Ramshackle schools in Old Dhaka
by Nuren Sharara Saif
Schools are a very important part of a nation and it becomes the responsibility of the government to ensure a proper schooling system in its country. As because, the success of a country remains largely dependent upon its level of literacy.
But the worst of feeling arises when the school conditions of ones own country is being seen to be ramshackled.
Primary education minister Mostafizur Rahman recently said that they have identified approximately 12 primary schools in rundown conditions in the older part of the city and plans to renovate them. He is seen to be very tensed as because being the education minister it is a big responsibility on his part to keep a track of the conditions of the government schools of Dhaka. Of the ram shackled schools, The education minister on last Monday visited Islamia Government Primary School, Muslim Government Primary School, Shishu Rakkha Samity Primary School, Faridabad Government Primary School and Banglabazar Government Primary School in old Dhaka. Mostafizur said they will reconstruct the school buildings and take other necessary steps to facilitate the academic activities over there and expressed his dire concerns regarding these.
Moreover despite these the rest of the schools that were noticed to be shambled were , Champakali Government Primary School, Mahuttuli Renaissance Government Primary School, Chhoto Katra Government Primary School, IIT Government Primary School, Sarulia Government Primary School, Kamar Gope Primary Government School and Para Dagair Government Primary School all of which are present at the Old part of the city.
The description of the schools are what we might call shambled or runned down some of which are shown below:
The entrance of these schools are similar to that of a tunnel. Upon walking inside, fewer bulbs (usually two to three of them),are left hanging from the ceiling, which hardly lights up the passageway. At the end of it, there is a staircase that leads to the first floor of the building. The floor is dark, and the air smells of damp walls. Plasters on the walls and the ceiling are falling off at places a long with weak ceilings which are holed.
Though it seems unbelievable, this is the apparent condition of the so called government schools of Dhaka city.
Furthermore, The Islamia UP Government Primary School in Sutrapur now has only four usable rooms on the first floor for its 51-60 students as the rest have become unusable, wrecked and abandoned since long.
Students have been seen to complain regarding the dripping of rain water through the holed ceilings during rainy seasons. They expressed how difficult it becomes for them to study or carry out their educational activity in their class rooms during the monsoon times.
Sttretching a bit more to some other government schools of the old town, The Kamar Gope Primary school and Para Dagair Government Primary School,
These schools were particularly established in 1950 by locals in that area, and were later moved to an actual building six years later. The three-storey school buildings have 17 rooms -- five on the first floor and six each on the ground and top floors.
The government took hold off it during 1973. But however it still turned horrific for a lack of renovation, and all the rooms on the ground and top floors have become unusable. On the first floor, four rooms are used as classrooms and the other as teachers room.
The teachers said many guardians took their children to other schools for the severe state of the school.
The number of students in the last five years has drastically dropped to a 100 from a 600. Which should be quite a shame for the government as because this significant and drastic drop in the number of students is an evidence which shows that perhaps our government is not being able to carry out its responsibilities by ensuring a proper educational atmosphere for the general population, mostly the lower income group of people, who tend to depend themselves upon the government schools by sending their children to government based schools.
Moreover, teachers and members of the managing committee alleged that a major portion of the institution had long been occupied by local influential people until 2012. The grabbers held back renovation of the school with the motive for shutting it down.
Ever since, the problems rose, and the government was not willing enough to protest and stop the grabbers who held back the renovation. A good willed and responsible government should have stopped such groups who had prevented the renovations, moreover a responsible government should have renovated its schools before letting it become all shambled and disastrous.
Me being an NRB at the moment have serious questions regarding this whole matter. It is very depressing for me to encounter and over hear about such problems of my country. I want to know from the government as to why such problems are still rising? Is this what we call human rights?? If we fail to provide a good educational atmosphere for our population than at a point of time we would fail to prevent our country from sinking down towards an unknown ocean of destruction.
