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After the independence of Bangladesh from Pakistan in 1971, The ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross) designated Sardar Bahadur (SB) Nagar as a camp for the Urdu speaking people (also known as Biharis or stranded Pakistanis). To accommodate the significant number of people, nearly all the schools in that area were turned into camps to serve as temporary shelters for this community. There was no provision of water, sanitation or health facilities. A school started here by the ICRC in 1972 was later turned over for management to Concern Worldwide, a non-profit. However, the school had to be closed down in 2004 leaving the couple of hundred camp children deprived of an education. On hearing about the plight of these children, OBAT started a school here in January 2008. The school was started with six teachers and two hundred and four students.
Today the school has more than six hundred students- three times the number with which it was started. The school is a primary or elementary school, with classes ranging from grade I to V. The curriculum comprises of the following subjects: Bangla (native language of Bangladesh), Science, Social Studies, Math, Religion and English. Other extra-curricular education relates to health; arts and crafts; story telling; general knowledge; music; and games.
Thank you to the Ambassadors of OBAT-St.Louis, for generously sponsoring this school.
