Dipshikha Meti School Dinajpur

Dipshikha School, located at Rudrapur of Birol upazila, 22 km from Dinajpur district, is a unique school made of mud. The traditions and identity of the local people have been highlighted in this school. Children of Rudrapur village had to walk about 7 kilometers to go to school. As a result, many students quit their studies and got involved in agriculture or other jobs. In 2002, another 10 students including Anna Herigar from Leeds University in Australia came to Rudrapur village for research work. Anna Herigar, using her research and architectural skills, planned to build a school to expand Rudrapur's underdeveloped education system, while others returned after the research. German Development Agency's Modern Education and Training Institute and Bangladesh's private service organization Deepshikha came forward to realize his dream. As a result METI Handmade School was built in 2006.

Better known as Dipshikha Meti School built with local raw materials, bamboo and clay. The fully eco-friendly 8,000 square feet two-storied school has three rooms per floor and an open bamboo staircase leading to the two floors. A mixture of clay, sand and straw is used as a plaster for the coarse earthen walls of the lower part. The upper floor is roofed with thatch and earth on bamboo floors and the second floor is roofed with bamboo and wood. At the same time the top is tinned to protect against rain water. Water proof palm oil and soap paste have been used on the floor as environment friendly. Deepshikha School has natural heating in winter and cooling in summer. Besides, there are some cave-like open rooms in the basement for children to play. Currently, the school offers classes from infant to class 10 in addition to teaching dance, singing, acting, painting and English language. The Aga Khan Foundation selected Meti School for Best Architecture in 2007 and 18 construction workers from Deepshikha School were awarded.

Dinajpur can be reached by bus and train from Dhaka. From Dhaka's Gabtali and Kalyanpur, you can go to Dinajpur by Hanif, Shyamoli, Nabil, Bablu Safe Line, Meem Transport. Bus fare will be 800 to 1500 taka. And from Kamalapur railway station you can go to Dinajpur by Intercity Express, Ekta Express and Panchagarh Express trains. The fare per person varies from Tk 575 to Tk 1978. From Dinajpur city, you can take a local bus to Rudrapur in Birol Upazila and visit Dipshikha School.

Apart from residential hotels like Hotel Unique Residential, Hotel Diamond B, Hotel Al Rashid, Dinajpur has tourist motels, Circuit House, Ram Sagar National Park Rest House and Zilla Parishad Dak Bungalow.

Dinajpur city has good quality Bengali, Chinese and fast food restaurants. Among them, Rustam, Sonargaon, Dilkusha and Ahar restaurants are quite popular.

Dinajpur Rajbari,  Haji Mohammad Danesh University of Science and Technology , Nayabad Mosque , Swapnapuri Picnic Spot , Ramsagar Dighi and Kantjir Temple are some of the other places to visit in Dinajpur.

Feature Image: Khalid Ahsan