Mehrunnesa, a seventh grader at Sharodeshwari Girls High School in Dinajpur, stopped attending classes as her parents could not buy her a uniform. 

She might have dropped out if the “Dui Takar Bank” (Two Taka Bank, if translated into English) was not in place. One of Mehrunnessa’s teachers went to her place with money from the bank and bought her a uniform.

The incident is not an isolated one in Sharodeshwari Girls High School where the Dui Takar Bank is playing a pivotal role in curbing dropout rates.

Launched in the beginning of this year, Dui Takar Bank is a fund where every student donates at least Tk 2 every month. At present there are 710 students studying in grades III to X.

Photo: Kongkon Karmaker

“It was the end of 2018 when an SSC candidate failed to fill up the registration form because he was short of Tk 100. This incident moved me,” said Mosaddek Hossain, a teacher who initiated the system.  

“The students have been contributing duly. Tk 30,000 were raised this year of which Tk 20,000 has been spent for buying shoes, uniforms, schoolbags, notebooks, calculators etc for students who are from destitute families,” said Ratan Kumar Roy, headmaster of the school.

So far, 50 students had derived benefits of the bank and the dropout rate had also gone down, he told this paper.

“The dropout rates have been alarmingly high in the previous years as most of the students here are from underprivileged families, like those of rickshaw-pullers, human hauler drivers, and tea-stall workers. They can hardly bear the educational expenses.”

According to the headmaster, 61 students dropped out in 2016, 65 in 2017, 53 in 2018 and 15 in 2019 due to poverty. “It has gone down by 80 percent compared to last year. We still have Tk 10,000 left in the bank,” he said.

The school, which was established in 1927, charges Tk 250 monthly fee to students of grade III-VII and Tk 240 to the rest.

Nur Islam, father of a sixth grader, said, “It became almost impossible for me to bear educational expenses of my daughter but the bank came as a relief,” said Nur, who runs a tea-stall in Dinajpur town. “Now the students are feeling safe knowing that the school is beside them,” he went on.

Recently the school authorities opened a shop on the school premises where handicrafts made by the students are being put on sale. Special classes on handicrafts and cooking are offered to the students of class VI, VII, VIII, IX and X.

“In these classes, they learn to make decorative items using jute and scraps like plastic bottles. They made 60 decorative pieces this year,” said Afsana Akhter, a teacher.

“The money earned from the shop also goes to Dui Takar Bank. Therefore, we believe that next year, we will be able to support more students,” she added.