Chardighaldi and Alokbali Unions are located in remote Char area of Narsingdi Sadar Upazila. The two Unions are quite isolated from the town. Not only that, the only means of transportation between these two unions is by river. Teachers have to suffer the most in commuting to these two unions. The boat starts its journey from Narsingdi town at 9 am and reaches the destination in more than 1 hour. On the other hand, teaching in educational institutions starts at 9:30 am. Besides, the last boat is at 2 pm on the way back in the afternoon. As a result, even though the school is up to 4:30, the teachers have to leave two hours earlier.
There are 9 government primary and one secondary schools in Alokbali Union. Only government primary schools have 34 teachers. Most of whom are regular commuters from the city. Besides, there are 7 government primary schools and one secondary school in Chardighaldi Union. Among them, there are only 28 government primary school teachers. Most of whom commute from Narsingdi. Teachers have to go to school much later than the scheduled time as they do not get their boats on time. By this, students are deprived of teaching.
When the matter came up in the regular monthly coordination meeting of Narsingdi Sadar Upazila Parishad, the proposal to provide boats for the teachers was accepted as per the decision of the Parishad.
Realizing the matter, Sadar Upazila Parishad built two boats at a cost of about Tk. 18 lakh. Two boats will regularly travel with teachers to Alokbali and Chardighaldi.
Upazila Parishad has provided two boats to solve the problem of boating for teachers. This will ensure the presence of primary and secondary school teachers in Char area and will bring back a fair environment for education. It was inaugurated by Deputy Commissioner Dr. Badiul Alam at Panchabati Meghna Ghat of Char Karimpur on Tuesday afternoon. At the short discussion meeting chaired by Sadar Upazila Nirbahi Officer Asma Sultana Nasreen, Upazila Chairman Aftab Uddin Bhuiyan, Deputy Director of Local Government Moushumi Sarkar, former professor of Narsingdi Government College Mohammad Ali. The guests distributed bicycles among the village policemen.
At this time, the Deputy Commissioner Dr. Badiul Alam said, transportation is a big problem for the people of Char area. Thinking in that direction, the parishad has given the teachers respect and save their time. Hopefully these two boats will be put to good use and the teachers will benefit.
Narsingdi Sadar Upazila Primary Education Officer Rafiqul Islam said that these two unions are remote grazing areas due to which going to school has been a problem for a long time. Due to non-availability of regular and timely boats, commuting to school was also a problem. Thanks to Sadar Upazila Parishad for giving two boats.
Teacher Zainal Abdin said, I have been working in a secondary school in Alokbali for a long time. My house is in Narsingdi town. I live here with my family. Boats depart from the town at 9 am. It takes about one to one and a half hours. And on the way back, the boat was caught at 2 o'clock in the afternoon. You have to leave the institution before 2 pm to board this boat. So now everything is saved.
Alokbali UP Chairman Delwar Hossain Dipu said that the teachers faced severe hardship as the only boat to reach the area. Due to this, school students had to be deprived of real education. Now we are grateful to the Deputy Commissioner for helping us with two boats. Hope to be saved from this suffering.