bangladesh School Of Law (BSL) took the initiative of providing these precious information and a proper guideline to those who are in desperate need of it. This 'CAREER BUILDING PROGRAMME' took place for three days 14th, 15th and 16th of June in the premises of BSL.

When asked as to why BSL came up with this superb ides, Mr. Andaleeve Rahman, the Managing Director of BSL, answered that around 15000-20000 students take their O's, and it falls to about 3000 when it comes to A's. This is the catch. These students gets to private universities, and do not get jobs in good places. Even if they do, they are paid low. By then, 'TIME' has efflacted. What students fail to comprehend is that they need to take their A-levels with a good combination of subjects. For instance, both UK and USA requires specialized subjects. A person who wants to be an Economist should have Economics and Mathematics. This event provided information that will help them to get admitted to well-placed local and foreign universities. They are here for the students benefit, for their better future. Summing up, this event was about why A's are important, information about IELTS, and a helping hand to those who wish to take up law as an integral part of their life.

The programme emphasized on the importance of IELTS. It deals with the day-to-day English. IELTS is not only necessary for universities, but also for a good job. The general scenario is such that candidates cannot usually score more that 5.0. This is because students do not go to quality institutions with quality teachers. They just come across an ad somewhere, and rush to pay for admission. Students do not judge the quality; this results in bad score, which, in turn, leads to frustration. BSL recommends students to go to British Council for counseling and recommendations.

The prime reason behind all these setbacks and failures is- THE DEARTH OF PROPER GUIDELINE. This event was like a ray of sunshine at the end of a tunnel. BSL was much appreciated because of their incentive, and this had a positive outcome. Hats off to this event, which was of the students, by the students and for the students.

By Maherin Ahmed

Campus news
Sunbeams activity week

Sunbeams school organized their first Educational Fair which was held on the 12th and 13th of June within the school premises. The fair was inaugurated by the Chairperson Ms. Niloufer Manzur. Students from classes three to nine participated in this fair.

On the days of the fair the school premises were decorated with colourful banners and posters advertising for the different projects created by the students.

There were many interesting and fascinating projects. Some students created banners and other attractive posters with catchy slogans on them to oppose and also create awareness about such atrocities as child labour, war in Iraq, deforestation, harming of the plant and animal ecosystem etc. A certain group of students of Class VI even turned their classroom into a tropical rainforest to explain to the visitors about how the rainforest is gradually depleting. There were also some very interesting projects that dealt with the ancient history of different countries. Some students also shed light on the mystery of DNA. There were also many computer projects where students created different presentations and websites for their spectators. There were many other interesting science projects like the Van de Graaf generator, the periscope and the 'Maglev' or the magnetic levitation train which uses the principal of magnetic fields to run.

Some students of Class IX built a water-propelled rocket, which operated on the mechanism of water pressure. Numerous curious spectators of all ages gathered to watch the launching of the rocket. Other students of Class IX demonstrated the use of solar power in order to generate electricity. They appealed to their spectators to try and promote this idea in Bangladesh. Some students even opened a small café as a part of a commerce project, while other gave a flower shop as a part of an accounting project, where they kept accounts of their profit and loss.

On the 15th of June the dance, drama and music club of Sunbeams school staged two performances titled "Bhor holo door kholo" and "PROUD", respectively, at the National Museum Auditorium. The children from the junior section performed both the shows.

The first performance was " Bhor Holo Door Kholo" which comprised of a set of Bengali nursery rhymes along with dances. The children from KG I to Class II took part in this programme.

The next performance was titled "PROUD - A celebration of ourselves" and it was performed by the students of Class III and IV. The show started with all the performers entering the stage holding flags of different countries and dressed in the traditional dress of the country they were representing. Through poetry and songs they conveyed a message to the audience. They emphasized on the importance of growing up to be a good human being and possess good qualities and virtues no matter what country or race they belonged to. They ended their marvelous performance by declaring through their title song, "I'm proud of who I am; proud of what I am ".

The Dance and Music Club of Sunbeams senior school presented Rabindranath Tagore 's dance-drama, "Chitrangoda" on the 16th of June, at the National Museum Auditorium.

"Chitrangoda" was the princess of Manipur, who was brought up like a boy and excelled in fields like fighting and archery, but did not possess good looks. She falls for Arjun, a gallant and chivalrous nobleman, who was under vow not to wed (i.e. a brahmachariya). In an attempt to win Arjun's heart, Chitrangoda seeks help of Madan, the god of love. He transforms her into a beautiful woman and she succeeds to conquer Arjun's heart. She realises, however that his love is only due to her false outer image and not her inner self. Meanwhile Arjun yearns to meet Princess Chitrangoda when he comes to know about her character, which was a wonderful blend of boldness, courage, love and affection. After meeting her he also realises that the external beauty is trivial compared to the beauty of the inner soul. As Arjun realises this truth and vows to keep her beside him as an equal partner at all times fair or foul, she asks the lord to change her back to her original self. This is how the story proceeds.

Abseen Rifa and Tilka Fannana played the role of Chitrangoda. Uzma Samad played Arjun while Ashreen Mridha was cast in the role of Madan. The chorus singers and the other dancers were all from the dance and music club.

By Nusrat