National Mourn Day 2020 Celebration
National mourn day celebrated in the BITA-ROSC school. Painting, essay competition and discussion meeting arranged in the 40 ROSC School. The chief Guest of the discussion meeting was Mr. Mahbub Hasan Shahin, Project Director, ROSC. Executive Director of BITA Mr. Sisir Dutta was also present in the meeting. Chief Guest said that if you want to know “Bangabandhu” you should read. He discusses the sacrifice of Bangabandhu from 1966 to 1971. He gives the “Unfinished Autobiography of Bangabandhu” to the ROSC learners.
BITA is working on child rights ground from the beginning of the organization. Education is one of the fundamental rights of the children. BITA is implementing en education program for out of school children from 2017 by the financial support of ministry of Primary and Mass education, Bangladesh Government and World Bank also the technical support of Save the Children International. The program is for the Urban Slum Children who are not engaged with primary education of main stream. The name of the program is “Reaching Out- Of- School Children (ROSC), phase-II. The aim of the project is to ensure standard education and to resist drop out of slum area’s school going children. Through this project totally fifty thousand under privileged children, age group of 8-14 years, are getting education
BITA has established 40 Ananda schools at 21 wards of Chittagong City Corporation area. About 5650 children are getting primary education from these schools. The children are getting education by accelerated model syllabus. They are acquiring books, education materials, exam fees, uniform and shoe free. They also getting education allowance as inspiring to continue the education. Children will receive education from Grade-I to Grade-V. They will appear in the PECE examination as Grade-V completion. The infrastructure of the school campus is consist on 4/5/6 rooms. There is 1 Child Club in every school for the recreational and mental refreshment. It is an innovative initiative of this program.The activities of the Child Club are painting, drama practicing, story book reading, singing, dancing etc. Teachers are appointed from the catchment areas.
Student allowance distribution
BITA the project Reaching out of school children ROSC , Phase 2 has implemented 40 school under Director of Primary Education, Ministry of Primary & Mass Education Department. China firstly indentified the covid-19 but after that from the beginning of the year 2020 it spreads all over the world. The first covid patient identified in Bangladesh on 8th march. The school closed since March”2020 due to effect of Pandemic situation. Anondo schools students also have been suffering much to lead their life due to pandemic. They spend their days in fear and uncertainty. During the pandemic situation school teachers regular follow up students by phone. Teachers are aware about health protection tips, hygiene, Child abuse, Early marriage to students by phone.
The student’s families are very poor. As there going a lockdown situation they are facing a lot of problem to earn their income and some family don’t have any income at all. This allowance has come to very helpful to them .The officers of Sonali Bank have distributed allowance among 4828 students in a proper hygienic way.
Dr. Ashish Goswami visited the BITA program
The famous Theatre personality of India visited the BITA programme from 2nd February to 10th February in Bangladesh. He is starting a write-up on BITA from the beginning to till. He gathered a practical experience from the visit of the programme. He started a research on BITA and its activities. He discussed with people and all other stakeholders of the BITA & also attend Art workshop in the Urban Slum Anando School of BITA.
Teachers Training of ROSC Project
Teacher training is regular process of ROSC project. For refreshment and develop skill of teaching learning process, BITA organize training every year. In this year also organized teacher training on 19th August. This year subject based primary teacher hired for training. 40 ROSC teacher received training on English from Government Primary teacher. The subject of the training was Questionnaire development, reading skill development, word-stock development, teaching learning process and weak student progress process.
ROSC Project Coordinator and all PO were present during the training. Trainer and all the staff decided that, for develop the learners English capacity some steps are very essential, such as- to give pressure on reading, teacher preparedness before teaching, to give importance of word stock, Carry on the cultural activities with study, seating arrangement will be weak and strong student jointly, to provide strong teaching learning process.
They now know, how to make
Four days workshop has been organized in the BITA-ROSC Ananda School on 13, 15, 20, 21th May at Beltoli school. The subject of the workshop was how to make “Puppet” from the plastic wastage. The learners of the Ananda school are underprivileged children.
For the social and family environment they cannot get any scope to delegate their creativity as they have creative mentality. So they do not think them important person of the society. They never think that they have an ability to give something to the society. They never think “We can”. BITA try to help the underprivileged children for delegate their creativity and to grow self confident with them. Then the children should think that they have to do something for the society, for the family. This is also a workshop for the children to do something better, to learn something better. 15 learners of BITA Beltoli Ananda school whereas 10 girls and 5 boys participated in the workshop. Their age was 11 to 14 years. The whole workshop facilitated by Salahuddin Mahmud Bappi and Sarmin Sultana Rasha of BITA. In the workshop children learnt the making process of “Puppet” from the plastic wastage. They are very happy to learn it. Their guardian is also happy. BITA Executive Director Mr. Sisir Dutta was present in the last day and appreciated the learners and facilitators to do such a creative works.
ROSC school observes National Mourning Day
Cultural intervention is one of the techniques of ROSC project. Every year 15th August observe in the ROSC school. This year also we arrange Essay competition on Bangabandhu, painting, quiz competition of 15th August observation. All the teachers, PO, Project Coordinator, students and CMC members were present in the program. 15th August observed in the total 40 school of ROSC. At the end of the program a discussion meeting arranged on Bangabandhu and prize distributed also.
Allowance disbursement in BITA-ROSC Ananda school
40 schools of Reaching Out of School Children (ROSC) project running in the Chattogram City Corporation area from 2017 by the management of BITA. The project supported by Primary and Mass Education ministry of Bangladesh Gov’t. Under privilege children from the slum area are the learners of these school. They learn here as free of cost. They also get an allowance from the project. Sonali Bank is disbursing this allowance from the beginning.In the month of June/2019, 14 branch of Sonali Bank in Chittagong disbursed this allowance among the learners of ROSC-II project for continue their education. About 5230 learners received the allowance. Learners, their guardians and CMC president were present at the allowance disbursement moment. Several brunches of Sonali Bank officers disbursed the Allowance in the School compound. Learners and their guardians are very happy to get the allowance by this time. The guardians express their opinion that it is an inspiration for the learners to continue their education.
From Adversity to Achievement: Abul Bashar’s Journey to Restart His Daughter’s Education
In the coastal village of Maheshkhali, amidst the rhythm of the sea, Abul Bashar’s story emerges as a testament to resilience in the face of adversity. This case study looks into Abul Bashar’s journey, highlighting the obstacles he confronted and the transformative aid he received, ultimately leading to his family’s empowerment.
Abul Bashar, a 55-year-old man from Maheshkhali, has been struggling to support his family since a young age. Life wasn’t easy for him. At just 10/11 years old, he had to take care of his family because they didn’t have much money. Instead of going to school like other kids, he spent his days fishing in the sea to put food on the table. Moving to Cox’s Bazar with eight family members in 1987, Abul Bashar initially sold curry but later resumed fishing due to difficulties in curry sales. In 1996, a tragic incident of sinking of trawler led to a serious injury, further complicating his situation. Despite setbacks, he persevered, resorting to selling fish door-to-door to sustain his family.
Around 2000, Abul Bashar married Minuara Begum, expanding his family. With increasing financial burdens and debts, compounded by his illness, he faced mounting challenges. To alleviate some of the burdens, his elder daughter married early, and his daughter Nahida(17) was sent to her grandmother’s house. Additionally, he had to halt his speech impaired daughter Shahida Akter’s(12) education to involve her in the fish-selling business.
Amidst the struggles, a beacon of hope emerged when Rehena Akter, a member of the local CBCPC, took notice of Abul’s plight. Having knowledge of BITA’s initiatives, she stated Shahida’s cause with comprehensive information, shedding light on the family’s hardships. Through meticulous discussions and assessments during monthly meeting, Shahida was chosen as the recipient of much-needed support.
Then the CBCPC members take a decision to support IGA through case management process as a child with disability under project activity FSL support of BITA. Considering the family’s dire financial state, CBCPC recommended income-generating activities under BITA’s project. Abul Bashar received BDT 10,000 through bKash transfer, which he utilized to strengthen his fish-selling business and venture into poultry farming. He allocated funds for his children’s education, nutritious food, and books, while also re-enrolling Shaheda in school.
With the financial support, Abul Bashar’s family experienced significant improvements. Shaheda resumed her education, actively participated in sports, and aspires to continue her studies. The additional income from the businesses, especially the daily profit of Taka 600/700 from fish sales, has helped sustain the family’s needs and reduced their dependency on child labor.
Through collaborative efforts between CBCPC, BITA, and Abul Bashar’s family, targeted financial assistance has not only alleviated immediate financial strains but also paved the way for sustainable livelihoods and educational opportunities for the children. This case underscores the importance of community engagement and proactive interventions in uplifting vulnerable families from poverty and adversity.