A Correspondent, Bogura:

Fifty-three educational institutions in three Bogura Upazilas have closed as the swelling of the Jamuna River led to flooding in the district.

These include 45 government primary schools, seven secondary schools and a madrasa.

The seven secondary schools and a madrasa were closed in Sonatala and Shariakandi Upazilas as the water rose, said Hazrat Ali, Bogura district secondary education officer.

Primary schools were closed in the Sonatala, Shariakandi, and Dhunot Upazilas, said Rezwanur Hossain, the district officer for government primary schools.

Though the schools have been closed, teachers have been told to check in every day for further instructions, he said.

Some of the closed educational institutions were inundated up to knee or even waist height. Many students have moved away from their flooded homes to stay with relatives.

The water reached about waist high at the Shimul Bari Primary School in Dhunot. The houses in the village were half-filled with water. Inquiries found that the students and guardians had either taken shelter near the flood control embankment or at the homes of relatives.

Amjad Hossain, the father of Moyur Char Primary School fourth-grade student Sabbir Hossain from Shariakandi’s Kajla Union, said, “We are facing great difficulties as the water has risen in our home and at the educational institutions. It is impossible for my son to study under these circumstances.”

Abul Kashem, the father of fifth-grade student Rakib Hossain from the Radhanagar Government Primary School in Dhunot’s Bhandarbari Union, said:

“We have taken shelter at the flood control dam as the waters rose in the school and at home. Our cows and goats are with us. How can my son study?”

Currently, 80,000 people in seven unions in Shariakandi, Sonatala, and Dhunot are stranded by the water, according to the Bogura Relief and Rehabilitation Office.

In the past 24 hours, the water level of the Jamuna River has dipped by 2 cm, but it is still 56 cm above the danger line, according to Md Masud Rana, assistant engineer at the Bogura Water Development Board.