In northern Bangladesh, Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha has devised an innovative way of providing educational services to river-locked citizens. The organisation, established in 1982 for upgrading the standard of living of the destitute communities who are socially disadvantaged, has built libraries in boats for providing education to the students unable to reach regular schools.
The project called Mobile Education for the Underprivileged Girls reaches through Mobile Boats and School Libraries. Through this programme, the Sangh aims to sensitise the local communities in the riverside remotest areas about domestic abuse and early marriage, encouraging the girl children to opt for higher education, creating an information base for women groups.
Through using a similar kind of technology model, the project Mobile Internet-Educational Units on Boats (MIEUB), SSS educates farmers on controlling agricultural non-point source pollution, soil & stream bank erosion, sanitary latrine usages, improvement of water quality and health of the aquatic system, protection of bio-diversity etc.
The boat-based projects, operational since 2002, have been instrumental in mitigating the
plight of a large number of people in Bangladesh. Abul Hasanat Mohammed Rezwan, the Director of Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha remarked, If the students cannot come to the school then the school should come to them.
The program includes a library, school and mobile Internet boat equipped with computers, mobile phones, multimedia projectors, books, and other information resources powered by solar systems and fuel-efficient generators
Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha
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