Bidyaneer, a school for underprivileged children

Three years ago, on November 7, a street child came to Mousumi Ritu seeking alms. Little did the five-year-old now that her approach would melt the heart of Ritu, a master’s student at Gurudayal Government College in Kishoreganj town.

Ritu, who was doing BA in Bangla back then, started teaching the kid right away. She used to sit with the girl on the college field after class. Seeing that, her classmate Shakila Ishrat joined in and they both started teaching underprivileged children inside campus.

“We found many children both inside and outside campus who worked in tea-stalls, restaurants and wanted to study, but could not do so because of poverty,” recalled Ritu. “We started collecting them and within a month there were 17 children taking lessons from us.”

Ritu and Shakila managed a land in Harua Pagla mosque area where they set up their school, Bidyaneer. The number of students rose to 65 within two months.

“People used to give us suspicious looks as if we were kidnappers. But nothing could stop us as we took it as our mission to help the destitute children,” Ritu told this paper.

But soon they faced financial crisis as the students started asking for education materials.

“I gave a post on Facebook seeking donations. A good soul Tanmoy Sheikh Raj stepped forward and arranged education materials like books, writing pads and bags,” said Ritu.

Now Bidyaneer offers classes in two shifts: 8:30am to 10:00am and 3:00pm to 5:00pm, six days a week.

There are 170 children in pre-primary and primary sections up to grade four under the supervision of eight teachers, who are mostly university students providing voluntary services, according to Shakila Ishrat. 

“We regularly arrange cultural events and sports ceremonies to make learning joyful for the children,” she said. 

Three months ago, President of district Chhatra League Shafiqul Gani Dhali Limon and his friends constructed a tin-shed building on five-decimal land in Harua where the school activities are currently on.

But the children have to sit on the floor as the school has no furniture.

“We are getting support from various sectors but still there is no toilet or tube-well in the school. There is no source of drinking water,” said Mosharraf Ahmed, a teacher.

Priti Akhter, an orphan who is in the pre-primary section, said she wanted to be a doctor to serve poor patients. Another orphan Junayed Hossain of class one expressed his desire to pursue higher education in future.

“It feels wonderful when we hear about these big dreams. They want to be doctors, engineers, police officials and so on,” said Shakila.

Chhatra League’s Limon said, “This school has motivated us to do more for the society and the poor section of people in particular.”