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In search of light

MATHEWS CHIRAN
Every child has a light within. With a bit of help - education that is - the light can shine on others and stamp out the darkness in the society.
A group of selfless youths has set out to bring that light out of disadvantaged children who cannot afford tutors to assist in their homework.
Under the name Aalor Khojey (in search of light), 17 volunteers from different universities in the capital have been tutoring students who live in Jheel Para Bosti - a slum in Mirpur 1 area.
Residents of the slum are mostly rickshaw pullers, bus helpers and house helps. Their children go to neighbourhood schools where tuition is free or minimal. Nevertheless, they cannot afford the extra tutoring their children need to prepare their homework after school.
This is where Aalor Khojey comes in. Instead of spending their free time on entertainment, these university students find it worthwhile to make good use of their education by helping out the underprivileged children.
Aalor Khojey operates from 3:00pm till 6:00pm every day in a two-room rented house in the slum
with contributions from the volunteers. Each of the volunteers tutor six days a week under a roster of duties.
Amit Kar Joy, a student of Bangladesh University of Business and Technology (BUBT) at Mirpur, started the initiative on March 1 in 2016 when he was the only tutor.
Initially, he would tutor 12 students in the open near his university campus. Once his friends came to learn about his work, they joined one by one. Now they tutor more than 60 students at their coaching centre.
Explaining his vision, Amit said, "Education has now become a business. We, however, want to provide free education."
"Here we help the children who would otherwise have difficulty studying after school hours," he also said.
Aside from helping out with studies, the tutors occasionally engage the students with different fun activities such as cultural events, song or dance performance, and art and essay competitions.
An all smiles Nishi Akhter, whose father is a rickshaw puller and mother a house help, said, "I like to study. They help me prepare my lessons.
I enjoy their company as they are friendly."
Fourth grader Panna Akter Nipu said she wants to be a journalist when she grows up. "I like drawing pictures. Studying here with them is never boring. So I come here every day."
As the volunteers are all students, they cannot always pay for the rent on time. Considering the nature of the coaching centre, the house owner also allows delays in payment, said Koushik Paul, who is a student at Jagannath University and a volunteer of Aalor Khojey since 2016.
Several local philanthropic organisations sometimes come forward to organise various activities for Aalor Khojey students.
Volunteer student Sharif Ahmed of Dhaka Commerce College is providing
financial support to sixth grader Mosammat Jannat so she continues her education.
Jannat's father Maksudur Rahman, a bus helper, said, "I wanted to stop my daughter's education. But the volunteers helped her and she did not want to give up. I am truly grateful to them.”
Rickshaw puller Badsha Mia, father of another student, Bithi Akhter, gave full credit of his daughter's good result to Aalor Khojey as she secured GPA-5 in the primary education completion examination last year. "Thanks to the effort of Aalor Khojey, my daughter did well in the exam," he said.
Today, on National Children's Day, Aalor Khojey in collaboration with "Inventor's Puppets" is organising a cultural programme and puppet show for the slum children at Jheel Para Bosti.