

67

Debate for Social Change: Secondary
Schools and Madrassahs in
Bangladesh
Working for Better Life

Creative outlets for students do not exist in the vast majority of Bangladeshi schools,
where the curriculum fails to stimulate their imagination or interest. Neither
textbooks nor teachers give much attention to the pressing social and economic
development issues that Bangladesh faces. Students are not encouraged to think
about the future of their country, to analyze the issues that affect Bangladesh as
a developing nation, or to question government policies. Nor do the academic
institutions encourage the exchange of ideas and experiences between schools andthe general public. This isolationism has become a detriment to both groups andhas cultivated resentment and mistrust. To add to these problems, the culture has
lost the traditions that develop listening skills and rational discourse. The ensuing
frustration makes youth easy prey for the sparring political parties which have relied
upon passionate and volatile supporters throughout the first three decades since
Bangladesh’s independence in 1971 from the then west Pakistan.
dreamed of making a difference, of changing
the current model of education. The tool heknew best was his gift for debate, which had
won him many prizes.

Because of the separation between students'
daily realities and their formal classroom education—which values test-taking and memorization skills at the cost of critical thinking andcreativity—a sense of confusion and apathy
is pervasive in the country. A badly managed
European system of education designed for theelite is worsening this situation. The promotionof an obedient citizen is being imposed on aculture for whom it has little relevance or meaning. Drug use has become the favored routeto escape the youth’s sense of disillusionment
and irrelevant education while many resorted
to gang fight and street terrorism. Shiblee, thefounder of Working for Better Life (WBL),

Working for Better Life
Working for Better Life (WBL), a small
Bangladeshi organization was born in the midnineties by its founding executive director,
Mostafa Shiblee. As a student, Shiblee was
not happy with what was happening aroundhim. The healthy academic atmosphere, thefriendly environment, the logical discussion on

6768  HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION IN ASIAN SCHOOLS

various issues or dealing with subjects outside
the syllabus, were lacking so much in his own
school days that he was desperately looking fora change. He wanted a change that ensured theavailability of all these missing elements. He
wanted students to know about their problems,
and the problems being faced by the society indifferent spheres. He dreamt students would
engage themselves in various development
activities, and acquire problem solving ability
in order to become better equipped for bigger
responsibility in the future.
The demoralizing scene in the society, thereign of terror, corruption, injustice, autocracy,and denial of various rights of the common
people made him commit to work for thechildren in secondary schools who would be
more conscious of these issues and grow up as
better citizens than their predecessors to createa more just and equitable society. In 1995, hestarted the organization 'Working for Better
Life' (WBL) with his friends after finishing his
studies, which unnecessarily lingered due topolitical disturbances, in Dhaka University.

Parliamentary debate program
WBL has a parliamentary debate programthat facilitates the learning among secondary
school students of knowledge and skills in dealing with their country's problems. With suchknowledge and skills obtained before getting
into university, students can restore a constructive activism based on social responsibility anddevelop a new generation of leaders in a democratic society. Students also improve listening
skills and independent thinking, the essence ofquality education in the modern world. WBL
sees schools as the leverage point for socialtransformation - the point where young people
come together, where they develop their values
and social behaviour. At the same time, WBL
understands the effort embodied in bringing
debate clubs into a school system which has noexperience in organized extra-curricular activi-

ties. This challenge of social transformation isrequired to incorporate democratic skills in acountry with so little democratic experience.
Shiblee's combination of determination andfaith in people, not systems or institutions, kept
him going in WBL.
WBL’s program format sparks students'
imaginations and taps into their natural enthusiasm and desire to change the world aroundthem. The students benefit from its program
both at the academic and personal levels. The
program teaches them to identify and analyze
a problem and develop creative, well-reasonedarguments; to learn about current issues and discuss them in a legitimate and constructive form,
to learn new approaches to group dialogue andconflict resolution. After participating in WBL’s
program, students who previously did almost no
reading outside their prescribed syllabus havebegun to read by themselves and participate intheir communities. They became interested incurrent events, and their knowledge of complex
social issues increased dramatically. They developed a sense of self-worth and the realizationthat they have a democratic voice in the policy
decisions that shape their lives. As a result, asense of community involvement replaced thesense of detachment and alienation often felt by
these adolescents. The debates bridge the gap
between Bangladesh's academic communities
and the general public, as WBL emphasizes apractical, constructive involvement in social issues rather than esoteric scholarly debate.

Activities
By introducing students to the art of debate,
WBL provides them with a healthy, productive
channel for their time, energy and creativity.
Typically WBL’s program begins by asking thestudents to identify a main topic on which tobase the debate. The issue can be local, national,
or international in scope, such as what to doabout trash disposal problems in Dhaka, how
to conduct mass voter registration in Ban-

Debate for Social Change - Bangladesh  69

gladesh, or how best to attract more foreign
investment to the country. Within each topic,
WBL identifies propositions such as, “Should
drug users and dealers be punished equally?,” or“Should parents be blamed for their children's
addictions?”
When the topic has been selected, WBL
invites a speaker, often a popular figure such asa movie star, to do "issue familiarization" withthe students at a school. Usually five hundred
to one thousand students attend such meetings, out of whom typically about a hundred
are members of WBL's debate club. During"debate sessions," the WBL members and theirteachers decide who among their peers would
participate in the debate itself.
In their week-long preparation for the debate, WBL advises the students to learn about
the problem firsthand by becoming more involved in their neighborhoods and communities
and by interviewing people. This interaction
helps bridge the gap between academic communities and the general public.
WBL invites influential members of thecommunity who have a demonstrated interestin the issue to attend the debate. If the students
are debating the issue of a public awarenesscampaign on HIV/AIDS in Dhaka, an idealgroup of invitees would include members of the
Ministries of Health and Education along withthe directors or staff of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working in the field. WBL
believes that if these people attend the debate
they will gain a fresh perspective on the issue
and the students can work on making an impact
on existing policies of the government.
Although there are only twenty final numberof debaters, the parliamentary style of the debate
allows for audience-members (including parents,
teachers, administrators, and distinguishedguests) to participate. The parliamentary procedure also educates students about the processof decision-making in their government, which
has functioned as a democracy only since 1991.
Students, especially girls, become noticeably empowered by the opportunity to "play" the role ofPrime Minister when they “introduce bills.”
After the debate, the students from bothteams discuss the valuable points that they andtheir opponents raised. WBL guides the students in crafting a strategy for publicizing anddisseminating their suggestions to lawmakers
and influential members of society. With thehelp of WBL, a brief policy document, called"Message for the Elderly Society," circulated
to thousands of people at schools, colleges,
and universities through a bulletin and othermeans. A debate concerning the state of garbage disposal in Dhaka generated a series ofsuggestions and ideas that students submitted
to the City Council, several of which have been
implemented.

Response of school authorities andteachers
The overall positive response of school
authorities surprised Shiblee. "Most," he says,"instantly accepted our offer, readily encouraged
us to work with the students. But there weresome officials who exhibited a more covert formof resistance. They could not argue against the
program's ethical or educational value. So theydragged their feet and blamed the bureaucracy.
Teachers and headmasters 'forgot' or cancelledappointments. They told me they had more
important things to do and that the students
couldn't really afford the time." But Shiblee
was persistent, and eventually WBL's spreading
reputation brought a large number of requests
to be included in the program from authorities,
teachers and students in other schools.
One of WBL’s most important lessons isabout the teachers - how they are victimized andhow to use the huge, untapped potential they
carry. Though a number remained uninterested,teachers have the voluntary spirit and keen
desire for social change within this low-paid
profession. Shiblee observed, "They never refuse
our requests for help; they always manage toarrange a debate class. They urge the students70  HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION IN ASIAN SCHOOLS

to participate and have become more and more
involved in helping them do research and discuss
the issues. They actually thank us for taking thisinitiative and apologize for being unable to offer
such a program on their own."

Link to the society
Broader societal links have been built into theprogram as judges for the final debate are drawn
from government officials, school authorities
and parental groups. Following the final debate,
the students prepare and send legislative andpolicy proposals to the Parliament. WBL is enthusiastic about how spontaneously the students
have taken hold of this component. For example,
students debating on garbage management met
with the Mayor of Dhaka with a proposal toprivatize the street cleaning system.
A debate on drug addiction spawned a volleyof proposals from students that included identification of drug addicts among their friends,
counselling, and meetings with local police tocurb the black market on drugs. A group ofgirls put forth a plan to set up a school garden
nursery to generate income from renting out
plants for parties, public events and holiday
celebrations that would help pay for books andmaterials for the clubs.
A debate on women’s rights sparked a movement in a school where students, especially girls,
decided to send anonymous letters to fathers responsible for domestic violence and also sticking
posters against domestic violence on the school
walls to sensitize parents on Parent-Teachers’ day
in their school.
Students from the Gazipur district, inspiredby their debate on corporal punishment, organized a meeting with the district education
officials and undertook a number of activities
on the subject. Initially, they organized a joint
meeting of debate clubs from various schools
and outlined a set of rules for students designed
to make them avoid unruly atmosphere in thecampuses. Later, they met the teachers and fo-

mulated a set of alternative disciplining methods
which teachers can use to maintain order inside
the classroom. The inititiatives of the debaters
eventually proved that the use of the cane wasabsolutely useless and meaningless.
After their secondary school final examinations, a group of students from Moinertek
decided to open a children’s shelter/home forworking mothers. Poor mothers living in the
shanties in the outskirts of Dhaka city werecompelled to leave their infants in the handsof their siblings, who are often just a few years
older than the infants. As a result, most of themwere found playing in the dirt of the streets.
Students, encouraged by their previous debates
on child-rights-related topics, decided to act
to support the fulfillment of the rights of thechildren instead of waiting for others to comeand help. They opened a daycare center, first in
one of their homes with six babies. Soon, four
more centers opened with five to eight babies
per center being given care while their mothers
were at work.
Most students, after taking part in the antismoking-related debates, convinced their school
authorities to declare the school campus smokefree zones. Inspired by these little actions, thegovernment later on declared all educational
institutions smoke-free zones.
Many of the best debaters known as YCAs
(young change agents) enrolled in a new subject recently opened in various universities, theConflict Resolution & Peace Building subject.
Inspired by the positive outcome of debate,
former school debaters are now studying this interesting subject and looking forward to making
contribution to the society as they get older.

Intervention in Madrassahs
The government appeared worried about
the existing situation of madrassah (islamic
religious school) education and often tried tochange them by establishing reform committees. But these attempts were mostly incompleteDebate for Social Change - Bangladesh  71

or unimplemented. Also, the government neverfully implemented the recommendations ofthese committees. For instance, the decision
to require each madrassah to recruit female
teachers to constitute thirty percent of thetotal number of teachers was not enforced.
Although a madrassah teacher training centerhas been established, it has not been functioning properly.
In the backdrop of this situation, from theyear 2000, WBL decided to expand its activities
to the madrassahs in Bangladesh. WBL observed that although it is part of their religious
duties, social or madrassah leaders never use thereligious sermons to preach child rights (or human rights for that matter) to the students.

Project on madrassah students
During the May 2004 to March 2005
period, WBL implemented a project with therural youth in madrassahs and schools in the
Kuakata area (a southern Bangladeshi resort
island) under the Connecting Futures Programof The British Council, Bangladesh. After nine
long years of working with schools and themadrassah students on debate around various
social issues, the project provide for the firsttime for WBL to work with the youth from one
small area of the country and focused on one
issue in order to start a change in the mindsetof the people within the community.
Initially, most of the youths, especially female participants, were discouraged at homeand school to participate in WBL’s three-daylong residential training program at its own
training center in Kuakata. Parents or teachers
thought a three-day-long residential training by
an NGO would primarily aim at brainwashing
their children and derailing them from Islam andvarious social values. While some teachers supported WBL from the beginning, WBL staffs
in almost all the cases had to go to the housesof many parents to convince them to allow theirchildren to join the training program. Many

parents remained skeptical������������������
���������������������������
. A number of theparents came along with their female children
in order to watch the proceedings of the training and judge if it was a place for their kids tocontinue getting involved in and whether or notthey could recommend the training to others.
Many said that letting male and female
youths mix freely during the training should
not be allowed and compelled some of the female participants to wear borkha, which covers
the entire face, during their stay at the Kuakata
training centre. In addition to the parents, atleast two teachers in each training program didround-the-clock monitoring of the situation to
make sure that their students do not participate
in anything inappropriate as defined by theteachers, who were mostly male adults.
The training program seemed like a public
examination where the youths were proving
themselves worthy of their hard earned liberty.
At the same time, it was an acid test for WBL on
its bid to secure the approval of society in holding more activities of this sort in the future.
Before the beginning of the second day activities, parents and teachers began to feel easy
and relaxed as the sessions quickly progressed.
They found the proceedings interesting andinnocuous, and allowed their children to participate freely in the sessions.
WBL staff knew that implementing a
training program was difficult but they did
not know how enormously difficult it would
be until the program started. They also could
not believe how smoothly the program implementation turned out from the second day ineach of the fifteen different training programs
organized at Kuakata with local youths. In eachcase, the third day was always difficult as mostparticipants wanted to stay longer and became
emotional during the farewell session.

Partici pating schools and students
WBL invited fifteen educational institutes
within the distance of thirty kilometres east,

72  HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION IN ASIAN SCHOOLS

west and north from Kuakata to participate ina training program called ‘Cultural Appreciation under the Connecting Futures Program at
Kuakata.’ After signing the memorandum of understanding with each institute, a local group oftwenty-five members were formed in each place
which would participate in future activities.
Later each group was brought to WBL’s training
center at Kuakata to participate in a three-day
training program called Cultural Appreciationor ‘Poromot Shohishnuta’ in Bangla. The topic
was carefully selected to enable the youths totalk about serious issues of the time, such as religion, and how different religions such as Islam,Hinduism or Christianity could be appreciated.
In a total of fifteen training programs, there
were a total of four hundred youth participants
and fifty teachers and parents present in these
events. Out of the fifteen institutes, three weremadrassahs, three were colleges up to intermediate level, and the remaining nine institutes wereregular Bangla-medium schools.

The quality and background of thepartici pants
Except for one neighboring madrassah, allfourteen other institutes sent mixed groupsof boys and girls to the training. WBL took
special care to ensure equal participation ofboth boys and girls in the trainings. Althoughmany opposed sending mixed groups at the
beginning, most eventually agreed to send
girls as well. But one madrassah, known to bea stronghold of radical Islamists, came to the
WBL training center ahead of their scheduleand conveyed their decision that either theyshould be allowed to send only boys fromtheir madrassah or be allowed to be dropped
from the program. After long negotiation,
they agreed that if the madrassah management found the training suitable for their girls
as well, then girls would also be sent to thisprogram in the future. WBL softened its position on the issue in order to create an enabling

environment for all and ran the training with
only boys from that madrassah.
During the training, WBL interviewed
most participants in smaller groups or individually in order to assess their situation.
The interviews revealed a bizarre and utterly
frustrating finding.
The academic quality of most of the participants from the area was extremely low incomparison to the participants from Dhaka.
They were weak in language, spelling, writing,pronunciation and knowledge of subject content. Many could not spell the word ‘poromot
shohishnuta’ in Bangla, although they werefifteen or sixteen years old. The level of English
proficiency was frustratingly low, even manyof the teachers could not write a sentence inEnglish properly. The traditional rote learning
system has been failing the majority of students
every year in the schools. None ever participated in any extra-curricular activity such asdebate, drama, etc. Conservatism, prejudice,religious bias, narrow outlook towards women,
etc. have crept into the school environment in
an alarming manner. Many girls were forced
to wear borkha, a special version developed bysociety recently. Drama, music, etc. were considered un-islamic. Students were frequently
told by some teachers that poets, musicians,
cultural activists were enemies of Islam andthe concept of women working in schools,
NGOs, government offices was against thespirit of Islam. If a boy and a girl were foundtalking together in the school, the girl waspunished. If a girl was eager to learn music ordance, she was brutally stopped both by thefamily and the school. Outside reading such as
on contemporary prose, poetry, etc. was notencouraged. With this extraordinary situation
prevailing in Kuakata, WBL took the initiativeof working with the youths from local educational institutes in order to engage them in arare opportunity of discussing critical issues
called “cultural appreciation.”Debate for Social Change - Bangladesh  73

Setting and Session
The participants found the setting for the
training unique. The training setting provides avast space to the visiting youths, a dorm-style accommodation, plenty of space to work outdoor
under specially-made umbrellas or huge trees,a pool for swimming during the breaks, and along beach area exclusively for visitors.
From day one, after creating an easy andrelaxing mood during the introductory session,
the participants were kept busy from session tosession. There were small workshops on several
topics: what people understand by culture andhow different cultures can be appreciated, what
may happen if people in a society of mixed cultures lack mutual appreciation, how tolerance toother’s opinion is useful in the society, etc. Eachsession had group work and presentation in thestyle of adda (informal gathering or discussion
in a group), one-way lecturing was avoided
and in a number of sessions, participants weresent outside the training center in groups tointerview people in the nearby market or thevisiting tourists in the sea beach to obtain theiropinions.
The cultural appreciation theme was divided
into three sub-topics, i.e., religious tolerance,social tolerance and political tolerance. The firstday session covered religious tolerance. In theevening, participants engaged in extensive discussion on how religious tolerance was encouraged within all religions, especially in Islam. The
participants were introduced to Quranic verses
regarding the requirement to be respectful of
those following different religions. At the end,
participants were amazed to know that Islam
itself meant peace and respect for others andhow tolerance was upheld at critical junctures ofhistory. The first day session ended at 8 o’clockin the evening followed by a one-hour culturalpresentation.
The next day consisted of debate training
and two debate exercises around the sub-topic
of social tolerance. The debate training, using
a participatory approach, was designed to learn

about the styles and rules of debate and theusefulness of debate in personal life. The debate
exercises had teams debating in parliamentarystyle. Though the participants had never experienced any debate, they displayed superb
quality of debate proving the finding of WBL
that ‘given the chance, every one can show talent’. In the evening, participants were asked
to prepare a one-hour drama on the theme ofcultural appreciation. For them, it was a firstever experience of script writing, rehearsal andstage performance. They hurriedly composed
drama scripts focused on various existing social practices such as deprivation of women’s
right to family property, dowry in marriages,
misconception in society about bearing female
child, etc. Girls and boys wearing colourfully
decorated attires and extensively prepared sets
made a wonderful public show on the second
day of each of the training programs. This was
the evening when villagers in Kuakata were free
to enter and watch the show of the participantsin the humble auditorium made of ‘Chhon’leaves, a local plant.
The third day engaged the participants on
the issue of politics, democracy and election
and how political tolerance could be upheldin the society. Participants were given a small
participatory lecture on various small issues of
democracy, governance etc. It included discussions on holding an election, formation of acaretaker government and an elected government, and the operation of the three branchesof the state, namely, executive branch headed by
the Prime Minister, the judicial branch headedby the Chief Justice and the legislative branchheaded by the Speaker. The participants wereasked to form political parties such as the partiesof the republicans and democrats in the USA,
conservatives and progressives in the United
Kingdom, or BNP and Awami League in thecase of Bangladesh. They debated among eachother as if they were holding election debates
where the head of each “party” (candidates forPrime Minister) led the debate with others on
various political or social issues. This was a

74  HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION IN ASIAN SCHOOLS

powerful demonstration of how politics should
be dealt with at the national level. Each party
in the debate campaigned for an election in an
imaginary country called Kuakata and explained
their election manifesto to their voters.
All agreed that had the politicians in theircountry acted like the way participants acted,
Bangladesh would be much better off.
The participants wrote their evaluation ofeach day’s proceedings including what they
have learned. The comments obviously revealed
how the training program turned out to be theparticipants’ best experience and opportunity
in their young life.
Here are some comments from some participants, teachers and parents:
1.	Dhulashar High School - Bashar wrote, ‘weare more courageous now.’ Mujahid wrote,‘our shyness is gone.’ Shumi wrote, fear in
our mind is gone after this training. Arifa
was worried as she said, ‘I was wondering
if there would be enough security for us as
girls, but once I came here, I realized it isclean, beautiful and quite secured for us.’ Shealso wrote in her evaluation for the second
day that ‘things that we never imagined havebeen discussed and taught in this training
during the debate, puthi recital, the cultural
program and side by side the walk in thebeach, the late night chat with friends - allhave been the best and most memorable
events of my little life.’ Ferdousi wrote,‘after these three days, I feel as if just one
day has gone.’ The head master wrote, ‘mystudents have learned how to speak properly
in correct pronunciation and they became
more disciplined here.’ Sohel wrote, ‘I was
feeling uneasy in the first hour, but later I
was so involved that I realized that I haveso much courage to talk in front of others,
and especially realized why debate was so
useful in life.’ One teacher Siddiqur Rahman
wrote, ‘the parliament our children createdduring the debate was more disciplined thanthe original one in our country. Because of
WBL’s efficient facilitation, my students

who never talk in the classroom could also
demonstrate high quality deliberation. The
food supplied here was of high quality andaccording to our appetite and taste. The
sleeping arrangement and the sanitation facilities are of high quality and hygienic. The
trainers were qualified people and we did not
see any weakness in them so far. I would liketo recommend this for continuous training
program for youths of this locality in thismanner.’
2. Kuakata Islampur Dakhil Madrassah - Shahidul Islam wrote - ‘If WBL works in more
schools and madrassahs in our area, there
will be no one left uneducated. All will beable to see new lights in life and there will bea much more positive environment createdin the country. In the sphere of education,
politics, religion, there will be tremendous
progress. I wish a long life for this program’. Mizan wrote, ‘if WBL works in all
the schools and madrassahs of the country
there be no more religious intolerance in
Bangladesh.’ Waliullah wrote, ‘discussion on
cultural appreciation helped us understandabout people from outside world and create
a positive attitude towards them.’ Obaidul
wrote, ‘WBL can create a tolerant society by
doing more of such training with us. I am
proud to be a participant of this program
which is funded by The British Council.’
3. Khanabad College - Mostafiz wrote, ‘I realized that those nations who do not havecultural appreciation or tolerance for others
will never become a great nation. Also I wasvery happy that ten girls also came with us
to this training and we could share so manythings together which we are never allowed
to do elsewhere.’ Shahinul Islam, a lecturerof this college wrote, ‘if all the students ofschools, madrassahs and colleges in Kuakata
get similar opportunity to participate in thistype of training, then Kuakata will becomea great place in the country.’ Tania wrote,‘everything that is done in this training isgood and useful for us, nothing is bad asDebate for Social Change - Bangladesh  75

was apprehended by our parents earlier.’
Raju wrote, ‘I have learned how to respect
other’s opinion even if I do not agree withthat. It is very important for me and for allof us in the society.’

Adda at Baitul Mamur Madrassah
On 22 September 2004, an adda wasorganized by WBL at Baitul Mamur Madrassah, Mirpur Dhaka. A visitor from the United
Kingdom (UK) participated in this adda alongwith a British Council (Bangladesh office) official. Because of the presence of one foreign
participant, the adda became a very lively placeof interaction with the Bangladeshi youths.
Lucy, who worked for The Guardian newspaper in the UK, asked the madrassah students
what their opinion of UK was. The madrassah
students answered:
1. The UK is a very powerful country in termsof money and weapons
2. Once they ruled the Indian subcontinent for
two hundred years
3. They torture Muslims
4. It’s a Christian country.
Lucy then told them about the people livingin the UK, that there are sixteen lakhs (1.5 million) Muslims, four lakhs (400,000) of Jewish
people, and a majority of Christians. She said
that the citizens in the UK have a lot of tolerance.
She added that the UK government renamed
the place where most of the Bangladeshis live
as Bangla town. One of the Madrassah students
asked: while we know that the UK government
nowadays campaigns for cultural appreciation, it
also takes part in the Iraq war and interferes in
the internal affairs of many Muslim countries. So
how much cultural appreciation is practiced by
the UK government? Lucy answered that mostof the UK people did not support the current
government’s polity towards Iraq. They evenprotested while Iraq was attacked by UnitedStates (US) and UK governments.

Lucy then asked an interesting question to
the students: what are the benefits of studying
in a madrassah compared to a regular school?
Arif, a madrassah student, said that basically, aMuslim student could get two benefits from amadrassah:
1. S/he can learn both Bangla and the English
language and also Arabic, a total of threelanguages
2. S/he gets basic education on religion.
At the end of the adda, Lucy said that common UK people were much more tolerant
nowadays and wanted to know more about
Islam. UK government is creating a lot of opportunities for Muslims to live peacefully andpractice their religion in the UK.
The adda was a great event according to all
the students, as they had the chance to meet awoman from the UK during their discussion
and had the chance to interact with her.

Adda at Aftabuddin School
Another adda, one of the key events of the‘Cultural Appreciation’ project, was held in
Aftabuddin School. WBL facilitators tried to
explain to the students why the WBL teamvisited the school and what adda meant. They
went on to explain that adda meant a numberof people sitting around in an informal way to
discuss one or several issues.
This adda started at 11 o’clock in the morning. As Mamun, the moderator, opened the
dialogue and asked students to raise any issues
and start the discussion, one student said that
he wanted to talk and know about the unhappy
incident of September 11 in New York. One said
that it happened because of the foreign policy of
the government of the US, which was driving
the Muslims in Palestine and Kashmir crazy.
This led one extremist, like Bin Laden, to hit the
US. Another student said he does not like the
US policy on Iraq and the way they have cometo introduce the so-called democracy there by76  HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION IN ASIAN SCHOOLS

killing hundreds of thousands of Iraqi people
including children and women.
Mamun raised another issue at this point andasked the discussants what they understood of
the word cultural appreciation. Ratna said that
it is about respecting others’ views and choices.
Everybody agreed to this. Ratna asked, since
there are four religions in Bangladesh, do they
think that there is enough religious harmony
between the followers of different religions?
Shajib answered, no. He added that they often
see bad treatment of Hindu minorities in the
country especially of Hindu girls. Boys in thestreet often tease the Hindu girls on their way
to school or elsewhere. Shajib thought the situation was so bad that at some point in the near
future Hindu girls could not come out of theirhouses anymore. Then Shipu asked about the
Muslim girls in India and if they face the sameproblem. Nobody could answer the question.
Then Mamun said that in India, generally
Muslims were living in safe and peaceful environment. But there were a lot of places where
Muslims were subjected to similar harassment.
Then he wanted he asked, if Muslims were
subjected to harassment in India would the
Bangladeshi Muslims harass the Hindus in thesame way? Every body said NO.
The adda concluded after discussing a few
more subjects.

Lessons learned
WBL’s program implementation for the lasttwelve years (1995-2007) provided a numberof lessons learned:
1. Having children teach children was perhaps
the best strategy WBL has used to bringabout fast change. It is easier for a child to relate to and absorb what another child is saying. It has also been observed that children
come up with easier methods of expression
to get a message across. This is the reason
why WBL engages its YCA (young change
agents) in various types of work across many

schools. From the beginning, some selecteddebaters from the clubs were entrusted tofacilitate the debating activities at their own
school, making it a children-led program
while helping WBL focus its resource andstrength to other schools that need themmore. Since 2002, most of its school-based
activities are conducted by graduate debatersfrom the same schools.
2. Using debate and drama to discuss social issues is a stroke of brilliance on WBL’s part.
They provide a safe and enjoyable way ofaddressing serious problems. Debate anddrama both help the participants deal withsocial issues in a more serious manner thathelps them understand the issue criticallyand remains in the minds of the youths as alasting effect. Over the years WBL has organized thousands of short drama in schools
and at its training center at Kuakata. Someof the regular themes used in the drama
were religious tolerance, child marriage, andcultural appreciation. The participants andpeople in the audience in most occasions
were highly moved by the drama and leftthe event with a lasting effect in their heart.
After the debate on anti-smoking, many
schools were influenced by the debate clubmembers and declared the school campuses
as smoke-free zones.
3. Bringing groups of students and teachers
to the safe and beautiful residential training
center, where they can focus all their attention on the issues at hand without any kindof interruption or restraint from the outside
world has proved to be an important tool inbringing about positive change of thought.
It is a place where one can safely express
one’s opinion without fear of being punished or judged. Participants feel so relaxedduring the camp that events often run till
the late hours of the night, arguing among
each other on critical issues such as genderand diversity. Away from the angry eyes of
their teachers, they can talk about criticaltaboo issues and generate huge interest andDebate for Social Change - Bangladesh  77

positive thoughts on the issues.
4. Because changing the mindset of adults isdifficult, a more effective way is the education of the youth, who are open to new
ideas. Their education on the major issues
of today set the stage for enlightened future
generations.
5. With a strong belief that the teachers are thekey to opening the minds of students to new
ideas, WBL made the training of educators
an integral part of its projects.
Based on these lessons learned, WBL
changed its strategy and work in a new way
including,
1. Organize debate camps at its Kuakata training center for the members of the school
debate clubs instead of organizing schoolbased debates so that debaters can plan for
their year long debate activities and learn
various critical issues
2.	Engage more and more youths in WBL
facilitation program
3.	Engage teachers and School Managing Committee (SMC) members while working forschool children to make the program moresustainable

4. Involve the graduate debaters of YCAs fromschools in various social activities and programs to utilize their experience from thedebate activities while at school
5. Involve the YCAs in various internships withother NGOs.
WBL’s long-cherished dream will come true
the day the schools take over the program andthe program becomes sustainable. WBL will
only serve as a valuable resource institution
supporting the program. Already a dozens neworganizations have sprung up that popularize
debate among school and college students inthe country. Debate is already a regular event inmost public and private universities and collegesin the cities. Many NGOs are using debate as atool to spread awareness and knowledge among
youths in the country. Television channels areorganizing every now and then debate competition with youths. As more and more organizations, and groups, employ debate, there willsoon be no need for WBL to focus its attention
on debate. By then, WBL will be able to divert
its resources to new issues and problems.
Shiblee can think of no greater reward thanto put himself out of business.