September 5, 2024
DHAKA – Students just can’t seem to catch a break. Over the last few months, there have been one disruption after another across all tiers of education that either put a stop to classroom activities or, worse, put students and teachers in harm’s way. In particular, schools and colleges have been affected by intermittent closures during the weeks-long anti-discrimination movement, assaults and fatalities of students during the movement, subsequent disruptions including often-forced resignations of teachers and administrators, and finally a flood that has left behind a vast trail of destruction in a number of districts, including their educational institutions. This shows how urgent it has become to ensure that students resume their education without further disruptions.
While the extent of damage suffered by schools, madrasas, and colleges in flood-hit areas is yet to be fully determined, one estimate says that 1,206 educational institutions have been damaged, resulting in a loss of over Tk 37 crore. But this is more likely an underestimation given how devastating the flood has been, especially in 11 south-eastern districts. Feni and Noakhali were the hardest hit among them, with more than 90 percent of their combined populations said to be severely affected and about 48 percent of homes destroyed, according to Oxfam Bangladesh.
So, it makes more sense when a Prothom Alo report claims that all 951 pre-tertiary educational institutions in Feni were inundated. This includes 559 primary schools, 351 secondary schools and madrasas, and 41 colleges, with the number of affected students reaching nearly four lakh. The flood has had a similar impact in some other districts including Noakhali and Cumilla. While some of the institutions have started classes after floodwaters receded, most schools and colleges remain more or less shut, their classrooms filled with mud and debris.
In Feni, the district administration has said that more than half of the educational institutions are still in an abandoned state. In addition to educational institutions, the district and upazila education offices were also inundated. Many buildings remain under water, many formerly used as flood shelters. Reportedly, school-college authorities are struggling to clean debris and repair any damage suffered, but the process has been slow, so there is no certainty about when the students can safely return. Their own situation back home also has to improve for them to be able to come to class.
We don’t need to remind anyone of the consequences of prolonged school closures. Each day of missed schooling will exacerbate the learning gap accumulated over the past months, particularly for those from disadvantaged backgrounds. So, restoring normalcy in the educational landscape of flood-hit areas should be a priority. This should start with accelerating the cleanup and repair efforts. In schools that remain waterlogged, the authorities may think of alternative arrangements using digital education and community-based classes to bridge the learning gap. It is likely that many books and learning tools were also destroyed during the flood, so the education authorities must provide necessary help in this regard.