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The town of Mirpur in Bangladesh is a small town of only 58km² located in Dhaka city. It is home to some of Bangladesh’s biggest slums. With a population of over 1 million people, many live in very poor and overcrowded situations. While urban poverty is a huge issue in Mirpur, this is where one of Every Home Global Concerns primary schools is thriving.

351 students currently attend EHGC’s Child Sponsorship school in Mirpur. Daniel Sarkar, EHGC’s national Bangladeshi worker says “The children are doing well in their classes. Students along with their parents are really very happy and very proud of our school”.

At the beginning of the school term poor children from the slum areas, who otherwise may be sent out to work, are given new school bags, uniforms as well as the opportunity to a quality education. They are also given a free hot meal each day.

“All the students are from slum area” Daniel says “At the moment the children can come to school without any problem. There is no other school in this area that provides food during school time”

The provision of a mid-day meal enables the children, many who may otherwise only receive a small portion of rice a day, to concentrate, to learn, and to grow in health and nutrition. It is incentive for the children to continue attending school and is part of EHGC’s holistic development approach.

Along with the children, EHC aims to empower the children’s parents, many of whom are uneducated themselves, to be involved with their child’s education.

“In August we had a parent’s day” Daniel says “More than 225 parents came and they had an opportunity to talk to the teachers and talk about their children and to give us their suggestions for our school.  The teacher’s also were encouraged as they had so many good things to say about the children.”

Coaching is provided to students who are soon to sit the Governments Final Exam for Class V, giving them the best opportunity to succeed and go onto higher education.

“Last year Mirpur School achieved a very good result!” Daniel says.

We are proud to partner with EHGC in Bangladesh as they continue their great work amongst the urban poor, giving poor children from the surrounding slums such a great start in life.

 

Written by Katherine Franks.