Bansberia Primary School

Gazipur, West Bengal, India

“Education is not filling a bucket but lighting a fire.” -William B. Yeats.

Often, it is easier to light a fire but difficult to keep it burning. The same is true with education. Very often children from the downtrodden sections have to drop out of schools as their parents cannot afford their studies. Schools in the villages lack most of the resources we take for granted; resources like clean drinking water, toilets, or even proper classrooms. Add to these, the woes of a poor family, one that has trouble arranging even the basic necessities of life like food and clothes.

One can imagine the situation of even a very bright child in such scenario. Frequently, such promising students are lost to the daily realities of life despite their and their family’s desire to get them educated.

This was the exact situation in the primary school in the remote villages of Gazipur about 70 Km south of Kolkata in India. The school essentially was held in a hall room and an adjacent small room with earthen floor, leaky roof and no windows to protect the children from rain.

About 135 students attended this primary school.

Developments in the primary school

• Persistent monsoon and leaky roof of the school necessitated frequent disruption of the classes. A thorough repair of the roof and the floor was thus an immediate necessity. Complete plastering and cementing of the roof and floor was accomplished last year. Moreover, distempering (inside as well as outside) of the school has significantly improved the overall stability of the building for long term. Now the classes can be conducted despite rains and winds.
• 6 doors and 16 windows were installed which will not only help in rains and winters but also prevent the nuisance created by stray animals.
• Earlier, there was no furniture for the students and even the teachers. To ameliorate the situation, 4 chairs, 4 tables and 44 benches were procured.
• There was no cultural education being imparted to the students. We recently hired a lady music teacher for this job. The cultural activities helped to attract more kids to the school.

Local coordinator: Nishikanta Haldar