::: Star Insight :::

Guru Griho

Sunamganj

Narayantala Mission High School

The Narayantala Mission High School, has been setting standards in education for the past 39 years. The school has become so popular that it is having trouble in accommodating the mass of students eager to study there.
...............................................................................................................

Iqbal Siddiquee

The school is situated in Sunamganj on the remote Bangladesh border near the foothills of the Indian State of Meghalaya. The school started off from the concern and dedication of some Christian Missionaries who had bought a plot in the area back in 1972. The priests were aiming at providing schooling for the poor and underprivileged children of the area, mainly from the Garo community. Locals from the area were inspired by such an act, and some of them had even donated land during the school's inception. The school now stands on 2 acres of land, excluding the agricultural land it received as donations from the locals. Nartayantala Mission High School is by far one of the best institutions in the area with the nearest other school being 7 km away in Bangaon.

The school accommodates 925 students taught by only 20 teachers. Out of this number, 404 are female students and 250 are Adibashis (ancestral and native citizens of the region). Children from distant areas such as Derai, Shulla, Sunamganj, Jamalganj, Dakshin Surma, Tahirpur, Chhatak, and Doarabazar travel great distances everyday to attend classes at Nartayantala Mission High School. Both teachers and students are of the same opinion that success for the school was evident as it adheres to the strict policies of punctuality, discipline and sincerity.

Demand for the institution's educational services are so high that the two hostels on the premise are not enough to house the residential students, on top of which many rent private houses nearby to be able to attend classes regularly. Headmaster Father D. Costa said that despite the government constructing a building for this purpose last year at a cost of Tk. 40 lacs, the school still suffers from a deficit in accommodating students, and new sections cannot be opened yet. He added that the Education Ministry has already been notified, and an application has been sent to them in this regard. The headmaster hopes that the application will be looked into soon. Despite the constraints, the school is still able to provide excellent education with 95% of its students passing in public examinations.