<i>A ray of hope for slum kids </i>

Burhani BSRM School Photo: STAR

“If Burhani BSRM School was not established in the area, my kid would have remained illiterate,” said Sajeda Begum, a slum dweller of Debar Par in the Nasirabad Industrial area.
Many children from families like that of Sajeda's are studying in the school as there is no any other educational institution within a radius of 1.5 km of the area.
Burhani BSRM School is the only educational institution in the area where the underprivileged children have access to free education.
Located at Debar Par of Bangla Bazar surrounded by slums, the school started its journey in 2006 with 128 students with the classes -- nursery, one and two.
The school, an initiative of BSRM Group of Companies, started its academic activities with only three teachers while currently there are 13 teachers and two staff in the school.
A total of 386 students are now studying in the institution. Of them, 196 are boys and 190 girls.
Free education with books, uniforms, stationeries and medical assistance, whenever needed, are provided to the students from the institution.
Cultural activities, drawing and painting competition and participation in drama have also been incorporated into the curriculum.
All the students of class five secured GPA 5 with 100 percent pass rate in primary terminal examination, popularly known as Primary School Certificate examination, this year.
Terming it a good success, Headmaster Md Abdul Kader said, “It is a good result for our institution as all of our students come here from needy and underprivileged families which have no ability or time to guide or monitor their children.”
“They all complete their homework or everyday work in the school with the help of teachers,” he added.
Aklima Sultana, a teacher of the institution, told The Daily Star, “I feel very proud when I think I teach underprivileged students coming from very poor families.”
Aklima, joining the institution from the very beginning after her graduation, said, “The kids of the institution are very attentive. They have good reading and writing abilities and can understand class lectures very easily.”
“Though they did not get any facility from their families like students of other schools, they have achieved good results,” she added.
Sajib Talukdar, a student of class seven, said, “Teachers help us in all the tasks during school hours.”
Sajib, whose father is a rickshaw-puller, said when he was sick, free medicine and other medical facilities were provided to him from the school.
The school has opened class VI this year, said Tehseen Zohair, director of BSRM Group and head of the school management committee. “Development of the existing building is going on and it would be expanded to four-stories due to the increase of students,” Tahseen said.
Now the families of the slum areas are very much eager to get their children admitted to the institute, she added.
She said the extension work of the building would be completed by February.
“There are many meritorious students in the slums but they get no opportunity to receive education,” Tehseen said.