Solar Power Floating School, Bangladesh

>>Providing access to free education for flood and poverty prone areas in Bangladesh. <<

Project Type:
architecture

Project Mission/Goal:
improve the human spirit
increase awareness of the environment and/or address climate change
respond to our growing need for clean water, power, shelter, healthcare, education
address humanitarian crises

Project Description:
Boat school is the combination of a school bus and schoolhouse. Boat school collects students from different riverside villages and finally docking at last destination the boat arranges onboard class. After the class the boat drops students at their places and then moves forward to pick other groups, again it arranges onboard classes and after the class drops students in their villages, and moves forward for other groups. This is the way the boat school works throughout the day and arrange 3-4 classes.

Each boat school consists of a classroom for 30 to 35 students, a computer/laptop, hundreds of books, and electronic resources. School provides basic primary education up to grade IV. Shidhulai introduces the first river-based environmental curriculum in the country that teaches how to protect the environment and conserve water. Government curriculum is followed at grade III and IV.

The solar power enables boat school to provide late evening classes to the working children while they are free. Some students get Shidhulai in-house developed solar lamps to study during the night. The lamp/batteries are charged at charging stations of boat school.

All boat schools have small library facility, but some boats have complete facility of a standing library, for example, 1,500 books, 2 to 4 computers with internet access, printer and mobile phones. Children, youths, senior citizens, and particularly women learn computer skills and get information on agriculture, biodiversity, climate change, job opportunities, micro enterprise development and human rights. Late evening literacy classes are arranged on these boats for the parents.

text from: http://www.shidhulai.org/learning.html

Video(s):

Links and Captions:
http://www.shidhulai.org/
http://www.ashdenawards.org/winners/shidhulai
http://www.gatesfoundation.org/atla/Pages/2005-shidhulai-swanirvar-sangs...
http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=81044
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/26/AR200709...
http://ngopost.org/story/boat-schools-bangladesh-bring-question-diligenc...

Project Details:
Project Location: Sunderban delta region, Bangladesh
Date(s): XX to XX
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Nominated by Carlene Ho

Location