Floating Schools of Chalan Beel: When the Classroom Comes by Boat

In Bangladesh’s vast wetland region of Chalan Beel, the monsoon transforms villages into an endless sheet of water. Roads disappear, homes become isolated, and daily life slows to the rhythm of rising and falling floods. Yet even in this waterlogged landscape, one thing does not stop: education.

Instead of children going to school, the school comes to them. Eleven-year-old Mosammat Fatema Khatun waits each morning on the muddy bank of the Gumani River in Chatmohar, Pabna. When a wooden boat fitted with solar panels approaches, she steps aboard. This is her classroom, a literally floating school. 

The floating schools of Chalan Beel offer a local response to a much broader structural crisis. Across Bangladesh, climate hazards are increasingly disrupting children’s education. According to UNICEF, Bangladeshi children were among those worst affected globally by climate-related education interruptions in 2024, when severe weather events disrupted schooling for 35 million children in the country. Heatwaves were the main cause, but cyclones, storms, floods and droughts also resulted in repeated school closures and lost learning time.

These interruptions can have consequences that extend far beyond the classroom. A study by the International Rescue Committee found that child marriage increased by 39 per cent after climate-induced disasters in Bangladesh's coastal regions. Although this study does not focus on Chalan Beel, it highlights a national trend.

In Chalan Beel, the national climate-education crisis manifests itself in a distinctly seasonal and logistical way. Located about 171 kilometres northwest of Dhaka, the wetland stretches across parts of Pabna, Natore, and Sirajganj districts. For four to six months each year, large parts of the region remain submerged. During this period, roads vanish under water, transport becomes impossible, and conventional schools are forced to close. 

A classroom built for floods

In Chalan Beel, the answer to submerged roads during the monsoon was developed by the non-profit organisation Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha, which operates a network of solar-powered floating schools that travel through flooded villages.

The initiative was founded by architect Mohammad Rezwan, who grew up in Chalan Beel. As a child, he experienced repeated disruptions to his schooling due to seasonal flooding. ‘I was born and raised in Chalan Beel, where floods are part of life,’ he told FairPlanet. ‘During the monsoon, water surrounded everything. Homes were isolated, roads were submerged, and many children could not reach school.’

His family’s small boat, used for transporting agricultural goods, became his only means of reaching school during floods. ‘That experience stayed with me,’ he said, and it made him ask the question: “If children cannot go to school because of floods, why can’t the school go to them?”

In 1998, he took matters into his own hands and founded Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha with just US$500  and an old computer. Four years later, the first floating school began operating in 2002.

Today 58 boats operate across Chalan Beel, the organisation told FairPlanet. Among them, 26 function as schools, ten as libraries and computer labs, eight as training centres, six as mobile health clinics, six as transport boats, and two as play boats.

Built using local wood, bamboo, and tin, the boats are designed for flood conditions. Inside, classrooms are equipped with benches, blackboards, and bookshelves. Solar panels power lights and computers, allowing lessons to continue even in remote, off-grid areas.

Each boat is approximately 55 feet long and 11 feet wide. Classes run six days a week in three shifts per day, with around 30 students per session.

Teacher Rowshon Ara Parvin, who has worked with the programme for over two decades, said the model has changed the meaning of schooling in flood-prone areas. ‘During the monsoon, everything goes underwater, and roads are submerged. Children cannot reach school,’ she told FairPlanet. ‘But when the school comes to them by boat, learning continues throughout the year. Floods have not been able to stop education,’ she said, adding that girls’ participation has increased significantly since schools began arriving at their doorsteps. ‘This is not just a school. It is a place of hope for them.’

A floating network of services

The initiative extends beyond primary education. Floating libraries deliver books to remote villages, while floating computer labs provide digital literacy training in areas with limited access to technology. Other training boats focus on livelihood skills, particularly for women, including agriculture and climate-resilient farming techniques. During emergencies, some boats even function as temporary shelters for flood-affected families.

For many, the impact extends far beyond childhood education. The floating boat system has evolved into a multi-purpose service network that also addresses information access and community resilience. 

Abu Bakkar Siddik, 26, is a former trainee of a boat-based computer centre. After completing training four years ago, he now runs a small shop in a local market. ‘I learned internet browsing, Microsoft Word, Excel, and Photoshop. Now I provide these services to people in my area,’ he said, adding that the training from the floating centres changed his life. ‘Before, I was unemployed. Now I have my own income, and I am doing better.’

Since its launch in 2002, more than 22,500 students have completed their education through Shidhulai’s floating schools. The programme currently reaches around 2,300 children daily across the region, according to Assistant Programme Manager Madhusudan Karmakar. ‘We mainly work in riverbank communities that are cut off during floods,’ he explained. ‘In emergencies, the same boats also become shelters.’

From a local solution to global recognition

Founder Mohammad Rezwan explained to FairPlanet, that his idea for the floating schools was inspired by already existing water-based life in the region: ‘Floating gardens, floating markets, boat-based shops, all already existed. There was a circular economy on water. If those systems could work, a classroom could also work on water.’

What he started with his school scholarship funds and savings in 1998 has gained international recognition two decades later. In 2025, the floating school initiative received the UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy, one of the world’s leading awards in education innovation. The award recognises outstanding contributions to literacy, particularly in marginalised and hard-to-reach communities. UNESCO described the initiative as a locally rooted solution that significantly expanded access to education in flood-prone regions. 

The model has since inspired similar initiatives in countries across Asia, Africa, and Latin America. It has also been incorporated into Bangladesh’s National Adaptation Plan 2050 as part of climate resilience planning.

For Rezwan, the philosophy behind the project extends beyond schooling infrastructure. ‘It is important that we better prepare future generations,’ he said. ‘Without education, it becomes difficult to understand life, make decisions, and face challenges. That is why education must come first.’

The floating schools of Chalan Beel are a great reminder that climate adaptation does not always mean introducing high-tech solutions to resist nature. Sometimes it means learning from the ways communities have long lived with similar challenges. In a region where floodwaters once kept children from school, Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha turned the water itself into the way to reach them.