Berkley Center

Background: As part of the Education and Social Justice Fellowship, in June 2014 student Kendra Layton interviewed Aminul Islam, an area coordinator of Caritas Bangladesh’s Aloghar (Lighthouse) Project. Beginning in November 2011, Aloghar is part of the Supporting the Hardest to Reach through Basic Education initiative and includes 1,005 education centers in six regions of Bangladesh. Aloghar aims to increase the literacy, empowerment, and integration of the hardest-to-reach Bangladeshi children. In this interview, Islam reflects on his duties as area coordinator and the greatest successes and challenges of the Aloghar Project.

What is your background with Caritas?

I started in 2001. First I worked in the community based fisheries management project, then in development extension education services. Finally, I worked in basic education for disadvantaged children. Since January 2012 I have been area coordinator for Aloghar (Lighthouse) Project.

What are your main duties as area coordinator?

Under my area office I oversee 30 educational centers. I frequently visit them and maintain contact with the education supervisors to provide feedback to the teachers. I network with government officials and non-government officials and facilitate implementation of all the activities of this project.

What types of feedback do you give?

I tell teachers to work on increasing student attendance, bolstering their subject-based knowledge, and creating more opportunities for capacity building for teachers.

What are the greatest successes of Aloghar?

The children from the hardest-to-reach areas are getting an education. Also, little by little, the parents are becoming more motivated.

What are the greatest challenges of the project?

Keeping the students on track with their education is a great challenge we face. They face many difficulties in their time at the centers. When they finish class five, they also face difficulties in joining the mainstream schools.