Home ›› 30 Oct 2021 ›› Nation
The number of absentee female students in schools across the Rajshahi region has gone up abnormally compared to the pre-Covid-19 period, raising concerns among the administration that a significant number of these underage girls may have been married off.
Rajshahi district administration and education board could not provide any tangible data on the number of absentee female students, so The Business Post reached out to different schools to learn more about the current situation.
Headmaster of Rajshahi Govt Girl’s High School Begum Isabella said there were at least 800 female students in her school before the Covid-19 pandemic. “Since the school reopened on September 12, we have noticed that a number of girls are absent from their respective classes.
“We have received tip offs that some of these girls have been married off, but we do not have accurate information about their numbers.”
The school’s senior teacher Hanibur Rahman said, “The student’s families do not inform us about child marriages in most cases, as it is illegal in the country. Collecting tangible data is very difficult.”
Education Officer of Natore Ramzan Ali Akand said about 154 female students have been married off in the district.
“We learned about this through a survey conducted in a few schools here. The actual number is much higher, and can it only be known after completion of the survey,” he added.
Headmaster Nasrin Banu of Nowpara Osman Gani Girls’ High School said they have 320 female students in the institution, but 30-35 of them have been married off during the pandemic.
Headmaster Md Ekramul of Kaliganj High School of Singra upazila also said among 250 of his female students, at least 40 have been married off.
Abdul Jabbar, the headmaster of Pabna Govt Girls’ High School, said 10 to 15 girl students are absent in each class on average. Local people told the school administration that 2-3 girls have already been married off. The school has 2,000 female students.
Azim Uddin Pramanik, the headmaster of Naogaon’s Atrai Pilot High School, said around 30 per cent of his 400 female students are absent in their respective classes. “We received information that more than 20 of these girls have been married off during the pandemic.”
The Business Post has observed the same alarming situation in other districts of the Rajshahi Division.
In Chapainawabganj, 10 per cent of 1,559 female students in Chapainawabganj Govt Girls’ High School and 30 per cent of 518 female students in Joypurhat’s Rajarampur Hasina Girls’ High School are absent, says the sources from the respective schools’ administrations.
Addressing the matter, Rajshahi’s Education Officer Md Nasir Uddin said, “We have directed the schools to collect data about the whereabouts of the absentee students so that we can assess the actual situation.”
Riyazul Haque Momin, president of Kazi Kalyan Samity, Natore assured The Business Post that the district’s kazis (Islamic scholars authorised to conduct marriages) had strictly adhered to the law and did not conduct any child marriages.
It is a common practice among guardians to increase a girl’s age through an affidavit to bypass the legal barrier against marrying her off. Some guardians even marry girls off with the help of kazis, and avoid the legal registration process altogether, local sources said.
Deputy Commissioner of Natore, Shamim Ahmed, told The Business Post, “We conduct regular drives in the area with mobile courts to stop child marriage. But these people usually wed these underage girls from their relatives’ homes, and it prevents the local people from informing us.”
Additional Deputy Commissioner of Rajshahi Joya Maria Pereira said they too have directed all schools to collect data about the absentee girls. “We will take action after we get concrete information regarding the matter,” she said.
