The teacher interviewed is Mosammat Reba Khatun. She is 40 years old and lives in a small riverside village in Bangladesh. She completed 10 years of schooling, is a single mother and lives with her parents. Much of the text below is in Mosammat's own words, (indicated by a different font).
I teach on
Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha’s solar-powered floating school and I have been
teaching there for the last 10 years.
The school is
located on the Gumani river in the Pabna district in northwest Bangladesh. Our
floating school works in the remote river basin where there is no education option,
particularly during the monsoon season. It collects children from their homes,
teaches them on board and returns them at the end of the session. Then the
school-boat moves onto the next village. The school offers three shifts per day
and reaches a total of 90 students.
It runs from January to December. Our school has a classroom for 30 students and internet-linked computers and electronic resources. Our floating school provides education up to grade IV. Students are 6 to 9 years old. The students that get good exam results receive the SuryaHurricane solar lantern (a low-cost solar lantern made from recycled parts of the conventional and much-used kerosene lantern) as scholarships. Parents also receive on-board trainings on human rights, nutrition, health & hygiene, sustainable farming, and climate change adaptations.
It runs from January to December. Our school has a classroom for 30 students and internet-linked computers and electronic resources. Our floating school provides education up to grade IV. Students are 6 to 9 years old. The students that get good exam results receive the SuryaHurricane solar lantern (a low-cost solar lantern made from recycled parts of the conventional and much-used kerosene lantern) as scholarships. Parents also receive on-board trainings on human rights, nutrition, health & hygiene, sustainable farming, and climate change adaptations.
I teach students
in grade II. My students are 7-8 years old and they study Bengali, Maths,
English, and learn drawing and there are 30 students in our class. 67 percent
of the student are female.
We need the
floating school because in the monsoon season (late June to October), one third
of Bangladesh goes underwater. Boats are the only means of communication in the
flood-prone areas. It makes it very difficult to access basic services. Roads
to schools get flooded and children cannot go to land-based schools. Therefore
the floating school is the only education option here - it travels to students
and provide education at the doorsteps.
Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha was a 2012 WISE Award winner (World Innovation Summit in Education, Qatar). I was there at WISE that year when Mohammed Rezwan accepted this award. You can find many more details, including videos, about the solar-powered floating schools on the WISE website. There is also an interesting live chat archive and an interview transcript with Mr Rezwan.
The floating
school ensures access to education and information in the monsoon season. It
encourages parents to send their girls to schools and pushes for female
enrolment. The trained parents grow new crops that ensure foods and year-round
income. The rate of early marriage is reduced. This floating school is the
combination of a school bus and schoolhouse. I am teaching our students at our
doorsteps. It saves time for the working children and me.
There is an
overwhelming need for floating schools in the flood-prone communities. About 20
percent of each village population is school age therefore many parents want
their children to get enrolled in the floating school. They always request for
the enrolment of their children.
A lot has
changed in the last 10 years. To begin with there were not any computers or
solar powered system on the boat. Considering the need, Shidhulai Swanirvar
Sangstha gradually introduced the computer and internet, then the solar system.
When we found the surplus solar energy on the boat, the organization introduced
the solar lantern. The design of the boat was changed during the past years.
Technology is
very important to us as we use Internet linked computers at school. We use
cellular data network for Internet connectivity. Children learn computer skills
and watch educational shows. It encourages children and helps to learn more.
Computers in the classroom have encouraged the students to learn the new
technology, watch the educational shows, learn how to draw pictures and visit
the online educational websites.
I think
technology makes learning easier for children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
For example because the students often live in such remote areas that are often
off the [power] grid we have started the lantern scheme to enable children to
do their homework in the evenings. Only 5 students in each class have received
a SuryaHurricane solar lantern as scholarships so far, but most of the houses
want the SuryaHurricane solar lantern. There is a real growing demand of
renewable energy and communication technology in Bangladesh.
"Digital classrooms can enhance learning and bridge knowledge and skills gaps among less qualified teachers." and
"Innovation in the use of technology can help improve learning by enriching teachers’ curriculum delivery and encouraging flexibility in pupil learning. Greater access to computers in schools helps reduce the digital divide between low and high income groups. However, new technology is not a substitute for good teaching."
and
"In poorer countries, the availability of ICT infrastructure remains a crucial consideration. Many countries cannot yet support widespread computer-assisted learning because schools lack internet access or, in some cases, even electricity supply. But, given the investment required by poorer countries to ensure that all schools have electricity supply or internet access, the use of ICT is unlikely to be as cost-effective as spending more on teachers to reduce class sizes. Teachers remain central to curriculum delivery, particularly for low achievers needing additional support."
It seems to me the floating solar-powered boat model brings technology to the classroom by providing essential infrastructure at a workable cost. The next step is to focus on the design of interactive software and how that supports learning within and beyond the indigenous culture.
The teaching can
be very challenging, as we are working with children from landless, extremely
poor families vulnerable to natural disasters. Their parents mostly work as day
laborers and have irregular family income. The condition of the houses is poor.
The children under age 5 are malnourished and infant mortality rate is high. Girls
are not allowed to move around freely. Many parents are reluctant to let girls
go to school but we meet with the parents monthly to encourage them to send
their children to school regularly so as to ensure good attendance and low drop
out numbers.
Our school
curriculum is student focused, interactive, interesting and designed to be fun
for children. Our class size is limited to 30 students which allows for teacher
and student bonding. Our students are involved in reciting rhyme and poem,
singing, story-telling, reading and discussion on books from the library,
drawing pictures on paper, writing poems, etc. These are the ways the children are
encouraged to express their creativity and learn more. Students are also
encouraged to participate and work in groups. Generally the children find it
easy learning how to read and write at our school.
guidelines.
Also, there are day-long refresher training sessions every month. They cover next
month’s syllabus and teaching guidelines, parents meeting agenda and
extracurricular activities. At the monthly training, we discuss also about the
school performance during the previous month, challenges, and required
educational materials (we receive primary textbooks - grade 2 to 4 - from
Upazila Education Offices of the Bangladesh Government). We also share feedback
received from the parents.
I start the day
very early in the morning. I cook food for my daughter and me. Then I teach on
the floating school. I work 4 hours each day for teaching and lesson
planning/marking. My classes finish at lunchtime. After returning home, I work
as a tailor. In the evening, I travel through our village to meet the students
and their families.
The school can
help the whole family - Muhammad Sagar Hossain (7 years) is a student of grade
II on the floating school. His father Muhammad Altaf Hossain is a day labourer,
who seasonally migrates to town in search for work. His mother Ms. Munira Begum
looks after the family and works in their homestead garden. She received
agriculture training on Shidhulai’s floating training centre, and now practices
sustainable farming. Sagar’s older sister Mosammat Munni Khatun also studied on
the floating school. He wants to be a floating schoolteacher to teach his
villagers.
I hope for the
future the importance of creating access to schools for thousands of children
living in the flood-prone areas of the country is recognised. In the
flood-prone regions the roads to school get flooded and some schools go under
floodwater and children therefore cannot go to school in the monsoon season. It
is the main reason for school drop outs in rural Bangladesh. I think the
government, its development partners, Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha and other
NGOs should work together to bring more floating schools across the country.
I decided to
become a teacher because I love children and wanted to help them towards
developing a better future. I believe our teaching inspires them, it always
remains in their heart and becomes a part of their life. I think teaching is a
gift of a lifetime. It has given me immense opportunity to give back to my community,
help poor students to access to school, and impart positively on children.
This blog post is a contribution to Week 7 of #TeacherTuesday, a UNESCO and EFA initiative.
I invite you to also read from my blog:
- Week 6 - The Netherlands: Teacher preparation means higher learning outcomes
- Week 5 - Kenya: Working to break the poverty-education cycle
- Week 4 - Syria: Displaced learners in Zaatari refugee camp
- Week 3 - Afghanistan: An issue of Gender Equity the World Should Take Notice
- Week 2 - Honduras: Teach Students in the Language of their thoughts
- Week 1 - Malawi: The Struggle for Literacy
- #TeacherTuesday - background information
1 comment:
What an amazing idea! Great to see these marginalized kids getting the educational attention they deserve. I want to help this school in the future through my non-profit.
Post a Comment