Children at risk in 21,500 dilapidated schools

Due to cracks in pillars and walls and leaks in the roof, the Gowrichanna High School-Attached Government Primary School building was classified as risky about two years ago.

But despite fears of disaster, teachers and students are forced to use the building because authorities have not yet built a new one for them.

The institution in Barguna Sadar upazila is among over 21,500 primary schools that are ending operations with plaster falling from the ceiling, cracks in the walls, holes in the floor, water seeping through roofs and broken windows and doors.

“With no alternative, we are forced to teach in such a dilapidated building. We have applied to the authorities for a new building,” said Mainul Hossain, a teacher at the school.

“Our school has cracked in many places. “We have to attend class at all times despite the fear of a serious accident,” said a fifth grader.

Meanwhile, recent flash flood devastation damaged around 2,800 primary schools in 11 wards of Sylhet and Chattogram districts, according to the Directorate of Primary Education (DPE).

There are 1.07 lakh primary education institutions in Bangladesh, of which 65,567 are government-owned. Almost 1.1 million students in grades one to five are taught by more than 3.84 million teachers in state primary schools.

Official data shows that around 20 percent of primary schools across the country are in a dilapidated state, endangering the lives of tens of thousands of students and teachers.

They must give and take classes in shabby buildings that are vulnerable to the effects of natural disasters such as hurricanes, floods and earthquakes.

According to the DPE, another 16 percent of school buildings are also in need of repair.

Local DPE officials and teachers said that the roofs of most of these schools were in a dilapidated condition.

DPE officials said that as of July this year, 49,656 school buildings were “new, good and usable”, 18,271 were “old”, 16,998 were “repairable”, 11,613 were in “dilapidated” condition, 5,252 were “risky” and 3,307 were “abandoned”, 1,348 were “unusable”, the rest was under construction.

They said many government primary schools are 40 to 50 years old. Many of the 26,193 primary schools that were nationalized in 2013 are also in poor condition. Several hundred more were damaged by floods or hurricanes.

In many cases, school authorities even hold classes in buildings that have been declared “abandoned,” risking the lives of teachers and students.

DPE Director General Abdus Samad said the renovation of these school buildings is a continuous process.

“It’s on our priority list. We are taking all possible measures so that students and teachers do not have to go to class out of fear,” he said.

According to the Third Primary Education Development Program Impact Evaluation Report prepared by the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division of the Planning Commission and released in June 2023, up to 27 percent of government primary school buildings required repairs.

The report is based on information collected from 480 primary schools.

A total of 19 percent of the 1,200 students surveyed for the impact assessment report said their classrooms were dangerous because of rainwater entering through leaks in the roofs.

Prof. Mohammad Tariq Ahsan from the Institute of Education and Research at Dhaka University said the poor condition of schools was putting a strain on the educational atmosphere.

“It is obvious that students and teachers are constantly afraid during class. Such a situation puts enormous psychological pressure on them and affects the learning process,” he said.

“Schools should create an atmosphere that promotes joy in learning. But a school building in poor condition lacks such an environment due to which students lose concentration in the classroom and also lose motivation,” he added.

Teachers also face some problems. They are angry, a feeling that has a strong impact on the lessons, emphasized Tariq.

Primary and Mass Education Minister Farid Ahmed said that they are constructing a new building and beautifying 342 government primary schools in Dhaka.

Prof Tariq said it is a good step that many government primary schools in Dhaka are being beautified to improve the physical ambience.

But such a program should be implemented for all schools across the country, not just the capital, he added.

Minister Farid said there are plans to expand the program to the rest of the country and renovate all primary schools across Bangladesh in the next five years.

Flood damage

Floods in the southeastern and northeastern regions of the country in August caused damage to infrastructure, furniture, books and documents at 2,799 government primary schools in 11 districts, the DPE said in a Sept. 10 press release.

The affected schools included 763 in Noakhali, 501 in Lakshmipur, 550 in Feni, 22 in Brahmanbaria, 523 in Cumilla, 169 in Chandpur, 164 in Chattogram, 77 in Moulvibazar, eight in Sylhet and 22 in Habiganj.

Citing initial estimates, the DPE said repairing the school buildings damaged in the floods would require around Tk 33 crore and the directorate would get budget allocations for the same.