Chattogram Division: Floods damage 577 educational institutions

At least 577 educational institutions were affected by the recent floods in three districts of Chattogram division, according to education offices.

Although flood waters have receded, academic activities in many schools could not resume till yesterday.

In Chattogram district's Satkania upazila, around 88 percent of the educational institutions were affected and have been closed for over a week and half.

Academic activities have resumed in only 34 of the 270 educational institutions, including primary schools, high schools and madrasas, according to the upazila education office.

Though the water has gone down, the school buildings are not fit yet for academic activities to resume. I will take another week to start classes, education officers said.

"Most of the schools in our upazila were affected by the floods. The environment is not yet conducive for activities … The schools are being cleaned up at the moment," said Golam Mahbub, primary education officer of Satkania upazila.

Salim Uddin, the upazila's secondary education officer, said it will take two to seven more days for classes to resume.

"Moreover, some institutions have suffered infrastructural damages. It will take longer to restart classes in them."

However, academic activities in almost all the educational institutions in Chattogram city and some other upazilas resumed on Sunday, said Uttam Khisa, district education officer.

In Cox's Bazar, some 236 educational institutions were affected by the floods. But classes in all of them have already resumed, said teachers and education officers.

Golam Mostafa, head teacher of HM High School in Chakaria upazila, said, "We were compelled to shut our school down when it went under waist-deep water. Over a week later, we reopened the school on Saturday."

Much of the school's furniture have been damaged, he added.

In Rangamati, some 71 primary schools were affected and classes could not resume in some of them till yesterday, according to education offices concerned.

"Water is receding from the school premises. But some are filled with puddles and mud. So academic activities could not be resumed in those," said Md Sazzad Hossain, Rangamati district primary education officer, adding that classes in all schools will resume within two or three days.

Meanwhile, school students and their families have been facing their own struggles due to the floods.

"Our house has been severely damaged and my fourth grader son's textbooks were washed away," said Chapchar Bwam, of Rangamati's Belaichhari upazila.

Utpal Chakma, of Julaichhari upazila, said, "My daughter is a grade three student. Her school is yet to reopen due to flood damage."

Torrential rain and tidal water have caused the sudden floods that wreaked havoc in the southeastern region, affecting over one million people, according to media reports.

(Our correspondents from Chattogram, Cox's Bazar and Rangamati contributed to the report.)