Uncertainty clouds children’s future after month-long floods in Bangladesh

As the floods devastated in the northeastern region of Bangladesh, causing the closure of hundreds of educational institutions across the districts, millions of children were left stranded, wading through waist-deep waters looking for shelter.

“Our transport systems, internet, and electricity have all been disrupted,” were the words of Pinky Ray Tuli, an SSC exams candidate of Sunamganj.

‘’As there was no electricity, we had to light candles at night. There was no opportunity for us to study amidst the flooding,’’ she added.

The SSC exams and their equivalents, which were initially scheduled to be held on 19 June 2022, have been postponed indefinitely following an announcement by the education minister’s office, halting the education of children living in the affected areas.

Aside from the educational roadblock posed by the flooding, the health and safety of over 1.5 million children have been jeopardised due to the risk of contracting waterborne diseases and drowning. Cases of diarrhoea, skin disease, and respiratory infections have also increased in these regions.

Malnutrition in children has likewise increased as floods have contributed to the food shortage in affected areas. As a result, many districts have been forced to rely on stockpiled food while thousands of hectares of crops and farmland remain inaccessible, deluged in water.

The children have taken shelter in rudimentary huts with their families in squalid conditions without any possibility of leaving due to the submerged roads, power stations, and schools.

“We sloshed through knee-deep waters as our home was flooded. My family searched for shelter in the local madrasa and mosque but found no space. At last, we took shelter in the school after being confronted with waist-deep water on our way there,’’ said Tahmina Akhter, a school-going girl taking shelter at a local school in Sunamganj.

Of the 7.2 million people in the districts directly impacted by the floods, a large portion of them are children. Although the situation has improved to some degree over the last week, the heavy rainfall brought forth by the monsoon season has caused people in Kurigram in the north and Sylhet in the northeast to worry if their circumstances may worsen even further in the coming days and weeks.

Reporter's Age: 16 District: Dhaka