Night school for poor students
Seven youths in a village of Tangail started a night school for poor students one and a half years ago. The school has now more than 70 students. The aim was to help them with their studies after school and also help in their homework.
The students of this night school are those who cannot afford house tutors and do not have anyone at home to help them with their studies.
The school, Shahid Muktijoddha Mizanur Rahman Night School, is located in Atia village of Deldua upazila in Tangail. The founders of the school - Sheikh Obaidul Islam, Imran Hossain, Maruf Hossain, Zahid Khan Majlis, Asif Khan Majlis and Safayat Hossain- are student themselves in different colleges and universities.
There are two educational institutions in the village- a government primary school and a madrasa. The drop-out rates in these institutions were high earlier. Besides, their marks and CGPAs were not good.
They discussed the matter and deduced that the students were not getting adequate help to solve their study problems and thus were struggling for good results in the exams.
After that, the seven organisers opened the night school as a substitute for house tutors for the poor children in the village.
They named it after Mizanur Rahman, a freedom fighter from the the area. They requested a local coaching centre authorities to allow them to use its space in the evening. That is how the night school began in June 2018.
One of the founders, Obaidul Islam, said as many as 70 students were studying in the school currently.
Two students Shahin and Ria said their parents cannot afford house tutors. They get help with their homework at the night school.
A fourth grader Diganta said, the teachers in the school help to understand the problems well.
Teacher Zahid Khan Majlis told Prothom Alo, “We need almost Tk 4500 every month for electric bills and to provide pens and notebooks to the students. We arrange the money through donations.”
A parent Safed Ali was waiting for his son in front of the night school. He said he cannot help his son as he does not know how to read and write. He cannot afford a house tutor either.
“This school is a great relief,” he added.
The union parisad chairman Sirajul Islam Mallik said, these young people have taken a great initiative.
Such school can be built in neighbouring villages too, he added.
Upazila parishad chairman Mahmudul Hasan, praising the initiative, said, “We visited the school. We are planning to help them financially.”