Child education lags behind as primary school shut for 19 years

Contrary to popular belief, child education lags far behind at two villages in Sachar union of Kachua upazila of the district at this age of development as the lone primary school established in the union has been kept shut for long 19 years.

Around 1000-1200 children of the two remote villages- Joynagar and Kadamtoli- of the union have been deprived for the lack of a primary school as well as good road communication for the past 55 years, since independence.

The children have been left behind in acquiring knowledge and facing many inconveniences for want of reading, writing and doing arithmetic/counting in their day to day life, let alone operating mobile phones.

Realising the importance of a primary school and basic education of children, a local social worker named Abdur Rahim Patwary of Joynagar village came forward and voluntarily donated 15 decimals of land for establishing a primary school.

Later, a few other people also joined him and donated some more land and thus total 20 decimals of land was managed for establishment of the school at Joynagar village.

Then in 2004, the primary school for the local children was founded. At the initiative of the then BNP MP ANM Ehsanul Huque Milon, former state minister for education, a one- storey building for the school was constructed with the financial assistance of Chandpur Zila Parishad and local people.

The school was named Tanjila Nahar Haque Primary School. There were three class rooms and separate rooms for the headmaster and the assistant teachers.

About 200 children attended classes and four teachers were teaching the little learners. The school was going on fairly well but towards the end of 2006, all its activities came to a halt for want of finance and lack of other official formalities.

Since then, the school has remained shut and its furniture has been left abandoned and is getting rusty and useless.

So, the children of these two remote villages have remained deprived of the basic primary education.

During this correspondent's recent visit, a few local people said at present some serious students go to the distant schools at Raghdoil and Bayek villages riding country boats at a distance of 2-3 kilometres as there are no good roads too at Joynagar and Kadamtoli villages.

Local eminent personalities called upon the government to take quick steps in this regard so that the school's activities can be resumed as soon as possible to give the light of education afresh to the deprived and neglected children of the remote villages.

Talking to the FE, Kachua Upazila Primary Education Officer Shahina Aktar said she has joined here recently. She will visit the school to see for herself since an application to reopen the school was submitted to her office by the enterprising local people.

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