By Maloy Kumar Dutta
MOULVIBAZAR, Aug 29, 2021 (BSS) – The impacts are enormous. Damages go almost beyond repair. All it happened to students. As the COVID-19 pandemic has spread across the country, the government announced the closure of educational institutions, hampering academic life of crores of students. It never happened before when so many students have been out of seats of learning at the same time.
With the closure of educational institutions across the country to curb COVID-19, many families were left in utter despair to keep their children’s education on track.
In such traumatic situation, noble efforts have been made by a few to mitigate students’ learning losses.
Among themBiswajeet Das was one who tried to brave the pandemic odds in regard to students’ learning. A Class X student at Abdul Mosobbir Academy at Shamshernagar union under Kamalganjupazila in Moulvibazar district, Biswajeetwas facing trouble in continuing his studies due to changed education curriculum in the wake of coronavirus pandemic.
His tea labourer mother Aratai Rabi Das could not afford to buy a smart phone for her son for continuing his studies during the Covid-19 crisis when the government had to shut down all educational institutions and later introduced online classes for students.
It became very difficult for Biswajeet to continue his studies as his secondary school certificate (SSC) examination was approaching.
Under the circumstances, a group of youths, who are especially students of Dhaka University and who are also offspring of tea laborers, introduced a school named
“EktiBidyarthir Drishti Sangha” for taking classes and providing guidance free of cost as per the syllabus of the education board to those students who could not afford to continue studies due to financial hardship during the pandemic.
“We took the initiative for the students who are facing severe financial hardship to continue studies amid the pandemic. All of the students are offspring of tea labourers,” Santosh Rabi Das, who took the initiative to introduce the school, told BSS on Monday.
Santosh Rabi Das, an MBA student of Marketing Department at Dhaka University, along with two others started the school in June last with a view to standing beside the extreme poor students.
Due to coronavirus situation, the entire education system has been hampered while low-income group families are facing severe trouble to help continue studies of their children due to changed situation.
‘In my childhood, I faced difficulties in continuing my studies. I lost my father when I was around five or six months old. My mother Kamali Rabi Das works as a tea worker at Duncan Brothers. She earns only Taka 120 as daily wages and Taka 700-800 as weakly. It was very difficult for my mother to continue my education with her very meagre income. I know her hardship. From this point of view, I initiated the school,” he said.
He said they raised funds receiving donation from some affluent people of Shamsernagar as well as few alumni of Dhaka University to run the school as the donors provided study materials as well as cash money.
A total of 85 students from Class VI to Class X and SSC candidates receive education and attend classes, take internet facilities and use laptops for study purposes from the school. All of the students are offspring of tea workers.
Apart from Santosh, two others—Dharam Rabi Das, a student of Institute of Social Welfare at DU and Sumon Rabi Das, a student of LunglaAdhunik Degree College in Moulvibazar – take classes at the school.
“We are taking classes and providing computer and internet facilities to them for study purposes. We also arrange prayers and meditation in the evening as the students could stay on the right track,” Santosh said.
He said initially, they used to provide papers, pens and other education materials to the students but later they could not afford to do the same.
“During the coronavirus crisis, the children used to roam around and didn’t study but when we started the school, all of the students are learning here with enthusiasm,” he said.
Debika Rani Das is a class eight student of Abdul Mosobbir Academy at Kamalganj in Maulvibazar district. Her father is a tea worker under Duncan Brothers Limited that owns the tea estate at Shamsernagar in Kamalganj.
“I am an employee at Camellia Hospital under Duncan Brothers Limited. I have three daughters. It was very difficult for my daughter Debika to continue her study as the schools are kept shut down. My second daughter Debika is receiving education at Santosh’s school during the coronavirus crisis,” Golappchan Das said.
Talking to BSS, Sourav Das, a Class VI student at Abdul Mosobbir Academy, said his father Shyamsundar Das is a tea labourer who faces much hardship in ensuring education to all of his children.
“During the coronavirus crisis, my school remained closed. At that moment, Drishti Sangha school started providing education,” Sourav said.
Gopal Chandra Saha, father of Prativa Rani Saha who is an eighth-grader of a school at Shamsernagar, said he earned only Taka 120 as daily wages and it is very difficult for him to afford additional amount of money to continue his three daughters’ education during the coronavirus pandemic.
During the period, Santosh’s school EktiBidyarthir Drishti Sangha is playing an important role to provide education to children of tea labourers, he said.
Tea worker BoikunthoRabidas’s daughter ChandaniRabidas, a Class VI student at A.A.T.M. Multilateral High School at Shamshernagar, said she is attending Mathematics, Bangla and English classes at the school.
“We are taking guidelines from the school to prepare our assignments as well,” she said.
AjitSaha, an SSC candidate of humanities group from Abdul Mosobbir Academy, said he is attending different classes at the school conducive for taking preparation for his SSC examination.