Standard Chartered Bangladesh has further strengthened its support for secondary education in Bangladesh’s climate-vulnerable northern char regions by donating 25 decommissioned laptops to Friendship, a social purpose organisation. The donation is built on a partnership between these two organisations launched in December 2025 for a healthcare and education project. The education component aims to enable char-based students to continue their secondary schooling, develop digital skills, and connect with the wider world. This laptop donation further strengthens that support, a press release said.

Children living in the sedimentary river islands, or chars, particularly in the northern districts of Kurigram and Gaibandha, continue to face significant barriers to education. Frequent flooding, river erosion and limited infrastructure often disrupt schooling, contributing to lower literacy levels and higher dropout rates, particularly among girls.

Since the partnership was launched last year, the program has made significant progress across the five schools. Starlink connectivity has been established, providing reliable internet access and enabling digital learning. Pedagogy and subject matter-specific teacher training is ongoing, while student attendance and annual pass rates have improved and dropout rates have gradually declined.

With the network infrastructure now in place, the laptops will help students make full use of enhanced connectivity by improving access to educational materials and supporting technology-enabled learning.

Enamul Huque, Interim Chief Executive Officer of Standard Chartered Bangladesh, said, “Over the past year, our partnership with Friendship has delivered meaningful progress in expanding digital access and improving learning outcomes for students in the northern chars. With reliable connectivity now established across all five schools and encouraging improvements in attendance and academic performance, the donation of these laptops marks the next phase of our commitment to helping students make the most of digital learning opportunities.”

Runa Khan, Founder and Executive Director of Friendship, said, “Placing a laptop in the hands of a child living on a remote, shifting char is not simply giving them a machine; it is opening a window to knowledge, connecting them to a world beyond the river, and giving them the confidence, dignity and hope to imagine a future larger than the circumstances into which they were born.”

Standard Chartered and Friendship have been working together since 2016 to support marginalised communities. Their work spans various sectors, including health, education, agriculture, and the environment. Together, the two organisations remain committed to expanding access to quality secondary education and equipping young people in climate-vulnerable communities with the skills needed for a more resilient future.