Milestone School and College
To stop school coaching, overall improvement of education system needed
There has been discussion for several years about the coaching business in schools. Since the previous government’s time, there have been concerted efforts to stop coaching. Textbooks were even changed to stop coaching. But despite the government’s efforts, coaching could not be eradicated. Recently, coaching centres have mushroomed again like mushrooms after rain. Not only separate coaching centres, but in the schools themselves, teachers conduct coaching after classes end. To talk about why dependence on coaching centres in Bangladesh’s education system has reached this point, one must talk about the overall chaotic state of the education system. It is known — and almost everyone knows — that many students are compelled to do coaching due to pressure from teachers.
Milestone Tragedy: Expressions of grief and some observations
July 21, 2025, Monday, was a sunny day in the Bengali month of Srabon. But at noon that day, a tragic crash or accident of a Bangladesh Air Force fighter jet at the campus of Milestone School and College turned the day into a national tragedy for Bangladesh. In an instant, the Diabari campus in Uttara seemed to transform into an unknown battlefield, where no one was an enemy of another. Many children, who had packed their bags to return home, lost their lives. Many parents lost their little princes and princesses forever. The pilot of the aircraft, promising Air Force officer Flight Lieutenant Towkir Islam, also perished. So far, 34 people have died in the accident, most of them school children.
Save Milestone School from becoming a zoo
Hearing the words of a student from Milestone School and College, I felt utterly ashamed. Standing in front of a television camera, the student said, “People are coming to visit our school when they feel bored. Bringing their children along with them, they’re eating peanuts, jhalmuri, sugarcane juice, and chotpoti. Our school is now a zoo. If we sold tickets, we’d have become millionaires. As they can’t see anything because of the crowd, they’re asking the gatekeeper to open the gate. They want to go inside and see. What will they see inside? The burnt corpses of children? They’ve come to see the burnt corpses of children.”
How children, adolescents, parents can overcome trauma
The tragic plane crash at Milestone School and College in the capital on August 21 has left us all stunned. Even those of us who witnessed the incident from a distance have endured unbearable pain. The deaths of innocent children have felt like the loss of our own. We lack the words to describe the suffering of those injured children writhing in hospital beds. Everyone is grieving for those who have left us; tears are flowing. Many of us are unable to speak, struck dumb. Some are afraid, unable to sleep, plagued by nightmares.
Lamentation over Milestone tragedy and next course of action
The entire nation is shocked and horrified by the tragic plane crash at Milestone School and College, raising concerns about how safe and secure their children are at schools and colleges. Judging by the scale and extent of the accident, it is needless to say that no, they are not safe at all—this incident is living proof of that. Had the incident occurred just half an hour later, many children and teenagers might have survived; but cruel fate struck just moments before they would have left for home, climbing onto the laps of their parents or guardians, chatting away. It happened precisely when the teachers, as per their daily routine, were lining them up and preparing them to return home in an orderly manner—a most unfortunate event in recent memory. In today’s newspaper, I saw a gentleman standing in a daze holding a photograph—he had found his child, but his wife who came to pick up the child was missing.
Students must not become tools for interest of any particular group
The student community is the most vibrant and dynamic part of a nation. Among them resides idealism, the courage to stand against injustice, and a spontaneous attitude to devote themselves to change. They are not merely a specific age group, but can emerge as messengers of transformation. In our country’s history, the student movement has played a glorious role. A glance through the pages of history shows that students led many significant movements in Bangladesh, including the Bengali language movement and the struggle for independence. They were the sentinels of the nation, standing for truth and justice.
State initiative essential to alleviate trauma of children injured in plane crash
The entire nation has been traumatised by the incident in which 32 people were killed and 165 injured when a plane crashed at the Diabari Milestone School and College in the capital. For two days, many have written on social media that they have been unable to sleep properly. It has also been reported that many children are getting scared just hearing the sound of a plane flying overhead. In such a situation, think about the students of Milestone School and College. They have witnessed such a horrific accident in front of their eyes. They have seen the death of dear friends. Not only the injured, but also those who are physically healthy without any injury, who were away from the incident, but are students of that school, their mental state can easily be understood. In such a situation, as much as extra care from the family is needed to remove the trauma of the students of that school, it is equally urgent for the state to take initiative to keep them mentally well.
Why this dirty politics over a tragic air crash?
On 21 July, when lifeless bodies and severely burned children were being pulled from the rubble at Milestone School and College in Dhaka’s Uttara, law enforcement personnel were frantically engaged in rescue operations, ambulances were rushing the injured to hospitals, and doctors and nurses were doing their utmost to treat these pain-stricken children—at that very moment, a number of politicians showed up at hospitals, crowding the premises. Their presence further intensified the congestion, making it difficult to transport the injured. A wave of criticism instantly erupted on social media. Many people asked: What were the politicians doing at the hospital at such a time? Were they there for publicity?