Swami Vivekananda Public School

If you head down the road from Majahwaliya towards Koria, you’ll find us right there in Matiyari. We’ve been operating in this part of Gopalganj for a while now. The school is situated right by the road, so it's very easy to find but it also means we hear the passing traffic all day long. It’s a simple brick and mortar building. We don't have fancy glass windows or air conditioning in the rooms. The classrooms have sturdy wooden desks and we make sure there's enough chalk for the teachers every morning. When the school day starts, the gate is crowded with bicycles and parents dropping off their kids before they head out to work. It gets quite dusty in the dry season, and the ground gets a bit soft when it rains, but that’s just life in this area. We don't put on any airs about being something we aren't. It’s just a school for the kids in the neighborhood to get their education. There’s a small space out back where they play during their recess. Sometimes the bell rings a minute or two late, or a teacher has to stay back to talk to a parent about a student’s progress. We keep all our records in big handwritten ledgers in the front office. It feels like a community spot more than a business. We focus on the textbooks and making sure the children know their math and languages. It’s hard work, but we’ve been doing it this way for years now.