Three years ago, Parvin Begum (14) didn’t think she could continue with her education. Being a girl, and sixth among her eight siblings, her education could have stopped any moment.
But now, she is in class 10th at the Dighalbak High School in Nobiganj upazila of Habiganj district and dreams of becoming a doctor. With a yearly scholarship of Tk. 4,000, along with education material, she managed to pursue her dreams.
This scholarship is provided by energy giant Chevron as part of its education programme in the Bibiyana area where it operates the largest gas plant in the country.
A total of 1,600 poor students like Parvin Begum in 34 schools and three colleges in the area receive scholarship that helps students from economically weak background to pursue education.
Local residents told The Independent that before Chevron came to Bibiyana, most of the schools in the area reported high dropout rate and students performed poorly in the Secondary School Certificate Exam.
But after the energy giant’s intervention, the pass rate in Chevron-supported schools has gone up to 90 percent. Besides providing scholarships to students, Chevron in partnerships with two other NGOs launched the School Empowering Programme, which includes recruitment and training of teachers, and infrastructure development.
 Recently, Nadampur High School, one of the 17 educational institutions supported by Chevron under the programme got recognised by the Sylhet Education Board as the Best Secondary School in Nabiganj upazila.
Nadampur High School has been consistently achieving 100 percent pass rate in the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) Exam. Talking to The Independent, Pradeep Ranjan Das, headmaster of the school, said that apart from providing funds for the construction of the school building, Chevron also gave financial assistance for establishing a computer lab.
“Without Chevron’s intervention and aid, the school couldn’t have reached this level. Whenever we need help, we go to Chevron and they evaluate our need and take necessary action,” said Das.
Like Nadampur, most of the educational institutions in the area have been receiving Chevron’s support since 2006. Apart from annual scholarships to underprivileged and meritorious students, it also provided for an endowment fund for future sustainability of the schools, recruiting additional teachers, in-house computer labs, school uniforms and sports equipment. Naser Ahmed, External Affairs Director, Chevron, told The Independent that they try to make the schools self-sufficient, because the energy giant doesn’t plan to stay in the area for long.
He said that it has been a challenge to make the schools sustainable so that scholarships and other essential activities could be managed by them in the future.
According to Ahmed, the teacher-support programme and the endowment fund are part of Chevron’s sustainability plan so that the schools can generate their own funding to cover some of the expenses and recruit experienced teachers to improve the quality of education. He also said that Chevron has been working closely with most of the schools to enable them to get support from the government and the private sector for future sustainability.
Kevin Lyon, President, Chevron Bangladesh told The Independent that Chevron believes that education is one of the most powerful tools for sustainable development and has been the core focus of the company’s social investment programmes in Bangladesh.
“A workforce armed with critical skills is needed to succeed in the jobs of the future and is essential for communities to be able to compete in the local and global marketplace. That’s why we work with local communities around our three gas fields, cultivating innovative partnerships with education organisations, local governments and other organisations that invest in the future workforce,”
said Lyon.