Off to Class: Incredible and Unusual Schools Around the World

Off to Class: Incredible and Unusual Schools Around the World — page 6 — (cid:56)(cid:81)(cid:86)(cid:76)(cid:81)(cid:78)(cid:68)(cid:69)(cid:79)(cid:72)(cid:3)(cid:54)(cid:70)(cid:75)(cid:82)(cid:82)(cid:79)(cid:86) After seeing many of his friends and family members in Bangladesh miss out on an education an architect named Mohammed Rezwan decided he was not going to let ﬂ oods stop any more children from getting to school He ﬁ gured that the best way to beat the rising waters is to rise with them on a boat school then the school should come to them he explains He raised enough money to open the ﬁ rst school boat in 2002 Now there are ninety boats that travel along a 250-kilometer 155-mile stretch of rivers and streams in northwestern Bangladesh giving thousands of kids the chance to learn I thought that if the children cannot come to the (cid:36)(cid:75)(cid:82)(cid:92)(cid:15)(cid:3)(cid:11)(cid:38)(cid:79)(cid:68)(cid:86)(cid:86)(cid:12)(cid:3)(cid:48)(cid:68)(cid:87)(cid:72)(cid:86)(cid:4) Boat school is the combination of a school bus and schoolhouse says Mohammed Six days a week each boat stops at different villages along the shore picking up children who are mostly in the same grade When the classroom is full about thirty to thirty-ﬁ ve students the work begins For three hours the students have lessons in math reading writing English Bengali the environment and conservation Then the boat returns all the students to their riverbank stops From there the boat moves on to pick up another set of students for another three-hour lesson Each boat offers three sets of lessons a day In the evenings the boats also act as community centers giving adults the chance to learn about things like health care and new rice-farming methods (cid:58)(cid:76)(cid:85)(cid:72)(cid:79)(cid:72)(cid:86)(cid:86)(cid:3)(cid:58)(cid:68)(cid:89)(cid:72)(cid:86) Even though the boats ﬂ oat from place to place they have electricity to run up to four computers a printer a DVD player and a CD player Solar panels on the roofs provide all the electricity they need The boats are connected to the internet through wireless technology Besides all the modern technology the boats also stock hundreds of books ALL ABOARD If it weren’t for the boats coming to pick up the children at their doorsteps many young girls might not be going to school at all Their parents wouldn’t let them travel out of the village to the nearest government school because they believe the journey is dangerous Also it takes them away from their chores for too long Now that the boat schools come to them the girls have time to both learn and work

Off to Class: Incredible and Unusual Schools Around the World — page 7 — (cid:36)(cid:86)(cid:76)(cid:68) (cid:54)(cid:75)(cid:72)(cid:92)(cid:15)(cid:3)(cid:44)(cid:81)(cid:71)(cid:76)(cid:68) (cid:86)(cid:3)(cid:54) (cid:70)(cid:75)(cid:82)(cid:82)(cid:79) (cid:88) (cid:39)(cid:85)(cid:88)(cid:78)(cid:3)(cid:58)(cid:75)(cid:76)(cid:87) (cid:72) (cid:3) (cid:47) (cid:82) (cid:87) Green A Spot of in a Desert (cid:54)tudents in Shey in the Ladakh region of India live high up in the Himalaya Mountains in one of harshest environments on Earth a high-altitude desert For half the year or longer severe winter weather closes the mountain roads and cuts off Ladakh from the rest of India There are few resources and limited electricity Ladakh is also prone to earthquakes It doesn’t sound like the easiest place to build a school does it But the people of Ladakh had a strong motivation for building a school They were afraid that without a place to teach their children they would lose their culture forever Ladakh is unique in India which is largely Hindu because its people are mostly Buddhists of Tibetan descent Fact To show the connection between the school the community and the world the school’s buildings are arranged in the circular shape of a religious symbol called a mandala To Buddhists the mandala represents the unity of all things 10

Off to Class: Incredible and Unusual Schools Around the World — page 8 — (cid:54)(cid:88)(cid:86)(cid:87)(cid:68)(cid:76)(cid:81)(cid:76)(cid:81)(cid:74)(cid:3)(cid:68)(cid:3)(cid:58)(cid:68)(cid:92)(cid:3)(cid:82)(cid:73)(cid:3)(cid:47)(cid:76)(cid:73)(cid:72) The Druk White Lotus School was built to help sustain the Buddhist way of life in Ladakh For centuries the Ladakhi people’s isolation protected their culture and their language Bothi from outside inﬂ uences Later parents wanted their children to get an education but there were few local schools Children were sent away to boarding schools where they were taught in other languages and exposed to other cultures and values It began to look like the traditional Ladakhi culture and way of life might be lost The answer was to build a local school that blended Tibetan Buddhist culture with modern technology and learning giving its students and their community the best of both worlds A solar-powered pump draws water for drinking and washing from under the ground (cid:54)(cid:88)(cid:86)(cid:87)(cid:68)(cid:76)(cid:81)(cid:76)(cid:81)(cid:74)(cid:3)(cid:87)(cid:75)(cid:72)(cid:3)(cid:40)(cid:81)(cid:89)(cid:76)(cid:85)(cid:82)(cid:81)(cid:80)(cid:72)(cid:81)(cid:87) The lack of resources and electricity combined with the Buddhist belief to do no harm shaped the school’s sustainable design construction and day to-day operation The school uses very little energy and creates little pollution Solar panels provide all the school’s electricity The thick walls are designed to trap the sun’s heat and keep the school warm even in the middle of winter To avoid trucking materials over long distances the school was built with local materials including grass timber poplar and mud bricks The granite walls were made from stones found on or near the site The architects who designed the school also used some traditional building methods After all many hand-constructed buildings in the area have survived earthquakes and harsh weather for hundreds of years The Druk White Lotus School has won several awards including World Architecture Festival Awards for Best Green Building and Best Education Building The students also learn traditional dances and songs and practice meditation They are taught in both Bothi and English 11

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