Bangladesh International School

Infobox_School
name = Bangladesh International School
established = March 1995
type = International
city = Dhaka
country = Bangladesh

Bangladesh International School, commonly known as BIS, is a private school located in New DOHS, Mohakhali, Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is managed by the Bangladesh Army Station Headquarters, Dhaka Cantonment, Dhaka. The school was primarily established in 1995 in order to provide affordable and quality educational services in English. It targets pupils from Bangladesh armed forces and foreign communities in Dhaka city, especially those living in the New DOHS, Dhaka Cantonment area and its periphery. However, a substantial proportion of its students are from civilian backgrounds.

Background

The lack of availability of affordable, quality educational services in the English medium for defence officers was a prominent reason the school was established.

History

Principal shifts

The school had three principals so far. The founding principal, AKM Sufiur Rahman, was appointed in 1995 to the newly founded school. In 2005, a new principal, Sabiya Chowdhury, joined the institution. The current principal, Prof. Shaheen Ahmed, was appointed in 2007 when she retired.

Curriculum

The institution follows the international GCSE curriculum of the University of London, colloquially called the O'levels. In 2006, it announced to add another curriculum, the National Examination in Bangladesh, and moved subsequently the academic year from June-to-June sessions to a more traditional(at least in South Asia) January-to-December sessions to comply with local standards. Currently, it follows both systems, offering students to choose in Class Six.

International Section

Students in the international curriculum are prepared for the GCE O Levels following the Edexcel syllabus. The first batch passed in 2001. Eight batches of students altogether have passed. While students may not study in the school after he/she passed X, it is up to their discretion when to sit for the exams.

National Section

In national curriculum the students are prepared for giving the Secondary School Certificate(S.S.C] examinations. The students follow the textbooks, translated in English, of and published by National Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education in Bangladesh. The first batch of BIS passed their SSC examinations in 2008.

Uniform

Boys are required to wear white shirts with grey trousers, along with epaulettes, either blue, green, orange, or red, with respect to the four houses. Elementary boys wear shorts instead.Girls wear white Salwar Kameez and grey kamiz, along with epaulettes according to their respective houses.

Administration

The school is under the authority of the Governing Body, headed by the station commander, currently Brig. Gen. Mollah Fazle Akbar, of the Dhaka Cantonment, Dhaka. The Body is composed of prominent local citizens, guardian representatives, and the Principal. However, the Body itself is not democratically elected, but established by the Army Headquarters. The Body regularly holds meetings to discuss the future of the school, and inspections to the school are made frequently. During school hours, a member visits the school regularly.

Faculty

The school employs nearly 100 teachers. It also employs attendants, guards, gardeners, drivers and the like.

Facilities

The school claims to maintain its commitment to exemplary overall well-being of its pupils with the facilities offered. It has recently added a full-time electricity generator for uninterrupted supply of current. But it is only available during school hours.

Library

Students spend their Library classes and free periods in the school library, located on the fifth and topmost floor. The library contains textbooks, novels, references, encyclopedias and Army periodicals. It maintains an archive of English daily newspapers. Students, from Class Five onwards, may borrow books from the library with the kind permission of the librarian, Ataur Rahman.

cience Laboratory

The school has a laboratory, beside the library, which is capable of elementary Physics, Chemistry, and Biology demonstrations. Pupils from Class Eight, Nine and Ten in International curriculum are required to submit reports of their experiment(s) individually once a year.

Computer Laboratory

There is one common computer room for all students, on the topmost floor. It has about fifteen working computers. Computer science students are required to show their practical understanding of computers here. One of the computers is connected to the Internet, but the computers are not networked. Internet may not be available currentlyFact|date=October 2008.

Field

The school compound contains a relatively large field beside its L-shaped building. A part of it is separated and allotted to kindergarten students. It contains swings, see-saws, slides, rubber tires and monkey bars. It also has a special shaded schoolhouse above a solid swing. Another section is paved with concrete, allowing for basketball. There are four hoops, with appropriately painted borderlines on this ground, allowing for two simultaneous games to be played. The eastern hoops are taller, and are generally played by senior students. The rest of the field is bare, often dusty(during heavy winds, students complain about the sandstorms), where a variety of sports, including cricket, handball, football(the two goal bars on the northern side are used for the last two purposes), volleyball, badminton(during the winters), and even simple games like catch and dodge ball are played. The entire field is surrounded by foliage, mainly palm, mahogany, and mango trees, and is dotted with grass.

Canteen

The school allows a privately-operated canteen in its yards, which is situated on the ground floor. The canteen is a red-painted shop where all sorts of accessories, school stationery, books and copies can be found. It is also distributes packaged and locally-made food and drinks.

Transport service

The school has three buses to provide transport to students around Dhaka city, both to and from the school.

Emblem and motto

The school's motto, 'Rabbee Zidni Ilma'(O' God, Increaseth my Knowledge), is embossed on the school's logo in golden letters. The logo contains the letters B, I, and S, in slanted cursive in a circle.

Houses

In March 2008, the school announced its decision to establish four houses. The students are required to wear colour shoulder badges to identify themselves. The houses have their own prefects, and are planned to have permanent sports teams, which would then participate in inter-house competitionsFact|date=October 2008. The houses are:

* Red
* Green
* Blue
* Orange

Awards

The school encourages its pupils to participate in co-curricular activities and sports competitions. The school managed second prize for the project "Advantages in Flood Management" at the Science Fair. [http://www.scifairbd.org/]

Notable BIS students:

ee also

*List of schools in Bangladesh

Notes

References

*cite journal
last =
first =
title = "The Precursor"
issue = 1998, 2002, 2005, 2007