Under the Starry Nights: Low-cost Education for Thousands of Children in Slums

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Educating the Slum Children

It is an obligation that we need to personally assume. They are there for no fault of their own. Leaving them on the streets without education is something we cannot afford as this will negate the long-term peace and prosperity of the mankind. The low cost approach to effective education using high-tech tools deployed at the very basic classrooms is an experiment that we are employing the very first time. With the pilot implementation of the model at 45 DoPeace learning centers in Bangladesh in years 2014-2015, catering to 8,500 children in the slums, the model is proven to be successful. This paves the way for mass education of children in the slums of the world.
Around the world, more than 100 million children who are living in slums face the daily hardship of malnutrition, lack of healthcare and education. UNICEF reports that only about half of the children living in slums will have the opportunity to enroll in schools. Only 55% of children eventually reach Grade 5. See Fixing the Broken Promise.
These children are not getting the education they need to prepare them for primary school and to be competitive in a global economy. We believe that education is one of the main factors that could help eliminate poverty and is a driver for creating wealth and improving their lives. According to UNESCO if all marginalized children could leave school with basic reading skills, 171 million people could be lifted out of poverty.

An extra year
of schooling in his/her childhood increases the individual earnings over a lifetime by 10%.

Many children are burdened with adult responsibilities from an early age. They work for their own survival and for the financial survival of their families or the people they are living with. Most parents are faced with the difficult choice of a child continuing their education or helping the family survive by going to work. Young girls are often forced into a marriage.
DoPeace is making a change : we provide access to low cost, effective preschool education to small children ages 4-6, to slum communities of 250-500 families. In many cases, these children will simply be on the streets and not set foot in a school, if access to such a school is not available in the community. After graduation, we enroll them in the government or private schools in grade one and provide access to after school coaching to reduce dropout. The cost of a child participating at a DoPeace Learning Center is only $12–$25 per child, per year, depending upon the location.
Attending the after school learning center will give each child a step up in their education goals. The possibility of continuing their education improves significantly, along with their chance to earn a higher wage.

case study

Rina Akter

Rina Akter is the first child of Rahim Hossain. Rahim Hossain works as a day laborer. Rina’s mother’s name is Asma. Rina is the first daughter of two sisters and one brother. Rina’s father pays for the house rent, food, market expenses, and other necessities. The financial situation is not good so it is difficult to bear the cost of tuition. They can’t afford tuition fees so they can’t send Rina to any private school which is why she finished one year in our school. She is now a fourth grade student in government primary school and coaching at our center. No money is taken in our coaching so their studies are good and parents are satisfied with our work. Rina loves to study and she wants to be educated in higher education. Rina’s parents have a strong desire to educate Rina in higher education.

Jannat Akter
Pre-school Teacher
Fahima khatoon Learning Center

Lucky

The story of a helpless student……

Today I will talk about one of my helpless students. Her name is Lucky. Her father’s name is Akhlaq. Mother’s name is Late: Sahela. They are 1 brother and 1 sister. She is older. She is a Muslim and a Behari. She is a student of class/grade 5 and receiving coaching services at PITC Learning Center in the area adjacent to Syedpur Islambagh Chini Mosque Rasulpur. She lives in the railway land near the Islamabad Chini Mosque. Her brother is also a student of grade/class 3 and has been getting coaching services from this Learning Center.

Lucky’s class roll is 07. Her younger brother works in a factory. Lucky’s father is alive physically but he doesn’t take care of them. Even when their mother was alive he took care of them very little and provided very little support to them but after their mother’s death he hasn’t seen them at all specially for at least from one year. At present Lucky and her brother live in grandmother’s(Nani’s) house. Their grandmother has been working in another house and somehow mitigating the family expenditure that that income is not enough and sufficient for them, not even able to bear the cost of their education. They are living in a very deplorable condition. In a word they are extremely poor.

Her grandmother has a stone in her kidney but could not have the operation due to lack of money. Besides this their grandmother needs to take medicine which requires 400 taka per day. Lucky is not very talented but very interested and comes to our learning center regularly. Considering the family and survival problems, Lucky did not want to read before. Lucky is going good in school and in our learning center and improving everyday. Lucky wants to be a teacher, wants to continue the education of her brother anyhow and wants to make him a real human being. I pray that God will fulfill the hope of her mind.

Khadija Parveen (Suchona), Coaching Teacher
PITC Learning Center
Eakok Attomanobik Unnayan Sangstha, Syedpur, Nilphamari.

Rahmat Shubha’s Education Life Story………
TThe baby’s name is Rahmat Shuvo. Father’s name is Late: Mohsanaullah, mother’s name is Most: Farhad lives in Mahalla: Islambagh, Saidpur, Nilphamari. The child was born in a Bihari family. They are 2 brothers and 1 sister in number. Md. Rahmat is the youngest child of his family. The father has died. Mother works in other people’s homes. The economic situation of their family is so bad that they cannot take food most of the time, sometimes they need to starve.
Neighboring people who support their family and help them are very poor. So it is very difficult for his family to bear the cost of education for him. Having schools with the help of our DoPeace is benefiting the children from poor families as they do not require to pay for admission and education. The quality of the child’s educational progress is very satisfactory due to the existence of DoPeace schools.
Every family is very interested in enrolling children in these DoPeace schools every year as the quality of education in DoPeace schools is very good. So we don’t have to conduct surveys anymore every year. Families around the school are desperate to enroll their children every year on their own initiative. Shubha is very attentive in the learning center and has become a good student in his school. So the dream of the child and his mother is that Shubha will be a good teacher when he grows up.

Razia Sultana (Pre-Teacher)
P.I.T.C. Learning Center
Eakok Attomanobik Unnayan Sangstha with the support of DoPeace, Syedpur,
Nilphamari.

** Jainal is like a flower that falls before mature *
The little boy’s name is Joynal. What will be the age? Maybe 6 or 7 years. The round face is deep, the look in his eyes is more normal than the other boys and girls of the school. There was nothing extraordinary in it. Even though he looks different. Joynal’s father’s name is Nazrul, he is an autorickshaw driver by profession, and his mother Kamali Begum is a housewife. They are Bengali Muslim families. Joynal is the second among the four siblings. Her older brother is 10 years old.
At this age he had to shoulder the burden of the family due to lack of money. He has to work in a hotel for a small amount of money. The hotel is right in front of my school. I saw him working in the hotel every day. The reason for working in his hotel is that Joynal’s father left them and went to Dhaka. He got married there and started a new family. He does not support Joynal. They have 6 members in the family including four brothers, sisters, mother and (maternal) grandmother.
His grandmother is a beggar. In order to survive in this difficult world, she had to take a begging bowl in her old age because Joynal’s elder brother who is only 10 years old is not able to run such a big family on his own. At the age when he was supposed to study and play sports, he had to take the responsibility of the family. From what I have experienced in this short life, I can say, “Maturity does not come with age, maturity comes with the burden of responsibility, in terms of reality,” in hard reality the soft hands become hard. He learned to endure the cruel blows of society.
Joynal’s younger sister Fatema is 4 years old. I had the good fortune to go home after hearing about her illness. They live in the western housing slums. They didn’t even have a place to stay at home. I didn’t see anything except a single stove and a cooking pot. When I entered their house, Joynal’s two younger sisters were lying on the empty floor and they did not have a single bed. Somehow Katha was lying on the bed.
Among them was the little girl Fatema who had been ill for two days. Joynal’s 2 younger sisters Jannati and Fatema come to study with Joynal at the “Thomas Edison Learning Center”. If they didn’t get a chance to study for free, they might never have dreamed of going to school. For those who have to work hard to get three meals a day, studying is just a luxury. There were tears in the corners of my eyes when I left the house.
But they are grateful for the opportunity to learn from the “Eakok Attomanobik Unnayan Sangstha” with the help of DoPeace. Now Joynal’s mother dreams of building a future for her children. She wants her children to be well educated and have a good life. With the help of DoPeace, the “Eakok Attomanobik Unnayan Sangstha ” has stood by countless dropouts, extended a helping hand to them and benefited many families and dropouts.

Pinky Khatun, (Pre-Teacher)
Thomas Edition Learning Center
Eakok Attomanobik Unnayan Sangstha, Syedpur, Nilphamari.

Bristi’s life story…..
Bristi was born in a low-income family situated in Munsipara mahalla of Syedpur town. Her Father’s name is Nur Islam and mother’s name is Khadija. Bristi’s parents are Muslim and they are from mainsteam Bengali. Her father is a low-paid employee. Bristi reads in our pre-schoool. Bristi is her mother’s only daughter, her father’s two families. Bristi’s mother is his second wife. Bristi’s father lives with his first wife. And does not live with the mother of Bristy and does not pay any cost to the mother of Brisi and the cost of education of Bristi.
Bristi’s mother has to bear the cost of family and Bristi’s education with great difficulty. So Bristi’s mother works in someone else’s house. And with that money, her mother manages the family expenses and the cost of Britsi’s education with great difficulty. One day Bristi’s mother came to the Habiba Khatoon learning center and told her life story and their family situation was really heartrending. Since then, I have paid more attention to Bristi. And strickly observed attendance of Bristi.
Everyday it is observed that Bristi is very interested and attentive towards her studies. She was making progress rapidly and she is completely different from others. She can say the oath in Bengali and English without any mistakes. It was really fascinating to us that Bristi is so good at studying and so, we took special care of her as she was very enthusiastic. The dream of Bristi, when she will grow up, she will become a teacher to relieve the grief of her mother. With the help of DoPeace Organization and Eakok Attomanobik Unnayan Sangstha, Bristi got the opportunity to study at HABIBA KHATOON LEARNING CENTER, therefore, her mother is thankful to us.
Mahmuda Akhter (Pre-Teacher)
Habiba Khatun Learning Center
Eakok Attomanobik Unnayan Sangstha, Syedpur, Nilphamari.
Sanjida’s life story.
120 students at Dr. Nasir Ahmed Coaching Center, among them Sanjida who is very talented. Sanjida is in fourth grade. She is very attentive in her studies. We don’t have to call her for coaching. Sanjida’s parents are very aware of her education. Sanjida’s father’s name is Mukul Hossain and mother’s name is Swapna Begum. They live in Dhalagach under the village of Sardar Para, Saidpur. She born in a Muslim and muslim mainstream Bengali. They are two sisters. Her older sister is in ninth grade.

Her father is a rickshaw puller. Her mother is a housewife. The economic situation in their family is not good. If on any specific day her father cannot ride a rickshaw, they cannot get the food to eat. Suddenly one day her father felt sick and failed to drive the rickshaw. On that day they 

need to starve. With the income of her father it is just difficult to manage the food stuff for the family. It is not possible for them to mitigate the educational cost of tuition fees for coaching. Sanjida is very regular in the Learning center and as she is very attentive towards her education she is making progress quickly. When she came to the coaching center, she was very attentive and her attention increased day by day. Her parents came to the coaching center to oversee the study of her daughter. Seeing her daughter’s reading and writing progress, her parents dream that she will be a great doctor. Her parents expect when she will grow up and be a doctor she will lead a beautiful life. Her parents are very happy to see the progress of her education and thanked to the DoPeace and EAKOK management for this great initiative. Sanjida hopes that if she become a Doctor, she will serve the poor.

Sabina Akhter (Coaching Teacher)
Dr. Nasir Ahmed Learning Center.
Eakok Attomanobik Unnayan Sangstha, Syedpur, Nilphamari.

“A Sad Life Story of Bishal”
I have shared the life story of one of my students with you. Bishal lives in Munsipara Railway Colony, Ward 05, Syedpur Thana under Nilphamari District. His father Md. Rana is a day laborer, mother of Ms. Bithi. Bishal is studying in 2nd class in Ramakrishna Model Government Primary School. Roll No. 54. Their financial condition is so poor that they have no ability to provide the tuition fees for their child.
She came to know that Eakok Attomanobik Unnayan Sangstha has been providing free coaching services. She came to our Learning Center and enrolled him in our Homer Learning Center. He is very talented and a daredevil. It is with great difficulty that he leaves his mother and lives with his grandmother,aunt(Fupi) and his father. Her parents used to live in Dhaka. At one stage, they got divorced 2 years ago due to a bad relationship between the parents. The boy has a lot of trouble. One day he told us that Madam, I can’t talk to my mother and I can’t meet even if I want to. Her pain touched my mind. At this age, children will love their mother very much. In fact, not everything matches the fate of everyone. He is deprived of his mother’s love. Everyone in the house loves this boy a lot. Yet he is deprived of his mother’s love. He wants to grow up to be a pilot and an ideal person and wants to do something for the country. We pray to the great Lord Almighty that his heart’s desire be fulfilled. Amen.

Bithi Islam (Coaching Teacher)
Homer Learning Center
Eakok Attomanobik Unnayan Sangstha, Syedpur, Nilphamari.

Nahida is a fifth grade student. Her mother Nazma Begum did handicrafts. Her father’s name is Mizan. He sells vegetables in different places. Nahida has three brothers and sisters. Her older brother is in ninth grade. Her younger brother is in second grade. Nahida lives with her family in a rented house in the football village camp. Her father’s monthly income is 6000 taka. It was very difficult for Nahida and her two brothers to pay for their education. But her mother wanted to give her a good education. I went to a survey when she was in 2nd class. Her father would go to work from time to time. Her mother used to run the household by hand. When I told her mother that we would coach her for free, she was very happy and she gave a lot of blessings. Nahida is a very good student. She comes to coaching on time every day and reads all the time. She did very well. Her school teachers are very happy with her. That is why her parents are all very happy. Nahida and her younger brother are currently in our coaching. Nahida is in fifth class and younger brother is in second class. Nahida’s father and mother want her to coach at our coaching center till class 5, because it is not possible for them to coach another with money.
They have expressed their deep gratitude to Shahid Ahmed Sir, Wasek Sir and Wahid Sir for providing free coaching. Nahida’s parents want her to become a doctor so that she can serve the people of the country.

Saba Amrin
Coaching Instructor
Syed Mohammad Sarfaraz Learning Center

Rina Akter is the first child of Rahim Hossain. Rahim Hossain works as a day laborer. Rina’s mother’s name is Asma. Rina is the first daughter of two sisters and one brother. Rina’s father pays for the house rent, food, market expenses, and other necessities. The financial situation is not good so it is difficult to bear the cost of tuition. They can’t afford tuition fees so they can’t send Rina to any private school which is why she finished one year in our school. She is now a fourth grade student in government primary school and coaching at our center. No money is taken in our coaching so their studies are good and parents are satisfied with our work. Rina loves to study and she wants to be educated in higher education. Rina’s parents have a strong desire to educate Rina in higher education.

Jannat Akter
Pre-school Teacher
Fahima khatoon Learning Center

unnamed (6)
The story of a helpless student……
Today I will talk about one of my helpless students. Her name is Lucky. Her father’s name is Akhlaq. Mother’s name is Late: Sahela. They are 1 brother and 1 sister. She is older. She is a Muslim and a Behari. She is a student of class/grade 5 and receiving coaching services at PITC Learning Center in the area adjacent to Syedpur Islambagh Chini Mosque Rasulpur. She lives in the railway land near the Islamabad Chini Mosque. Her brother is also a student of grade/class 3 and has been getting coaching services from this Learning Center.
Lucky’s class roll is 07. Her younger brother works in a factory. Lucky’s father is alive physically but he doesn’t take care of them. Even when their mother was alive he took care of them very little and provided very little support to them but after their mother’s death he hasn’t seen them at all specially for at least from one year. At present Lucky and her brother live in grandmother’s(Nani’s) house. Their grandmother has been working in another house and somehow mitigating the family expenditure that that income is not enough and sufficient for them, not even able to bear the cost of their education. They are living in a very deplorable condition. In a word they are extremely poor.
Her grandmother has a stone in her kidney but could not have the operation due to lack of money. Besides this their grandmother needs to take medicine which requires 400 taka per day. Lucky is not very talented but very interested and comes to our learning center regularly. Considering the family and survival problems, Lucky did not want to read before. Lucky is going good in school and in our learning center and improving everyday. Lucky wants to be a teacher, wants to continue the education of her brother anyhow and wants to make him a real human being. I pray that God will fulfill the hope of her mind.

Khadija Parveen (Suchona), Coaching Teacher
PITC Learning Center
Eakok Attomanobik Unnayan Sangstha, Syedpur, Nilphamari.

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DoPeace.org was founded by Dr. Shahid Ahmed to provide education to children in the slums around the world. Dr. Ahmed grew up in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and has the first hand knowledge of the acute problems in the slums, particularly the abject poverty and lack of resources for children’s education.

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