Shawdesh Desk:

Country’s biggest residential school ‘Jaflong Valley Boarding School’ is built on 150 acres of land in Sylhet with the philosophy of schooling in the lap of nature amidst lofty trees and abundance of greeneries.

Usually, schooling in the country has been confined to four walls, where learning, at times, seems monotonous and frightful to students. But the Jaflong Valley Boarding School has brought learners close to nature as much as possible.

All arrangement has been made at the educational institute to ensure that none but nature is the greater coacher for a student. The school was established on several small hills near the Bangladesh border at Sreepur of Jaintapur Upazila in Sylhet, next to the Sylhet-Tamabil highway but at the foot of high hills of Indian Meghalaya state.

The students of the institute are getting the opportunity to study, living close to nature. The modern academic, administrative buildings and hostels of the school built on the hills without harming the nature.

The school authorities said the mission of the school is producing lifelong learners, responsible global citizens, to be creative and analytical thinkers and problem solvers. Some 14 businessmen and educationists founded the school. Lawmaker Hafiz Ahmed Mojumder from Sylhet-5 constituency is the chairman of the school managing committee. The school launched its full-sowing operation from 2018 academic year.

The school currently offers education for students of 7th to 12th grade as per the English medium version of the national curriculum. It currently has 120 students and 21 instructors including three Indian teachers, and the school has residential facilities for 1000 students.

The school also has standard food, medical treatment, evening coaching, recreation and sports facilities for its students.  The school was mainly established to facilitate education for the students from middle-class families. Usually, a student pays Tk 20,000 a month and a session fee of Tk 60,000 per year.

Talking to this correspondent, Mustafizur Rahman, who hailed from Sylhet, said: “My mother died in my childhood and my father sent me to this boarding school because he is a politician and he is very busy.” Mustafizur, a 7th grader at the school, said: “We are getting all types of facilities including good foods, extra curriculum activities and good environment at the school.”“The school authorities are taking our care like our parents,” he said. “We are happy to be a part of such a great institute.”

Koshik Devonath, a sixth-grade student at the school said, “We are studying here, living the close to nature and it is a great way to stay in nature and study.”

Devonath who came from Barura Upazila in Cumilla also said, “I was admitted at the school recently and I’m happy as I am getting all facilities here which I could not get at my previous school.”

Indian renowned teacher Brij Kishore Bharadwaj is the principal at the school. He is an alumnus of Modern School New Delhi and a Post Graduate in History (Delhi University) and Post Graduate in Education (Himachal Pra desh University).

Principal Bharadwaj has 35-year experience in teaching. Talking to the Daily Sun, Brij Kishore Bharadwaj said: “The school was established to give quality education to the students and make future leadership for the country.”

He also said teacher and student ratio at the school is 1:10, the environment of the school is as like the home, arrangements for all types of coaching at the campus and the students are also getting the scope to practices English.