Tamanna Yesmin Maria

Eight government-run Shanti Nibash facilities built to shelter elderly people remain non-operational due to delays in staff recruitment, leaving Bangladesh without a functioning state-run residential care system for older citizens.

Latachapli Government Primary School in Kuakata, Patuakhali, has 419 students in a four-storey building, but no toilets for them inside.

For tourists in Kuakata, a serious illness or accident can mean an ordeal, as the coastal town’s lone government-run hospital lacks the manpower needed to provide adequate emergency care.

Differences in school attendance, child labour, stipend incentives and study routines are widening the performance gap between male and female students in the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and equivalent examinations, according to educationists, teachers and candidates.

Despite new stricter regulations to curb noise pollution, all nine designated silent zones in Dhaka city remain exposed to relentless honking from all types of vehicles, with many using high-decibel hydraulic horns.

Excitement lit up her face as Nazifa Anjum Hoque Apshora of Methodist English Medium School posed for a photo with friends, holding a placard that read, “I don’t chase grades, grades chase me.”

The last thing 16-year-old Aminul Islam Amin told his mother before leaving home on July 21, 2024, was, “Maa, give me Tk 20. I want to buy some jhalmuri from the street”. After she gave him the money, he stepped outside and never returned home.

The government’s move to reintroduce written admission tests for class-1 from the next academic year has sparked concern among parents, with many turning to coaching centres and private tutors to help their children prepare for the exams.