by Iffat Ara Sharmeen,
12 August, 2025
Friendship Secondary School Sannashir Char was founded in 2020 in Gaibandha to bridge the wide gap between primary education and higher academics in marginalised regions.
In the remote char islands, opportunities and access to basic services, including education, are extremely limited. Although government and private sectors were able to establish primary school facilities in these climate-vulnerable areas to some extent, the majority of the primary school graduates would still end up missing out on further education. The pathway to higher education thus remained either shut or significantly slowed down.
The result? Entire communities become excluded from better jobs and higher education, resulting in early marriages, domestic issues, child labour, and other societal evils, which are reinforced and propagated throughout. Thus, education is an absolute necessity for a healthy society aspiring towards economic emancipation and fulfillment.
Friendship recognised this truth and established several secondary schools across the riverine char areas, one of them being the Secondary School in Sannashir Char.
More Than Just Education
The school is located in one of the most disaster-prone regions in Gaibandha. When disasters strike, it can be effectively dismantled and shifted to a safer location, so that students can carry on with their education. Solar panels are installed to ensure undisrupted electricity. A computer room is also available so that students can remain digitally informed.
Friendship’s Career Guidance Cell (CGC) supports the students in directing them towards higher education, developing leadership skills, and providing employment opportunities after graduation.
Unique campaigns such as ‘Clean School, Clean Home’ and club activities are often held to boost the confidence of students. Students participate in the Connected Schools Programme, an excellent knowledge exchange initiative between char students in Bangladesh and their peers from Europe.
Icons of Ethical Values
Students in all Friendship Schools are taught not just to excel in education but also to learn to become upstanding citizens of the country through their values and conduct as part of Friendship’s Code of Ethics messaging.
Israt Jahan Eti, an eighth grader from the Sannashir Char School, is a stellar example. When Eti noticed her friend Lima was skipping school and was upset, she decided to find out why. She learned Lima’s parents had arranged her marriage, which Lima strongly opposed. Knowing the harmful effects of early marriage from school, Eti sought help from a facilitator, who spoke to Lima’s parents. After a thoughtful discussion, they agreed to let Lima continue her education, much to Eti’s delight.
Sadia Jannat, a seventh-grade student in the school, loves extra-curricular activities. One day, she visited a nearby grocery store, which was unusually crowded. While waiting in line, an elderly woman came by. Sadia asked the shopkeeper to serve the woman first, patiently waiting her turn afterwards. Both the shopkeeper and the woman were pleasantly surprised. Sadia simply smiled and said that she learned about generosity in manners from school. “I’ve learned to be patient and respect our elders. I’m just practicing what I learned from our school Code of Ethics,” she said.
