バングラデシュで学校に通いながら路面店で働く少年の話
【2019年1月の活動報告】
Approximately 690,000 meals (progress rate: 30%) were distributed by January against Euglena cookie distribution target of 2.3 million meals for this term (October 2018 to September 2019).
1. A story about a boy who works at a roadside store while attending school
This month, I would like to introduce Yasmine (15 years old) who works at a roadside store while attending Choice to Change Elementary School, which is the target school of the GENKI program. He is a family of five, a father, a mother, a sister and a younger brother. When he was 11 years old, his father, who was working as a security guard, was ill and couldn't work. Instead, my mom started working as a housekeeper. However, the monthly household income has decreased from about 13,000 yen to about 10,000 yen. The average monthly household income in a slum is about 20,000 yen, which makes life even harder. At that time, Yasmine complained to his mother, "Why can't my dad work? If my dad could work, I wouldn't have a problem eating!" The mother said, "This is our destiny, so accept it." However, Yasmine, 11 years old, could not accept that the family was in a difficult situation.
At the age of 13, Yasmine started working at a roadside store called Fuska, which sells light meals, introduced by his relatives. Fusca is a standard Bangladeshi street food that is eaten by splitting a round fried food like chips in half, filling it with various spices such as potatoes and beans, and sprinkling it with a slightly sour sauce (50 yen per plate). ). He makes and sells Fuska. His day goes to school from 10am to 4pm and then works from 5pm to 10pm. The daily income is about 80 yen, and I earn about 2,000 yen a month. My mother also quit the housekeeper and started a day labor job at the construction site. Therefore, the monthly household income was 16,000 yen.
When I first started working, I heard that studying was neglected, but now I get up early in the morning to do my homework and balance study and work. Yasmine said, "Tuition is free, so my 12-year-old brother and 8-year-old sister can go to school. Sometimes I use the money I work to buy sweets for my brother and sister. Now that he can support his family, he feels that working is worthwhile.
Photo-1: Yasmine working at a roadside store
Photo-2: Fuska made by Yasmine
Photo-3: Yasmine studying at school
Photo-4: Mother working at a construction site
2. The story of an elementary school that has Euglena
Starting this month, we have started distributing cookies to about 180 children attending Knowledge View Academy Elementary School. This month, we would like to introduce Principal Moinul, who is involved in the operation Euglena He taught economics at a vocational school for 14 years from 1990 to 2004. And he likes to interact with children, and he visited the school near the vocational school during lunch break and after school. While interacting with the children, I began to want to not only give lectures to students at a vocational school, but also face them at a classroom-based elementary school and watch over their healthy growth. Against this background, I have been the principal of the school since 2004, and decided to introduce the GENKI program this time.
Principal Moinul is involved in the management of the school as a principal, and sometimes has a homeroom teacher to teach classes. The teacher provides supplementary classes for children who often miss school or cannot keep up with their studies due to family reasons. Thanks to this supplementary course, some children have graduated from a vocational school or university and have taken up a profession. Alumni Beri is one of them. When Mr. Beri was attending the school, he was enthusiastic about teaching in supplementary classes until she understood any questions in class, and even after graduating from elementary school, he was friendly with answering career counseling. .. With that support, she was able to get a scholarship to enroll in the prestigious Dhaka Commercial College after graduating from high school. And I passed the long-awaited civil service examination. She is currently working as a public elementary school teacher. He is as pleased with her success as he is. Not all graduates can go the way they want, but I believe that what they learn in school will help them live in the future.
Photo-5: Principal Moinul giving lessons
Photo-6: Principal Moinul distributing Euglena
Photo-7: Children eating Euglena
Photo-8: Mr. Beri working as a teacher in elementary school
3. About public examinations in Bangladesh
As shown in the table below, the education system in Bangladesh is 5 years for elementary school, 5 years for junior high school, 2 years for high school, and then goes on to university and junior college. It may seem that Bangladesh does not have an educational system unlike Japan, but there is a national unified promotion test similar to the center test. After each curriculum, a unified promotion test will be held. In Japan, students do not repeat a year at elementary and junior high schools, which are generally compulsory education. However, in Bangladesh, you cannot advance unless you pass this exam from elementary school.
| School year | Curriculum | test |
|---|---|---|
| 1～5 | Primary Education | Certificate of completion of primary education |
| (Elementary school in Japan) | (PSC: Primary School Certificate) | |
| 6～8 | Lower secondary education | Certificate of completion of lower secondary education |
| (Junior high school in Japan) | (JSC: Junior Secondary Certificate) | |
| 9～10 | Middle secondary education | Certificate of completion of secondary education |
| (Junior high school in Japan) | (SSC: Secondary School Certificate) | |
| 11～12 | Upper secondary education | Certificate of completion of upper secondary education |
| (High school in Japan) | (HSC: Higher Secondary Certificate :) |
Introducing the unique points of this test. In the unified promotion test, there was a problem in the past that the teacher put an answer sheet on the blackboard and let the children copy it in order to advertise that the school has a high PSC score. Therefore, children take the exam at a different school than the one they usually attend. In addition, as a habit after the exam, parents of children who pass the exam may distribute sweets to their relatives and neighbors as a happiness. In this way, the unified examination for promotion is a big event for parents and children.
Photo-9: Test
Photo-10: Children studying for exams
Thank you for your continued support.
Euglena Co., Ltd.
Overseas Business Development Department / Bangladesh Office