Children in Jamuna chars denied proper learning

Many students of Kunderpara Gono Unnayon Academy, the lone high school in a vast area of land on the Jamuna basin in Gaibandha district, have to walk kilometers on the sandy char (landmass emerged in the river) to attend classes. PHOTO: STAR

Schooling of children in char (landmass emerged from riverbed) areas in the Jamuna basin are badly suffering due to shortage of institutions and infrastructural facilities there.
Poor inhabitants of the remote areas, often struggling against adverse environment, have to walk long distances to communicate with the main land. In the rainy season they depend on country boats for movement but many cannot afford the cost.
Most of the schools in char areas remain closed for at least three months during the rainy season as both the students and teachers find it difficult to attend there. Besides, many schools go under floodwater that time.
There are allegations that many teachers of government primary schools conduct classes only once or twice in a week, as they stay at convenient places, often quite a long way from their workplace.
They engage local young men as 'proxy teachers' for small pay, locals said.
Amid the awful condition, the schools in the char areas see high dropout rates.
Char Kunderpara in Kamarjani union in the Jamuna basin is inhabited by 1294 people, including 308 children of school going age. A single non-government registered primary school set up there somehow provides schooling for only 75 children.
The school is suffering from shortage of teachers, lack of accommodation and necessary furniture.
"Most of the children remain busy with domestic help. Often they are seen helping the fathers in fishing or collecting floating firewood from riverbed," said Nazimuddin, a small trader.
A local NGO Gono Unnayon Kendro set up a high school named Kunderpara Gono Unnayon Academy at Kunderpara, presently enrolling 380 students.
"Students from distant char lands like Hashdara, Batikamari, Kharjani, Saper Char, Chithulia Digor and other places come here. But in the rainy season, the students' attendance comes down to half. After passing the SSC, only a small number of them can continue higher education as they have to go to distant places for the purpose," said Asaduzzaman, headmaster of the school.
M Abdus Salam, chief executive of Gono Unnayon Kendro, said, "We have also set up a few non-formal schooling units in different remote char lands to provide at least some foundation of learning to the children of the backward areas."
"Building of permanent structures for schools often proves impractical in the char areas as they remain vulnerable to erosion any time. During the last two years, at least seven schoolhouses have gone into the Jamuna River," said Solaiman Hossain, chairman of Kamarjani union.