Formal Primary Education at St. Martin Island
Saint Martin is a coral Island situated in the deepwater area of the Bay of Bengal and it is 32 kilometers away from the main land, i.e. TeknafUpazila under Cox’s Bazar District. This Island is famous for its stone-chip and mineral resources.It is well known that the St. Martin Island has low educational standards and no organization had sought to resolve by providing socio-economic development program. For generations, islanders received no help to positively change their on-going socio-economic plight. Development facilities such as education and skills training are essential to improve the potential for islanders.
This Island is 8 kms. long and 1.5 kms. wide. About 8000 people live here of which about 1400 are children or adolescents. There is only one Government
Primary School and only children from the north of the island are benefiting. Specifically, children and adolescents from the south of the island (approximately 60%) are being ignored.
In this context, at the 1st stage, CREED established a non-formal school in 1998 as on experimental basis and found a fruitful result for its continuation. Later on , in 2002, through the construction of two School Buildings with the financial support of CIDA, CREED established a formal primary school with five classes and still today it is running smoothly.
Already, 15 years activities of this school has given a educational atmosphere in the community. On the other hand, now, each family and each children of Saint Martin are under the light of this school.