How a man is fighting to educate Assam's poverty-stricken chaporis

Tabeebullah Khan, 66, from Tezpur in Assam, could hardly recall a day when he didn’t visit his school in the last 34 years. “I come to my school even on holidays. It is my second home. I check if everything is fine with my school, even when there are no classes, students, or teachers. Once I arrive here, I sit for at least an hour. I read books, and often friends and acquaintances come to meet me,” he said with a smile while sitting inside one of the classrooms of Purbanchal Jatiya Vidyalaya.

Since 1991, Khan has founded three schools, with Purbanchal Jatiya Vidyalaya being the third, established in 2022. The three-year-old school is located on the outskirts of Tezpur—the cultural capital of the northeastern state—in Napam. Napam is about 10 kilometres from a cluster of at least 15 chaporis, which are riverine islands along the banks of the Jia Bharali River, a tributary of the Brahmaputra River.

Khan built his latest school on his land during a time of great uncertainty and loss due to the coronavirus pandemic that began in 2020. He told The Federal, “I wanted to educate children from poverty-stricken chaporis. All 107 students at my school are first-generation learners. Their parents belong to the nearby chaporis and work as daily wage earners. Many cannot afford to send their children to school, or do not understand the value of education. I went door-to-door to convince parents to enrol their children in my school.”

Students and teachers of Assam's Purbanchal Jatiya Vidyalaya pose for a picture.

Currently, the school offers classes up to the seventh grade. To make education affordable for marginalised children, Purbanchal Jatiya Vidyalaya charges Rs 200 for kindergarten students and Rs 300 for students from grades one to seven every month.

“Our fee is just enough to keep the school operational. The funds primarily cover the salaries of nine teachers, who earn a modest Rs 2,000 each per month, as well as the maintenance of the school building. This is a private school, and we follow the curriculum established by the Secondary Education Board of Assam (SEBA). Instead of waiting for someone else to help educate underprivileged children, I decided to start the school myself. Given the high cost of land, I built the school on my property,” Khan said.

"I understand that the teachers' salaries here are very low, but I can't offer more since we have no external support. I take great pride in my school teachers, all women. Out of the nine teachers, all are Muslim except for one, who is a Hindu. They are all first-generation high school and college graduates in their families. Many of them are married with children, yet they are passionate about contributing to the greater good of society. It is a significant achievement for them to step outside their homes, teach, and earn a livelihood,” he added.

The school's infrastructure is basic, featuring a tin roof and brick walls that are in need of a fresh coat of paint. The classrooms are created from a large room, separated by bamboo walls.

The lack of schools, coupled with a high rate of illiteracy and dropouts, remains a significant issue in the riverine areas (islands) of the Brahmaputra River, locally referred to as “Char” or “Chapori”. Assam's riverine regions cover approximately 360,000 hectares and have a population of 2.49 million, according to the Socio-Economic Survey of 2002-03.

It is estimated that around 1.8 million people in the char and chapori population are Muslims of Bengali origin, commonly known as Miya Muslims. The remainder of the population, which constitutes just over one-fourth, belongs to various communities, including Mishing, Deori, Sonowal, Kochari, Nepali, and Bengali Hindus, among others.

The children of Assam's Purbanchal Jatiya Vidyalaya. They all belong to poor families of chapori areas near Tezpur town.

With approximately 80 per cent of the population in chars and chaporis living below the poverty line, access to education and health facilities in these areas is extremely limited. Additionally, the residents face the annual challenges of flooding and erosion, which have been worsened by climate change.

Khan was active in politics during his college days. While studying at Darrang College in Tezpur, he was a member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) (CPI-ML). He earned his degree in history from the college.

Like many idealistic young people, Khan aspired to create an equal and just society. “The first step toward that is to educate everyone. I wanted to provide education to the most marginalised people in Assam, particularly those living in riverine areas. These are poor Muslim children from nearby chaporis,” he said.

“That’s why I opened my first school in 1991, called Lower Primary School, about two kilometres from my current school. Unfortunately, that school shut down due to various reasons. A few months later, I opened another school—Kabilabad High School—in 1991,” he recalled.

A drawing of Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister, is displayed on the wall of the school.

Khan’s grandfather provided him with the land to build Kabilabad High School. After years of struggle, the Assam government regularised the school in 2013; before that, it was classified as a venture school. Khan retired as the principal of the school in 2000.

The women teachers of Assam's Purbanchal Jatiya Vidyalaya.

“I don’t receive a pension because only the teachers who joined government schools in Assam before 2005 are eligible for pensions. Kabilabad High School became a government school only in 2013,” Khan said.

Kabilabad High School is the first school in the area. Over the decades, it has provided education to children from all communities and religions. Although there are now many schools in the vicinity, Khan was the pioneer in establishing a school in the neighbourhood, helping underprivileged children receive an education without having to travel long distances.

Nirmali Goswami, an assistant professor of sociology at Tezpur University, conducted research on rural communities in the outskirts of Tezpur. She found that Kabilabad High School has become a trusted educational institution for these communities over the decades. "The school provides quality education and instils discipline. Local residents view it as a reputable school. The community holds great respect for Khan Sir, a teacher and former principal of Kabilabad High School, who is deeply committed to educational matters," added Goswami.

In Assam, a school or college established by residents before January 1, 2006, is known as a venture school or venture college. These institutions have received permission and recognition from the Assam education department to conduct classes, but are not officially provincialised by the government.

Over the years, many educational institutions have stopped receiving government aid, including midday meals for school children. Several such venture education institutions have been closed down, and most of the teachers at these schools that remain operational do not receive a salary.

Even after retirement, Khan was determined to remain engaged and decided to start another school. “There is a great need for more schools for Muslim children from chapori areas,” Khan said.

Approximately five kilometres from Napam lies Bihagaon Chapori, a village with fewer than 1,000 residents. When The Federal visited Bihagaon Chapori in March, locals reported that the only village primary school is nearly non-functional.

Akram Hussain, a 56-year-old farmer who donated the land for the Bihagaon Pubsubori Primary School, said the school has only one teacher and around 50 students. "The school is only in name. The students hardly attend, as it's challenging for one teacher to manage classes for students from grades one to five. The government needs to upgrade the school to a high school level, with proper classrooms and additional teachers, to reduce the dropout rate," Hussain added.

He also mentioned that the poor families in the village cannot afford to send their children to schools located in and around Tezpur. "A one-way trip to Tezpur costs Rs 50. Here, people mostly work as marginal farmers or in nearby areas as daily wage earners, and they often do not earn more than Rs 200 a day."

The overall issues of poverty, illiteracy, lack of healthcare facilities, and insufficient livelihood opportunities have plagued riverine areas for ages. Additionally, the residents' identity as Muslims of Bengali origin makes them vulnerable to attacks by ultra-nationalists and communal forces, particularly following the publication of the highly controversial National Register of Citizens (NRC), which aims to identify illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh.

Rafiqul Islam, a 65-year-old farmer from Bihagaon Chapori, expressed his concerns, stating that instead of targeting them based on the suspicion of being “illegal immigrants”, the government should focus on improving their lives by building schools and hospitals in every char and chapori region.

“Everyone in our chapori has his or her name in the NRC. We are as Indian and Assamese as any other citizen,” he added.

Over the past 23 years, the number of high schools in the riverine areas of Assam has decreased by more than 53 per cent. According to the Socio-Economic Survey of 2002-03, these areas had 218 high schools, but this number has now dwindled to just 102. The entire state has a total of 3,326 high schools.

Among the 102 high schools, 59 are in the Majuli district, and the remaining 43 are distributed across seven other districts. According to a statement by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Assam Assembly on February 20, there are no high schools in the riverine areas of six districts of Assam. The state has 35 districts, and settlements in riverine areas can be found in 14 districts.

A classroom of Assam's Purbanchal Jatiya Vidyalaya.

The average Pupil-Teacher Ratio (PTR) in high schools in riverine areas is 29.45, with 26,355 students taught by 895 teachers. There are 2,027 lower primary schools, 334 upper primary schools, 22 higher secondary schools offering an arts stream, and four higher secondary schools providing a science stream. The riverine areas have only three junior colleges that focus on the arts. Currently, approximately 150,969 students are enrolled in lower primary schools, while 52,828 are enrolled in upper primary schools.

Nargis Khatun, a 33-year-old teacher at Purbanchal Jatiya Vidyalaya, expressed her pride in teaching "talented but underprivileged children”. She added, “I want all poor children to receive an education. It will be their road to empowerment.”

Fahima Afreen, a second-grade student at Khatun's school, shared her aspirations, saying, "I want to study well and become a teacher like Khatun Ma'am."