::: Star Insight :::

Guru Griho
From Barisal
Goila High School:
A 113 year-old tradition

Asif Iftekhar

In today's postcolonial world, when you pass by a place which belongs firmly to the 19th century of British Colonialism in this subcontinent, you feel a wave, rooted somewhere that you cannot reach but you can sense. And passing through the road of Goila village, you stumble across the 113 year-old Goila High School, standing gloriously for many generations.

Goila High School, one of the oldest schools in Agailajhara thana in Barisal district, was established on 23rd January 1893. Its journey however, started even before that. Before Goila was established there were few schools where the local students were taught by a very limited number of teachers, who took classes through hectic multiple shifts. This continued for almost ten years. When these schools started facing problems regarding the accommodation of the growing number of students within the limited space, Mr. Kailash Chandra Sen, erstwhile Magistrate, took the initiative to form an outsized school in this area with the help of local Zaminder. Finally Goila English School, later named Goila High School, was born.

Goila High School started off with more than a thousand students. Within a very short time this school became the centre for a quality education in this southern part of Bengal. Shushil Kumar Gupt, the former Home Minister of Bangladesh, one of the star students the school has produced, says that from the very beginning the school has always had over a thousand students every year. After the Second World War, he says, the school got so many enrolments that the school authority had to expand, thereby forming the Goila Balika Bidyaloy, another extended division of the school.

Since its inception the school has played an imperative role towards the education in the Southern part of the country and is very keen to keep its rhythm intact. Md. Belayet Hossain, the Headmaster and English teacher, believes that Goila High School has a glorious past and that all the teachers and students try to maintain this success into the future. In last year's SSC examination 70 % of the students passed, with one A+ and eighteen As. This year, however, they are expecting an even better performance from the SSC appearing students. The school offers special coaching for SSC candidates. A special coaching program is also offered for the senior and junior scholarship candidates every year. In the past year they have gained five talent pool scholarships.

The school maintains strong rules and regulations which help the students perform better, says Sabrina Alam, who has achieved the best result in the test examinations for the SSC. She also got the talent pool scholarship in class eight. The students always have a very competitive attitude towards learning, as the school is committed towards a learning and friendly environment between teacher and student, she adds. While talking to her, she reveals a few interesting facts like, in average- girls are performing better than boys in exams. But Sabrina thinks English is a subject which needs special care, and to help improve the students' English the school should keep English books, magazines and newspapers in the library and they should hire more trained English teachers. Mr. Belayet Hossain thinks one of the biggest problems faced by every school is the dearth of English teachers.

The school has a big library with over 1000 books along with another library donated by BRAC. It employs 33 teachers, all of who hold either a B.Ed. or an M.Ed degree.