Not long ago, at least 10,000 Bangladeshi students studied in Darjeeling, Shiliguri and Kurseong schools alone: Guardians used to blame poor academic atmosphere at home, Mizan Rahman

Once there was a time when Bangladeshis used to choose Darjeeling and other places of India for sending their children for school studies in English. Not long ago, at least 10,000 Bangladeshi students studied in Darjeeling, Shiliguri and Kurseong schools alone: Guardians used to blame poor academic atmosphere at home.

Even primary school students below ten were sent, who stayed at  dormitories there. This was because of lack of proper academic atmosphere on campuses and poor standard of education in English. There was absence of international recognition of English medium schools in Bangladesh. On an average, every student used to spend about Tk one lakh a year for  education in India, thereby draining out huge amounts of foreign currency. Every year, about 1000 Bangladeshi children were enrolled with these English medium schools in Darjeeling.

Most of the Bangladesh students used to return home on three month’s  vacation. One could see in Burimari land port in Lalmonirhat several hundred Bangladeshi guardians returning from  Darjeeling with their children. Most of them said they send their  children to Darjeeling out of frustration at the performance of  English medium schools in Bangladesh.
But then Abdul Hakim, a student of class three at Himali Boarding School and College at Kurseong, said he felt lonely when he had gone there to stay at the dormitory. “Now I feel better”.

Retired officer Shamsuddin was returning home with his daughter Hamida, a student of class six at Bethany School in Kuseong. “It is hard for parents to leave their children at hostels in a  foreign country for education. But I did so for better education of my daughter.”

He cited a number of reasons. The standard of education in most of the English medium schools in Bangladesh was not up to the mark. A very few schools could provide good education but their seats were very  limited, he said.
A businessman in Rangpur, whose son is a student of an English  medium school in Shiliguri, said, “I wanted my son to be well educated  at an English medium school in Bangladesh. But none of the English medium schools in Dhaka or any other city has residential facility. “So I sent my son to Shiliguri”.

Moreover, there is no uniform curriculum for English medium schools in  Bangladesh. On the other hand, all English medium schools in India follow the same curriculum prescribed by Delhi Board, he claimed.
But expectations of all Bangladeshi guardians are not fulfilled. Not  all the students are doing good in Indian schools.
Raihan Sharif, a student of class ten at a school in Kuseong, said many of  the Bangladeshi classmates have been derailed.

“They take wine with Nepalese students on different occasions”.

“Few Bangladeshi students do good results in all Board examinations.

“The only subject we learn better is English, but that is not all”.

He suggested that Bangladesh government should give more emphasis on English at primary, secondary and higher secondary levels because this is an age of internet and English is the only language for  communication outside.
A guardian from Dhaka, supported Raihan’s observations. There should be more private sector investment in education sector, particularly at primary and secondary levels, which will suite the need of the time, he said.
Things have changed today. Schools like Maple Leaf International have not only stopped drainage of foreign currency by wooing local students but also set precious lessons for others in Bangladesh to follow.
“The Bangladesh government would really benefit from 7,000 million taka British grant for promoting English language if it involves like Maple Leaf, Mastermind, Scholastica, Sunbeam and others in spread of English language in the country, “ said Dr Mosaddeq Ali of Dhaka University.

Maple Leaf has already made its mark as one of the best English medium schools in Dhaka city. It was established about three decades ago in 1972. The school started its journey on the ground floor of a building in Dhanmondi area with 25 students. At present, the school is housed in several buildings at different quiet places in Dhanmondi accommodating thousands of students from Play Group to A Level. It has bought four bighas of land at Bashundhara residential area to establish its permanent campus. The quality of teaching and grooming the children has been steadily improving since its inception. The sponsors of the school expect to facilitate extra-curricular activities for the students.

Maple Leaf School has produced outstanding achievers who scored as many as nine As or ten As in one sitting. Md. Fares Bhuiyan of the school was the first student in Bangladesh to secure 10 As in one sitting. The other students who secured 10 As in one sitting was Faria Mahjabeen. Busra Binte Adam secured 12 As in two sittings. Over the years, many students of the institution won scholarships from internationally renowned colleges and universities such as MIT, Caltech, Harvard. Brown, Yale: Princeton, Cornell. Dartmouth, Lafayette. Mount Holyoke, Imperial, York, British Columbia and Pennsylvania. Tarek Fazle Ali received 100 percent scholarship from North Eastern University in the USA and Khandaker Abir received 98 percent scholarship from the University of British Columbia.

The University of Pennsylvania of the United States shares a friendly and warm relationship with Maple Leaf. This friendship has grown stronger through the years with the visit of Dr. Arhbrose C. Davis, Director of International Recruitment and Development of the University of Pennsylvania. Every year foreign visitors from different countries visit the school.
Maple Leaf is the only school in Bangladesh whose students are invited to participate in Harvard Model Congress. Maple Leaf students Sami Noor Munem and Abdus Sabur Mostafa received outstanding’ achievement award in this conference held in Luxembourg and Paris.

The main aim of Maple Leaf School is to prepare students to face the most rigorous higher educational standards in leading institutions throughout the world and at the same time produce highly motivated individuals. With ‘this aim in view, the teachers are always ready to help and support the students. Naturally, in such a cooperative atmosphere, education becomes more appealing to the students.

Most of the classrooms of the school are air-conditioned; cameras are set up to monitor the activities of both teachers and students. All kinds of facilities for quality education are provided to the teachers on demand. One of the outstanding features of Maple Leaf is its rich science laboratory.

Shortage of qualified, skilled and trained teachers is one of the major problems the educational institutions are facing now. English medium schools are running with teachers most of whom are not properly trained. The shortage of English language teachers is acute even in English medium schools in the city.

“In an English medium school like ours we need English language teachers with English medium background. But most of those who pass ‘A’ level go abroad for higher studies. When they come back, naturally they prefer corporate offices, banks and international organisations for better remunerations,” Salma Ali, a teacher, said.

In China one million people were trained as English language teachers for a period of five years, but they could not reach international standard.

In UK there is a one-year practical course, postgraduate certificate in education, which includes teaching in a class while someone observes you and gives you feedback. This kind of training is important for teachers.

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minhaz parvez  - some addresses of indian schools |2008-07-18 17:00:04 i need to get my 6-yr daughter admitted to an indian boarding school. would you pls help me get some addresses including their email address. 1   0

Md. Sohrawardi  - Need some Address |2008-07-28 16:25:25 Need some Address of Indian boarding school for a bangladeshi 7 years old boy 0   0

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