What If This Were Your School?

    Bangladesh is in South Asia, just east of India. From June to October, the entire region gets hit by giant rainstorms called monsoons. More than a foot of rain can fall in a week. 

    In 1998, the monsoons were especially bad. More than two-thirds of Bangladesh flooded. The rains left more than 1,000 people dead and 25 million people homeless. Hundreds of thousands of kids couldn’t get to school.

    That really bothered a 22-year-old named Mohammed Rezwan. In college, Rezwan had studied architecture—the art and science of creating buildings. 

    The young architect wanted to do something useful with his education. So he decided to design floating schools.

    Bangladesh is in South Asia, just east of India. From June to October, the area gets hit by giant rainstorms called monsoons. More than a foot of rain can fall in a week.

    In 1998, the monsoons were really bad. More than two-thirds of Bangladesh flooded. The rains left 1,000 people dead and 25 million homeless. Hundreds of thousands of kids couldn’t get to school.

    That really bothered Mohammed Rezwan. He was 22. In college, he had studied architecture—the art and science of creating buildings.

    Rezwan wanted to do something useful. So he decided to design floating schools.

    Bangladesh is in South Asia, just east of India. From June to October, the entire region gets hit by giant rainstorms called monsoons. More than a foot of rain can fall in a week. 

    In 1998, the monsoons were especially bad. More than two-thirds of Bangladesh flooded. The rains left 1,000 people dead and 25 million people homeless. Hundreds of thousands of kids couldn’t get to school.

    That really bothered a 22-year-old named Mohammed Rezwan. In college, Rezwan had studied architecture—the art and science of creating buildings. 

    The young architect wanted to do something useful with his education, so he decided to design floating schools.

    Today, Rezwan runs more than 20 floating schools. Instead of waiting by the road for a bus every morning, students go to the riverbank. A boat picks them up and moves on to the next stop. When it’s full, the boat docks. Then the school day starts—no matter how hard it rains.

    Each school boat can hold a class of 30 kids. The boats use solar power to create electricity for lights. Some are stocked with books, laptop computers, printers, and mobile phones. Students study under roofs that can withstand the worst storms.

    For Rezwan, it’s a dream come true. He knows that floating schools will give many kids a brighter future. “If the children can’t go to school,” he said, “then the schools should go to them.” 

    Today, Rezwan runs more than 20 floating schools. Instead of waiting by the road for a school bus each morning, students go to the riverbank. A boat picks them up and moves on to the next stop. When it’s full, the boat docks. That’s when the school day starts.

    Each school boat can hold 30 kids. The boats use solar power to create electricity for lights. Some carry books, laptop computers, printers, and mobile phones. The boats have strong roofs.

    For Rezwan, it’s a dream come true. He knows that floating schools will give kids a brighter future. “If the children can’t go to school,” he said, “then the schools should go to them.”

    Today, Rezwan runs more than 20 floating schools. Instead of waiting by the road for a school bus every morning, students wait at the riverbank. A boat picks them up and then moves on to the next stop. When it’s full, the boat docks. The school day starts—no matter how hard it’s raining.

    Each school boat can hold a class of 30 students. The boats use solar power to create electricity for lights. Some are stocked with books, laptop computers, printers, and mobile phones. Students study under roofs that can withstand even the most powerful storms.

    For Rezwan, the success of the school boats is a dream come true. He knows that the floating schools will mean a brighter future for  many children. “If the children can’t go to school,” Rezwan stated, “then the schools should go to them.”