If children can't reach school, the school comes by boat
Architect Mohammed Rezwan founded Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha, which runs solar-powered boats serving as schools, libraries and clinics for flood-prone villages in north-west Bangladesh.
The small thing
As a young architecture graduate, Rezwan used his scholarship money and savings to found a small organisation in 1998, and spent four years raising funds for a first school boat.
The problem
In the Chalan Beel wetland of north-west Bangladesh, the area under water expands greatly in the monsoon. Roads are scarce, schools flood, and children in riverside villages can be cut off from classes for months.
Why Mohammed Rezwan (Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha) started
Rezwan told Down To Earth: "I thought if children cannot go to schools then schools should come to children." He founded the organisation to test that idea in his home area.
What they did
The first school boat was built in 2002, made with local boat builders using local timber. Boats collect children from riverside villages, then moor to hold lessons, with solar panels on the roof powering lights and computers. The organisation added boat libraries, clinics, farmer training centres and flood shelters.
Shidhulai also distributed solar lanterns and small solar home systems. According to Ashden, solar lanterns let fishers work at night and replaced kerosene lamps.
What changed
Ashden, which gave Shidhulai an award in 2007, reported 88 boats and about 87,000 families benefiting at that time. Reuters reported in 2025 that the model had expanded to more than 100 boats serving as schools, libraries and clinics, that 26 boat schools had 2,240 pupils enrolled, and that more than 22,000 students had been educated. These figures come from the organisation via Ashden and Reuters.
What they learned
Rezwan has described involving the local community and paying staff properly as essential to building trust. He also had to work directly with boat builders who could not read architectural drawings.
“I thought if children cannot go to schools then schools should come to children.”Mohammed Rezwan (Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha), as quoted by Down To Earth
Copy this idea
Practical guidance written by our editors from the sources below. Adapt it to your place, and check local rules and safety first.
- Problem addressed
- Essential services cut off by seasonal flooding or poor transport.
- What to do
- Bring the service to people: mobile classrooms, libraries or clinics using transport that suits local conditions.
- Materials and resources
- Locally built vehicles or boats, small solar panels and batteries, books or learning materials.
- Approximate cost
- High
- Skills
- Local building skills, teaching or health staff, basic solar maintenance, fundraising.
- Time
- Years to establish; ongoing operation.
- People needed
- A small team, trained local staff and community support.
- Difficulty
- Hard
- Risks and limitations
- Safety on water; dependence on donor funding; maintaining equipment.
- How to adapt it
- Mobile libraries or solar-charging stations can start on a much smaller scale.
- Lessons learned
- Design with local builders and residents; small solar systems can make a large difference off-grid.
Why it matters
Boat schools do not stop flooding. But they show a practical way to keep services running where water levels rise, combining local craft skills with small-scale solar power.
What didn't work
Down To Earth reported that raising money for the first boat took four years and that local boat builders could not follow Rezwan's drawings, so he worked with them directly.
Editor's note
Reuters reported in October 2025 that 26 boat schools were operating with 2,240 pupils enrolled.
Sources: how do we know?
Evidence level: Documented. Supported by reliable published sources such as UN agencies, award bodies and reputable journalism. Not yet independently re-verified by our editors. What the person says and what independent sources establish are attributed separately in the text.
- award body
Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha — Ashden, 2007Supports: 2007 Ashden Award; founded 1998 by Abul Hasanat Mohammed Rezwan; boats' functions; solar lanterns; 2007 and 2009 figures. - reputable journalism
In Bangladesh's flooded plains, schools in boats keep learning afloat — Reuters (via Khaleej Times), 7 October 2025Supports: First boat 2002; more than 100 boats; 26 boat schools with 2,240 pupils; 22,000+ educated; solar power; current status. - reputable journalism
Schools, libraries, clinics all come floating on boats — Archana Yadav, Down To Earth, 15 July 2016Supports: Founding 1998 with scholarship money; motivation quote; four years' fundraising; work with boat builders.