Local Bangladesh nonprofit organization Shidhylai Swanirvar Sangstha is bringing education to students by boat. The highly innovative organization offers free education to families by using boats as school buses and schoolhouses so that students can continue their education even in the midst of the nation’s frequent and hazardous flood seasons.
The annual monsoon season in Bangladesh, lasting from July to October, has seen rivers rising up to 12 feet. The extreme flood waters prevent safe passage across lands leaving students unable to travel to school for much of the year, disrupting education for many students across the nation.
However, “floating schools” provide a solution to the natural obstructions by providing year-round education and easing the commute to school. As the boats prepare to dock by the village, children line up to go to class. Each boat holds around 30 students (a student-teacher ratio of 30 to one) and provides basic education for children up to grade IV level. Class is held for two to four hours a day for six days a week. The curriculum is aligned with the Education Ministry’s requirements. In addition to the classrooms, there are floating libraries and computers. The schools provide students with necessary resources like pens and textbooks. In addition to basic education, several boats serve as training centers for adults on subjects such as health, agriculture, finance, hygiene and nutrition. The boats are equipped with an internet-linked laptop and other electronic resources. Solar panels are installed on the rooftops and provides for the schools’ electronics a sustainable energy source.
Mohammaed Rezwan, founder of Shidhylai Swanirvar Sangstha, and the creator of the “floating schools,” equipped with only $500 and an old computer, inaugurated the first boat in 2002. By accumulating grants (from the Global Fund for Children, the Levi Foundation, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation) as well as winning the prize money from the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE), Rezwan’s organization grew and produced stronger, weather-resistant boats.
Today, the organization supports 20 schools, 10 libraries, and 7 adult education centers–all of them mobile on water. Since then, the project has made repeated trips to various villages, benefiting approximately 70,000 children. Creating these floating schools to meet the needs of so many people has its challenges in addition to the unpredictable storms. The non-profit group employs 61 teachers, 48 boat drivers, 200 staff members, and 300 volunteers. The staff is also given the assignment of training local teachers with a minimum of a 12th grade education. Rezwan plans to help 100,000 more students by building more than 100 boats within the next five years.
Creative Commons Love: Gates Foundation on Flickr.com
