Informal schools, beacon for remote Teesta char kids

For reasons of hardship, be they personal or purely economic, not everybody has the chance to finish school. It's an unfortunate circumstance that can lead to lifelong regret. But in the remote char (landmass emerging from riverbed areas) of the Teesta River where completing an education comes with added geographical challenge, 740 students from struggling families in 31 villages across two unions have found opportunity where there was none. Recently they have passed their Primary Terminal Examinations after attending NGO-established informal schools.

Attracting former dropout students from struggling families, the 31 locally-called 'Shikhon' schools are run by a local NGO, RDRS Bangladesh, with technical assistance from international NGO Save the Children and funding from the European Union. The schools were first established in the Teesta char lands in 2013 and have proved popular.

“Within the approximately thirty square kilometres of Teesta River char lands there are only three government primary schools,” says local resident Nazrul Islam, 48, from Char Harin Chawra village in Lalmonirhat sadar upazila. “These three schools can't cater to all the education needs of our children. Many students had to drop out before finishing their study. But now, at the NGO-run informal schools, they were finally able to complete their primary education.”

“I was enrolled up to Class II in a government primary school,” says student Sahanur Islam, 13, from Char Khalaighat village, “I couldn't continue because the school was four kilometres from our home. Luckily I got the chance to study in the informal school.”

“The school runs for four or five hours every day,” says Rina Begum, 35, the sole teacher responsible for the informal school at Char Banshdah village. “I make sure all the students are present. They shouldn't miss a single class.” About 30 students study at Rina's school. “I started teaching them from Class II,” she says.

“The informal schools have been good at providing education for the children in our community,” says Mostaque Ali, 48, a school parent from Char Khalaighat. “We hope the project will continue.”

Shariful Islam, a field coordinator of the project says that after meeting with local communities to raise initial awareness, enthusiasm for education local children was evident. “The charl-dwellers are very much interested that their children should have an informal school option available,” he says.

Programme manager of RDRS Bangladesh, Maidul Islam, notes that the first phase of the project is now complete. “We needed to manage an exam centre in the char areas too as the students face difficulty if they have to travel the around ten kilometres to the mainland to attend their exams,” he suggests. He hopes RDRS Bangladesh will be able to implement the second phase of the project, dependent on funding availability.

Lalmonirhat district's primary education officer, Nabez Uddin Sarker, agrees that exam centres should optimally be available on the shoals. “I will try to manage this after discussing the issue with our local administration,” he says. “The RDRS Bangladesh informal schools have played a vital role to educate char-dwelling children. Their efforts should be supported.”

In the meantime, the first batch of Primary School Certificate graduates from the informal schools has something new to look forward to: high school. RDRS Bangladesh is currently assisting in securing their enrolments.