There are many places in Bangladesh, which are hard to reach. They are remote shoals (chars), haors and some forested hill areas of Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT). Children of these areas are often deprived of education. They do not know how to write and read. For thousands of such children, it is a distant dream to attend school. There is hardly any school in these areas let alone colleges and universities. Those who are real enthusiasts have to cross long distances in pursuit of gaining knowledge. While many families ask students to stay home and tend farm or help in household work, teachers are a few in number in these areas. They live far from the hard-to-reach areas. And so, they come to school late and leave early. Poor infrastructure of educational institutions and a lack of awareness of the families to educate their children are also seen here. In some char and CHT areas, there is no school for children at all. Many school students in haor areas have to take risky boat rides to attend classes at least six months a year.
Every child is equally important. And all of them must get the opportunity to learn and thrive. So, the authorities concerned should address the dire need for educational intervention in remote areas of Bangladesh. Floating schools could be a solution to this. A total of 22 boats have been turned into schools across the Chalan Beel region, a large wetland in Bangladesh. These boats also house libraries and computer labs. The floating schools, as they are popularly called, are run by a non-profit organisation and provide basic education to children and training to people in Pabna, Natore and Sirajganj. The government should help such organisations and follow this initiative to help school-age children of hard-to-reach areas to get education opportunities.
Md. Tanshen,
Dargarbond, Dulalpur,
Shibpur, Narsingdi,
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