Group Building Single Room School Houses in Bangladesh

Coming back from work one day, I was listening to a book review on NPR.  The title of the book was “You Need A School House" and it really interested. As soon as I reached home I ordered it on Amazon.

I read the book on receipt.  It highlighted a very practical approach to counter both poverty and illiteracy among the southern black population in the United States. Most of rural USA and Europe utilized the single room school house concept in the 18th and 19th century during a time when automobiles were not widespread.  This method made education available to those that could not afford transportation and those who lived in areas not served by major roads.

Bangladesh and other developing Muslim countries are like 18th and 19th century rural America.  There is a huge illiterate population in rural areas and few schools to serve the children.  One of the primary reasons village children do not attend schools is the distance from home to school.  With schools being too far for daily commute, it is a normal practice to discourage children from attending school. 

Simultaneously, the scarcity of schools per capita adds to the low attendance in schools. 

A single room school house is a very promising, low budget and a efficient solution for countries like Bangladesh. Bdesh Foundation, a social service organization based in Herndon, Virginia with various projects here in the US and in Bangladesh, is helping villagers build a multi-purpose community center in Haluaghat Mymensingh.  The community center will also be utilized as a school house (School Ghar) where elementary school age children from area villages will attend, In Shaa Allah.

This program has popular support from the Bangladesh government which encourages  pre-primary education programs. Many NGOs like Save the Children and World Vision  are establishing single room school houses to accommodate the primary education need of the country. But unfortunately these NGOs don’t have any religious study in their curriculum. Bdesh Foundation’s school house will follow an Islamic curriculum accredited by the Islamic Foundation of Bangladesh, thus initiating a system that will inshAllah be integrated into other such projects.

Insha Allah at our upcoming fundraising dinner on December 8th 2012, at St. Joseph Banquette Hall, 750 Peachtree Street, Herndon VA 20170, we will highlight Bdesh's Children Welfare Program and especially the importance of education and School Ghars.  We look forward to seeing everyone there.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Sohel Ahmed at sohelahmed@bdeshfoundation.org.

Bdesh’s this year’s fundraising theme is "Help a Child, Help A Nation". We hope you will take this opportunity to make a difference on December 8th 2012, at St. Joseph Banquette Hall, 750 Peachtree Street, Herndon VA 20170, from 6:30PM to 9:30PM.