Waterlogging keeps Faridpur playground submerged, enrolment falls

Anwar Zahid, Faridpur

The playground of a school in Faridpur stays under water for six months every year, and the school is losing students. Knee deep water covers the field of Chandrapara Sardar Dangi Government Primary School in Sadarpur Upazila of Faridpur. Small children walk to school through the standing water, and this puts them at risk.

Rain water has filled the field. In some places the water is knee deep, and in other places the field is all mud. Children should be running, playing and exercising on this field. But water stays on it for nearly half of the year. Even after the monsoon ends, the water takes several more months to go down. So the field exists, but it is a place of permanent waterlogging.

Because of this, students miss regular games and exercise. The waterlogging also disturbs their daily travel and school activities. This long running problem has also hurt the number of students at the school. A visit to Chandrapara Sardar Dangi Government Primary School, number 125 in Dhekhali Union of Sadarpur Upazila, shows this picture.

School sources say the school has 33 decimals of land in total. About 20 decimals of it need to be filled with soil or sand. The field is low, so water collects after even a little rain. In the monsoon, the water stays for a long time. So the field cannot be used for about six months of the year.

Games are important for the physical and mental growth of primary school children. But this school has very little chance for it. Water has stayed for a long time, and mosquitoes have increased around the field. Parents worry about the health risk. Parents are also anxious about the travel of small children through the waterlogged ground.

The school has also been losing students along with this waterlogging. School sources say it once had about 180 students. Now it has 115, so 65 students have left. The school authorities and locals think the long waterlogging and the poor surroundings may be a main reason for this. But no separate study has been done on how much waterlogging caused the drop.

The school authorities say they have contacted several offices and applied to raise the field with soil. They say that if the field is raised, the waterlogging will end. They say it will also give students a safe place to move, play and exercise. Head Teacher Ms. Muktahida Begum said water collects even in light rain because the field is low. She said the field stays under water for a long time in the monsoon. This blocks the students’ travel, games and normal activities, and she said students will benefit a lot if the field is filled with soil.

Upazila Primary Education Officer Mr. Mamunur Rahman said the upazila administration has assured them about this. He said steps will be taken soon to fill the school field with soil. Sadarpur Upazila Nirbahi Officer Mr. Sharif Shawon said he knows about the trouble students face because of waterlogging. He said efforts are on to take quick steps within their means to make travel easier for the students.