An exposure visit titled Obak Kutuhole concludes at Dhaka on 8th & 9th March 2024 with a bunch of young minds who want to embrace their future in the vibrant world of technology. A total of 40 secondary school students from the coastal area of Bangladesh came to Dhaka to explore significant science and ICT related places and companies connected to Bangladesh’s ICT industry. Among them 35 were female students who are in the high risk of dropping out due to factor such as early marriage.
Story behind this initiative start from 2017. BdOSN, has been implementing a program titled Missing Daughter since then to help our girls dream big about building careers in the ICT industry and encourage them to take ICT as a tool for building their careers. Among all the activities under Missing Daughter, Obak Kutuhole is one of the most highlighting events, which brings underprivileged school going female students to the capital city Dhaka and takes them to several places that are symbolic to science and ICT or directly involved to the ICT industry of Bangladesh. The idea behind this program is to make the girls desirous of science and technology through an enjoyable and joyful journey.
This year, we are in a mission to bring the missing daughters from our disaster vulnerable areas into the spotlight of the ICT sector. Under a project titled STEM & ICT Skills for the Girls of Coastal Area we are creating opportunities for the secondary school students that can help them to adopt the quality education and digital literacy. In this exposure visit 35 female students and 15 male students from Khulna, Bagerhat and Satkhira got the opportunity to explore several places, including the National Museum of Science and Technology, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Novo Theatre, Central Shaheed Miner Bangladesh, Dhaka University Area, Daily Newspaper Prothom Alo Office, two software company Ollyo and Brainstation 23 DBC Television Center etc. They came to the capital on 7th, gathered in a dormitory for three nights two days and explore the places with enthusiasm.
Jannatul, a student of class 10, was thrilled by visiting Bangladesh’s most beautiful software company Ollyo. During her recount of this visit, she mentioned that she makes a promise to herself that from now on she will try to equip herself with necessary skills to join a company like Ollyo. Tahmina, a student of Ali Ahmad Govt. Girls’ High School, dreams of becoming a student of Dhaka University after seeing its vibrant campus.
On the second day evening, girls were clustered in a room as many renowned parsons were came to meet them which was the most amazing part of this program. Dr. Muhammed Zafar Iqbal, academic and science fiction author, came to meet the girls and spent some time with them. As soon as he entered the room all the students excitedly clap as their expression of joy. They talked about their dream. CEO of Win Incorporate Kashfia Ahmed and Professor of the Department of Robotics and Mechatronics Engineering of University of Dhaka Dr. Lafifa Jamal also spoke to them.
Third episode of Obak Kutuhole just concluded with an interactive session with the participants where they share their experiences of this two-day long visit. This certainly is going to raise their spirit to get the brighter way for motivating them to enter into the fascinating world with lots of dynamism in science and technology.