School Submerges In Bihar Flood, Teachers Use Boats To Take Classes While Floating On Water

With floodwaters as a result of incessant monsoon showers plaguing parts of Bihar, school buildings too have not been able to escape clutches of the deluge and many such buildings have been half submerged under water, leading teachers and students no choice but to avoid them temporarily.

"No other option"

Along with the pandemic situation already causing a long standing problem in regular classes, now rains have joined in too. As such, schools in the Manihari area of Katihar district in Bihar being closed, a few godsend teachers have come together and started holding classes on boats.

A teacher, Pankaj Kumar spoke to news agency ANI, ¡°As you can see, the whole area is submerged. We started the initiative of taking classes as we have no other option. Floodwaters are there for six months. We can not skip classes. We will continue taking classes on boats till the water remains."

Bihar: Three youth in Katihar's Manihari area teach students on boat 'Naav ki Pathshala' amid flood in the area

"There is flood-like situation for 6 months here. We have no other option but to teach local students on the boat," says Pankaj Kumar Shah, a teacher pic.twitter.com/IIShbzAFxG

¡ª ANI (@ANI) September 6, 2021

Students are grateful

Students have all been very grateful for the initiative. A student, Amir Lal Kumar reportedly told the agency how the teachers have helped them to study for their Class 10 exams as the pandemic had halted their studies already. ¡°The teachers have guided us. So we are studying on the boat as there is a flood. We do not fear floodwater. After completing my studies, I want to join the Indian Army," he said.

BCCL

Flood situation in Bihar

According to weather sources, Manihari, being located along the banks of river Ganga, is subjected to heavy flooding every monsoon. In order to ensure students do not miss out on studies, Kumar along with two more of his counterparts Pankaj Kumar Sah and Kundan Kumar Sah reached the flood-affected area of Singhala tola of Manihari to teach such children where students from class 1 to 10 get free education.

PTI

Recently, images of a 15-year-old Uttar Pradesh girl went viral where she is seen rowing a boat to school. A class 11 student of Bahrampur area in Gorakhpur, Sandhya Sahani rows the boat to a point from where she reaches her school in a minivan.