Jaflong is a ‘must-see’ tourism spot for travellers who plan to visit Sylhet, a district in the north of the country. People rush to Jaflong to get closer to nature. Tourists from across the country and abroad come to grip the scenic beauty of Jaflong.
Not only in natural beauty, the border district is also ahead in education and culture. The country’s biggest residential school ‘Jaflong Valley Boarding School (JVBS)’ has been set up on 150 acres of land beside Sylhet-Jaflong road, adjacent to Sreepur picnic spot in Jaintapur upazila of the district. Meghalaya State of India is located on one side, and Jaflong on the other side of the School.
Usually, schooling experience for a majority of students of the country has been confined to four walls, in vertical spaces without ample playgrounds, where learning, at times, seems frightfully dull and monotonous. But JVBS has brought learners close to nature as much as possible.
The school is situated in the lap of nature amidst verdant forest, lakes and an abundance of greenery and playgrounds. The school has been developed in the concept of a full residential school. The modern academic, administrative buildings and hostels of the school are built on the hills without harming nature. Tea gardens were seen in the gaps of the school campus.
There are also arrangements for guardians who want to admit their wards to this school. Parents can stay in the school compound one day and one night.
The school, established to give quality education to the students and make future leadership for the country, currently offers National Curriculum in English version, for students of 6th grade to 12th grade. The school has residential facilities for 1000 students.
Brij Kishore Bharadwaj, a renowned teacher of India, has been acting as the principal since the beginning of the school’s education programme.
About the school, he said, “Every year about 3,000 students from Bangladesh go to different boarding schools outside the country, especially in Darjeeling. Our goal is to capture those students. I believe if a parent once visits our school, he will not go anywhere else.”
About curriculum and cost he said, “Here students are getting the opportunity to study in the National Curriculum in English version. Besides providing quality education in our schools, the cost of education has been kept within the reach of the middle class. All expenses including tuition fees, special classes, hostels, and laundry cost a student only Tk 20,000 a month. And the session fee is Tk 5,000.”
Here the students have to follow the same rules as Cadet Colleges. Students get healthy food and snacks. Have to jog in the morning. In addition to classes, there are special classes, coaching, and cultural practices.
According to school sources, the school has 65 classrooms, four modern laboratories, six playgrounds, four spacious dormitories, staff quarters, and indoor game facilities.
On going to Dormitory-1, I talked to Shahidul Islam Mahbub, an eighth-grade student who stays in room 103 of the dormitory, who said, “First of all, I can live in fresh nature. Besides, when I didn’t understand a topic before, it would have to be left for the next day. But now I am getting teachers all the time outside of school. I can also play with friends.”
Each dormitory block is divided into different names including Padma, Meghna, Surma and Kushiyara. Each block is under the supervision of one teacher. There are 30 students under the control of each teacher.
Sylhet-1 MP Hafiz Ahmed Majumder first took the initiative to establish the school.
