The bicycle girls of Charteki

Every morning in Charteki, a village in Kishoreganj, the first rush hour arrives on two wheels.

Bicycle bells begin ringing along narrow dirt roads and paths between rice fields. Soon, groups of schoolgirls appear, carrying backpacks and water bottles, pedaling from villages scattered across Pakundia upazila. Some travel five kilometres. Others ride seven or 10.

Their destination is Charteki Girls School and College, where bicycles are parked in long rows outside the gate. Of the school’s several hundred students, about 160 regularly arrive by bicycle.

The sight is ordinary enough now that villagers barely pause to watch. It was not always so.

When girls first began cycling here, some residents laughed at them. Others made comments from the roadside. Parents worried about what neighbours would say, whether the roads were safe and whether a bicycle was appropriate for a daughter.

“Do girls ride bicycles?” was a common taunt, residents recalled.

Years later, the answer is visible every school morning.

Charteki Girls School and College opened in 1993 with 47 students on nearly an acre of land close to the Brahmaputra River. It received recognition as a secondary school in 2002 and gradually expanded. More than 500 students are now reported to be enrolled, although the school’s acting principal, Md Rafiqul Islam, put the current number at more than 400.

The school has become known locally as the “school of the bicycle girls.”

The nickname reflects a practical response to one of the persistent obstacles facing girls’ education in rural Bangladesh: getting to school.

Students come from Char Kaona, Baroghar, Nayapara, Brahmanchar, Beltali, Madhyapara, Mahishakandi, Natun Bazar, Chhayshir, Harshi, Tarakandi, Jangalia, North and South Charteki, Mirzapur, Gadar Char, Kazihati and other surrounding communities.

For families living several kilometres away, walking can consume hours each day. Other forms of transportation may be unavailable or too expensive. A bicycle reduces that journey substantially and gives students greater control over when and how they travel.

The change has also required families to reconsider assumptions about how freely teenage girls should move outside their homes.

Parents Laily Begum and Morshed Mia said they were initially hesitant about buying bicycles for their daughters. They now regard cycling to school as routine.

The bicycles, they said, have simply made education easier to reach.

The road to school

The journey remains difficult.

During the monsoon, stretches of the route turn muddy. In winter, students cycle through heavy fog. In warmer months, they travel under intense sun. Part of the connecting road near the school remains unpaved and unsuitable for comfortable cycling.

Still, school officials say attendance generally remains above 90%.

For the students, cycling has brought benefits beyond saving time.

Samia, a student who travels about five kilometres each day, told Daily Waadaa that riding a bicycle had made her more confident. She once felt afraid to go places alone. Now, she said, she is accustomed to handling many everyday tasks herself.

Talking with Waadaa, Asma and Rekha Akter said students encounter difficulties on their journeys but have learned to manage them.

There are more serious concerns as well.

Rehena, another student, said girls still sometimes face harassment while travelling. She believes more families would allow their daughters to cycle if the routes were safer.

Sinthia, a student, pointed to the poor condition of part of the road connecting the school with nearby communities.

The school has introduced another measure intended to make students more confident outside the classroom. A number of girls receive training in judo and karate.

Teachers say the lessons are meant to teach self-defence while developing confidence and discipline.

The school has also built a record of strong academic performance. Students have regularly performed well in the Secondary School Certificate and Higher Secondary Certificate examinations, according to school officials. In some years, it recorded a 100% pass rate in the SSC examination and has received recognition at the district and upazila levels.

For Rafiqul Islam, the acting principal, the shift in attitudes toward cycling has been as significant as the school’s growth.

There was resistance at first, he told Waadaa. That resistance has steadily diminished as parents saw their daughters travelling to school regularly and continuing their education.

When the unusual became ordinary

The most consequential change in Charteki may be how unremarkable the bicycles have become.

Ala Uddin, an elderly resident, remembers when girls cycling through the village attracted criticism. Now, he said, the same sight is a source of local pride.

“This change is not just the school’s; it belongs to the entire village,” he said.

Local officials have also embraced the practice as a way to improve access to education. But the infrastructure has not fully caught up with the social change.

The last section of road approaching the school remains unpaved. Mud and standing water make it particularly difficult during the rainy season. Students and parents also continue to raise concerns about safety on some routes.

Ilias Uddin Chunnu, president of the school’s governing body, told Waadaa that improving the road network would make cycling possible for more students.

Rupam Das, the Pakundia upazila nirbahi officer, said the administration would give attention to road improvements and measures needed to make students’ journeys safer.

For now, bicycles provide what the roads and public transportation often do not.

At the end of the school day, students retrieve them from the rows outside the campus and begin dispersing. One group turns toward Char Kaona, another toward Mirzapur or Gadar Char. Others have several kilometres still to travel.

The bicycles have not eliminated the obstacles facing girls here. Roads remain poor in places. Harassment has not disappeared. Families still have to find the money to buy bicycles.

But something more basic has changed.

A girl riding alone on a bicycle to school through Charteki is no longer considered unusual. On most mornings, there are more than a hundred of them.

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