Banglar Pathshala: In search for the true meaning of education

Banglar Pathshala works to preserve the history of Bangladesh and create literature on different topics in the Bangla language. Photo: Courtesy

In 2008, Ahmed Javed Chowdhury, a fresh MBA graduate came across shocking news. His housemaid's young son had died in a car accident in front of the slum they lived in. 

The news had impacted Javed so deeply that the very next week he went to the Mirpur slum to meet the children who live there. He wanted to teach them basic road rules - how to cross a road, what things to notice, etc. 

But soon he realised that the children lacked basic education. 

"I started to go there regularly to teach those children. The slum-dwellers provided me with a small room and that's where the classes were held. And that is where the idea of Shakti Bidyalaya stems from," said Javed, who is now 45 years old and a university lecturer. 

Shakti Bidyalaya, which started as an initiative to provide road safety guidelines to children, now runs mass education programmes among street and slum children. The programme integrated basic lessons on everyday life (such as road safety) with formal education. There are nine branches of this school, and three branches currently remain active while the rest have been temporarily closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Javed spent years teaching those children at Shakti Bidyalaya and that's where he realised how even a small bit of knowledge or education can give a person confidence and empower them. 

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"That's the reason I named the school 'Shakti' or power. One of my students in the Korail slum was so inspired that he got a golden A+ on his PSC exam. This inspired me a lot," said Javed. 

Javed then decided to establish an institution, where people of all classes, economic backgrounds, gender, ethnicity and age would be able to join and study whatever they wished to. 
That's how in 2009, Banglar Pathshala (meaning the school of philosophy in Bangla) was born. The organisation works to preserve the history of Bangladesh and create literature on different topics in the Bangla language.

Over the last 13 years, the organisation has held 12 study circles. One study circle is held per year, each consisting of 12 classes on prominent economists, litterateurs and writers. Alongside this, they have also held 200 seminars and three South Asian conventions on various prominent figures, both Bangladeshi and foreign. 

To date, they have organised courses on Akhtaruzzaman Elias, Sardar Fazlul Karim, Professor Anisuzzaman, Anisur Rahman, Nurul Islam and Rehman Sobhan - people whose work have shaped the identity of Bangladesh. 

So far, more than 12,000 university students have participated in these study circles and seminars. Currently, the organisation is working on a year-long study circle on Nobel Laureate economist Professor Amartya Sen, which is set to resume this July.

Photo: Courtesy

The logo of the organisation features the map of Bangladesh inside a red sphere and atop it is a bird ready to take flight. This logo was designed by prominent artist Sabyasachi Hazra. 

"I hold the soul of Bangladesh inside and I am now ready to take a flight towards the world. This is how education should be - prepare us for the world," said Javed, as he explained the idea behind the logo.  

'The education I was given didn't represent me'

"Have you ever wondered why Rabindranath Tagore couldn't cope with the formal British institutionalised education system? Was it because he was not smart? I think he couldn't connect with the material. Everything was in English. It didn't properly reflect his upbringing or his soul," Javed said, speaking of Rabindranath Tagore's influence on his work.
We all know that Rabindranath Tagore disliked the formal school system, where students were mostly treated as passive recipients of content void of enjoyment and enthusiasm for learning.

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Tagore introduced a new system of performance-oriented school education, which was designed to cater to students' inquisitive minds. Stepping beyond the conventional disciplinary methods of mainstream schooling, Tagore's school at Shantiniketan based its teaching methods on students being able to enjoy their freedom and gain knowledge of the world and its civilisations and cultures. 

Tagore spent most of his time in Shantiniketan, a different kind of educational environment that he himself did not have access to. 

And this is where one can draw parallels between Tagore and what Javed is working toward.

Javed spoke about his student life. "When I was finishing my graduation in 1998, I had to travel every day in packed buses and I would see beggars everywhere. Children working when they should have been studying. And when I finally arrived in class, all the books would be in English. 

There was no Bangladeshi perspective, nothing I could identify with. So, then how am I supposed to respect the knowledge and the educational institute I am to learn from?" Javed questioned.

In the same way, students from the slum need to be taught based on their surroundings and not on just things written in their textbooks. This was one of the ideas behind the organisation, he further explained. 

One room, three people and a lot of work

The Banglar Pathshala office is just a small room of about 15 feet by 20 feet in the capital's Nilkhet area. Three computer desks, a big bookshelf and a central desk cover most of its space. The bookshelf is the star of the room - full of books on the history of Bangladesh, economic and philosophical theories, education etc. 

One cannot quite fathom the amount of work Banglar Pathshala does from the physical appearance of the room alone. "From studying to planning the courses, designing the posters and pamphlets - everything is done in this room," said Dipu, one of the team members, while sorting out the upcoming Amartya Sen study circle posters that are to be advertised around the city. 

It takes Javed more than a year to design a course for the study circle. "At first, my team and I read every piece of literature available on the person we are studying and also his or her work. Then we interview him/her (if the person is alive) and the people related to them. 

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This is how after several revisions,  the course syllabus is prepared," Javed explained, adding, "A couple of days back, during our preparation for the Amartya Sen study circle, one CSE student called me and asked, 'I study computer science. Am I allowed to join this study circle?' Such questions astonish me!" 

Such questions show Javed just how alienated and boxed we have become, where studying has just become a task to secure jobs. A university student should be knowledgeable on all subjects, they should not feel discouraged from studying new things, he stressed. 

"I wanted to build a study platform that is not tied down by the conventional education system. Rather my platform offers the freedom to enlighten your soul. You can study what you like and what is best suited to you," said Ahmed Javed Chowdhury, Founder of Banglar Pathshala.