Model School in Sundarban

In the Sundarban area, there are several islands. The villages are situated very far. There is the lack of transportation and communication. The families are very poor. For the livelihood, all the family members have to work. Lack of proper nutrition is another problem. The children of the families are very much neglected. The family sends their children to the tea-stall or hotel or any other places to work and earn. Therefore, as a result, children do not get proper education and proper nutrition. Under these circumstances, Sabuj Sangha set up the Residential School for the prevention of child labour. Sabuj Sangha dreams of a society where all children will access education and there will be no drop outs. Therefore, this School is being run by the Organisation to prepare the young breed as first generation learners.

Sujan is a 13 years old boy studying in class –VII in Sabuj Sangha’s upper primary model school i.e. Kishalay Shishu Shiksha Niketan (KSSN). He is a boarder of the Residential School. His father’s name is Dilip and his mother’s name is Mita. He belongs to Kumrapara village. His family is economically very poor. His father is a day labourer and his mother works in Bangalore as a maid servant. So his father sent him to a tea stall for work. Sabuj Sangha rescued him and admitted in the Residential School and he is staying here for 4 years now.

There has been quite an amount of improvement in the study that has been observed in these years.  He is excellent in drawing and co-curricular activities He is regular in his class and attentive too. With appropriate amount of food containing adequate nutritional value, Sujan is growing both physically and intellectually. 

He says, “I am very happy today as Sabuj Sangha rescued me from a tea stall. I am getting good food three times daily. The teachers are very good and they take care of us. I have so many friends. We study and play together every day. My life is so full of joy today."

Sundarban is the largest delta in the world comprised of several islands. During post-independence period, Sundarban witnessed sudden influx of population, mainly due to migration. It exerted negative impact on the economy of the population in the region. Backwardness of the region is due to the following factors:

• Uncontrolled population growth with low income level
• Lack of large scale employment opportunities
•  Lack of transport and communication facilities and hence, the villages or the islands are not well connected.
• Lack of medical facility, public health care and proper sanitation.
• Occasional devastations by cyclonic storms.

Social malice such as, Child labour, child marriage, human trafficking, to name a few, is prevalent in this region due to extreme poverty. Due to acute poverty, the population struggle to survive and sustain and it is mainly, the children who are being neglected the most.  They are deprived of a proper childhood, basic education and medical care facilities. The parents do not motivate their children for education; rather they send them for work in hotels, stalls and domestic work at households in the cities. Therefore, school dropout incidents are common in this area. The children are often trapped by pimps and traffickers and they become the victims of physical and sexual abuse. Hence, the children become vulnerable to various diseases due to lack of proper parental guidance, poor nutrition and hygiene.

Moreover, the condition of the Government Schools are not very good as there is no proper infrastructure, lack of teachers, no nutritional support, for which the children in the area remain aloof from the light of quality education.

Sabuj Sangha believes that children are the change agents of society and they should have access to education for making a change in the society. Therefore, Sabuj Sangha chases the dream of a society where no child will be deprived of his fundamental right to education along with proper food of adequate nutritional value. Hence, Sabuj Sangha has set up a Model Primary School with pre-primary and formal education facilities up to class VIII. It also has a plan of extension up to secondary level (class X), providing proper nutritional support, instituting a library, laboratory, children’s park and museum in the near future.

The School has taken significant steps towards developing interest in community for education, such as friendly classroom environment through innovative teaching methods, ICT techniques, periodical health check-ups, and providing books, school bags, uniforms and other stationery items. The children are even encouraged to participate in extracurricular activities like sports, art & crafts, etc. irrespective of gender, in order to promote gender equality amongst children. These characteristics are absent in the Government Schools in the vicinity and hence, it has grown up to be a “Model School” which can be replicated by other schools as well.

Reesyadeb is the 10 years old son of Kishore and Durga Rani. Reesyadeb’s father works in a medical store at Kolkata and his mother is a housewife. Reesyadeb’s parents were worried about his education. There are is no good schools in the locality for quality education. While searching for a good school they came to know about KSSN and was impressed by the way of teaching and other facilities and therefore, enrolled Reesyadeb here. He is studying in KSSN for the last five years since pre-primary. Initially, Reesyadeb was shy and not that good in studies. But with time and with proper guidance and support from teachers in the school, he has shown immense advancement in his studies and other co-curricular activities, painting being his favourite. Presently, he is in class IV and he has stood first in the class which is a result of his hard work and support from teachers. Reesyadeb’s parents are extremely happy with his results and the efforts taken by the school for his progress. 

Reesyadeb says: “I am very happy that I stood first in the class. My teachers have always guided and encouraged me to study hard and they treat every student equally well. My friends are also very helpful and we spend quality time playing and engaging ourselves in various activities like painting, music, crafts, etc.”