Kurigram, a district bordering India and known for its river islands (chars), lies in the northern region of Bangladesh. Within Roumari upazila of this district, there is a small village called Jhagarar Char under Dantbhanga Union. This village is a home of around three thousand people.
Samiul was also among them. He lived with his elder brother, sister, younger brother, and parents. His father worked at a brick kiln, while his mother managed the household. In 2012, he passed his secondary exams in the humanities group from Dantbhanga High School and College. But because of harsh family and financial struggles, Samiul gave up his books and picked up hammer and chisel to bear the educational cost of his brilliant younger brother Shamim. He chose his younger brother as the medium to fulfill his own dreams.
Driven by responsibility for family, Samiul went to Chandina in Cumilla to work as a construction laborer. Later, he worked at a solar company in Kamlakanda, Netrokona, and traveled across different parts of the country for work. Six years later, in 2018, after Shamim’s SSC exams, he married and moved to Dhaka, also leaving his studies behind like Samiul. For Samiul, it was another taste of shattered dreams.
During this time, Samiul himself got married also. In early 2018, he decided to put away hammer-chisel and return to his books. His wife supported this. But starting education again after such a long break made neighbors call him “mad.” Forced to avoid ridicule, he enrolled in class eight at Tapur Char B.G. High School in a surrounding village. He even changed his name to Md. Samiel Sami.
Later, in 2021, he passed his SSC exams from that school and got admitted to Roumari Government Degree College. There, he passed HSC in the humanities group in 2023. Despite ridicule and bitter remarks from neighbors and relatives, Samiel pushed forward. Though he failed to take part in the first round of university entrance exams due to lack of money, he took preparation with old books from a relative studying at Cumilla University. With that, he appeared in the admission battle for second time, and this year secured 1,145th place at Rajshahi University, 314th at Cumilla University, and 2,093rd in the admission test for general, science, and technology universities.
Then, for the 2024–25 academic year, Samiel got enrolled in the Department of Public Administration at Begum Rokeya University, Rangpur (BRUR). Though he left behind hammer and chisel to come closer to fulfilling his dream, Samiel does not consider this achievement as a very big something. Despite the looming shadow of poverty, Samiel, the father of a two-year-old child, now dreams of completing his studies and becoming a civil service officer.
According to many university students and teachers, incidents like this were very rare in Bangladesh that after remaining six years away from study, a person again started schooling and got admitted in the universities.
However, after the anti-discrimination student movement began last July, Samiel joined the protests alongside the Anti-Fascist Student Unity as a general student. From the start of July to the end of the movement, he was present at mostly all protests arranged at Roumari upazila in Kurigram.
On the contrary, to ease the burden of his studies and living expenses in Rangpur, Jahir Rayhan, a leader of Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Chatradal, BRUR unit and a student of 2021–22 from the same department, has stepped forward to support Samiel. This has given him some relief from constant worries.
Regarding this, Jahir Rayhan said, “It was our moral and social responsibility to stand beside struggling dreamers like Samiel bhai. The path he had walked—was extremely difficult. But I, and we all, would always stand by ordinary students like him.”
Niyaz Makhdum, a lecturer from the Department of Public Administration, BRUR, said, “Starting studies anew after a gap of six years and taking it to university at this stage was an extremely difficult task. During the Covid-19 lockdown, we saw many students drop out within just a year or two. Compared to that, Samiel’s struggle—returning after years of distance from education and competing shoulder to shoulder with contemporary students—was a huge achievement.”
Assuring support for Samiel, he further added, “We teachers also wanted Samiel to pursue his studies properly and turn his dreams into reality.” From our side, we will provide him every possible assistance.”