Standard Chartered Bangladesh (SCB) PLC has donated 25 decommissioned laptops to social purpose organisation Friendship to support secondary education for students in climate-vulnerable northern char areas, strengthening a partnership launched in December 2025.
The education programme, now active in five schools across Kurigram and Gaibandha, aims to enable char-based students to continue schooling, develop digital skills and connect with the wider world, said a press release on Sunday.
Since the partnership was launched last year, Starlink connectivity has been established across the five schools, providing reliable internet access. Pedagogy and subject-specific teacher training is ongoing, while student attendance and pass rates have improved and dropout rates have gradually declined.
“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,” said Standard Chartered Bangladesh Interim Chief Executive Officer Enamul Huque.
Friendship Founder and Executive Director Runa Khan said placing a laptop in the hands of a child living on a remote, shifting char was “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 across health, education, agriculture and the environment.
