One school, one teacher with no toilet, no water

A lone teacher runs an entire primary school in Old Dhaka, teaching children from Class I to Class V in a single cramped room-with no proper drinking water, separate toilet or even space for students and teachers to answer nature’s call.

On rainy days, water drips through the roof.

This is the harsh reality of Banglabazar Government Primary School, where 48 children from mostly low-income families are trying to pursue their basic right to education amid appalling conditions.

The school, located at 63 Paridas Road in Old Dhaka, has been struggling with a severe shortage of facilities for years.

Originally established in 1940 as Jagadish Chandra Das's Pathshala, the institution was nationalised in 1973 and renamed Banglabazar Government Primary School.

Despite its long history and government status, the school is still without a permanent and suitable environment for education.

A legal battle over the school building has further complicated matters. Educational activities at the old building have remained suspended since 2020, when its roof 
collapsed. 

After nearly six years, classes resumed in March this year under a temporary arrangement at the library of nearby Ekrampur Primary School.

But the arrangement has brought little relief.

Students from Class I to Class V are now being taught in the same room by the school's lone teacher. Children of different grades sit together, while many have to share benches because of the shortage of space.
The library room itself is far from suitable for running a school.

Water leaks through its roof during rain, there is no safe drinking water facility, and neither students nor teachers have access to separate toilets.

When contacted, the school's only teacher, Aditi Das, declined to elaborate on the problems.

"I do not know anything other than teaching. You will have to speak to the higher authorities about these matters," she told The Daily Observer.

A reporter of this newspaper visited the school and found children from different classes studying together in the cramped room under the supervision of the lone teacher.

Most of the students come from economically disadvantaged families.

Educationists say schools serving poor communities often remain neglected as their students lack the social and political influence needed to draw the attention of the authorities.

Yasmin Aziz, mother of Class III student Sajjad Hossain Sohag, said parents had little choice but to keep their children enrolled there.

"The condition of the school is very poor. We cannot afford expensive schools and are forced to send our children here," she said.

"The teacher is sincere, but there is hardly any environment for proper learning."

Before the suspension of classes, the school operated from three rooms of the old building. It did not even have a separate office room.

Members of the family of the school's founder, Jagadish Chandra Das, live in another part of the same building.

Kamal Saha Dukhu, a member of the founder's family, said the school had been established on their ancestral land.

"We have allocated three rooms for the school. Our family lives in the rear portion of the building and in the remaining part of the second floor," he said.

A lawsuit over the ownership and use of the old school building is currently pending.

It has been learnt that the property has already been transferred in the name of the Dhaka District Commissioner (DC), while the school authorities are now awaiting a verdict from the High Court.

Officials of the Directorate of Primary Education and the office of the Dhaka District Primary Education Officer, however, said the land belongs to the school.

For now, however, the century-old institution continues its struggle for survival-with one teacher, one room and hundreds of unmet needs.