Rahman Mohammad Ataur, a former migrant worker in Singapore, founded Al-Shohag School in Bangladesh after surviving a devastating workplace explosion.

He is raising funds to finish the school and keep it operating for around 250 children.

In 2016, Rahman Mohammad Ataur nearly lost his life in a workplace explosion in Singapore. He was just 21.

The accident left him with burns over more than 73% of his body. He spent months in hospital and went through more than 100 operations during his long recovery.

After almost two years of treatment and rehabilitation in Singapore, Rahman returned to Bangladesh in 2018.

But surviving the accident changed the way he looked at life.

I got a second chance to live. So why not do something meaningful?”

Instead of using his compensation only to rebuild his own life, Rahman decided to invest it in something that could benefit others.

He built a school.

A school inspired by the childhood he never forgot

Rahman grew up in a farming family in Bangladesh.

His parents struggled financially and could not afford to continue his education. By around 10 years old, Rahman had to stop going to school and help his family work on their farm.

He remembers spending years working in remote fields, sometimes staying there alone overnight to look after the family’s equipment.

Eventually, he realised that working hard on the farm did not necessarily mean his family would have a better future.

When he returned to his community after his recovery, he saw children facing the same difficult choices.

Some children were not attending school because their families could not afford it. Others were expected to leave school early and work on their family’s farms.

Rahman understood their situation because he had lived it himself.

So he decided to do something about it.

Using his compensation, he bought land and started building what would become Al-Shohag School.

What began as a small structure has since grown into a three-storey school serving around 250 students.

From a small idea to a three-storey school

The school was built gradually through contributions from Rahman’s friends, individual donors and corporate supporters.

The original goal was to build a proper school building, but fundraising was not easy.

Rather than waiting until every dollar was secured, Rahman and his supporters decided to start building with what they had.

As people saw the progress, more donors came forward.

Today, the school building is around 95% complete.

Three years after Rahman first told supporters that he wanted to build a three-storey school, that vision is now almost a reality.

But there is still work to be done.

The remaining 5% includes essential finishing works and improvements such as:

• Fencing and improvements around the school grounds
• Furniture and classroom facilities
• Library resources
• Computer facilities
• Improvements for students and visiting parents
• A more reliable electricity supply through solar power

Rahman is now raising funds to complete the remaining work and make the school fully functional.

Keeping the doors open is the next challenge

Finishing the building is only one part of the challenge.

The school also needs ongoing financial support to remain open.

With around 250 students, the school currently costs approximately S$1,500 a month to operate.

Students pay only around S$3 a month, and some families cannot afford even that. Rahman does not turn children away because their families cannot pay. He allows them to continue attending school even when they are unable to afford the school fees.

For Rahman, no child should have to give up their education simply because their family is struggling financially.

An existing source of monthly support that has helped sustain the school is also expected to end this year.

That means the school faces an ongoing funding gap of around S$15,000–S$20,000 a year.

Without support, Rahman will struggle to keep the school running while continuing to make education accessible to children from low-income farming families.

Education that opens more doors

For Rahman, education is not simply about getting children through primary school.

He wants them to have opportunities that he never had.

Students learn subjects including English, Science, Mathematics, Art and Computer Skills.

English is particularly important to Rahman because he experienced first-hand how limited language skills can affect a worker’s opportunities.

When he first came to Singapore, his English was extremely limited. During his recovery, nurses, doctors and volunteers helped him learn English and computer skills.

That experience showed him what education and exposure can do.

Today, he wants the children at his school to have those opportunities from a much younger age.

Some students have even written their own testimonials in English about what the school means to them.

And while many students are academically capable of continuing to secondary school, their biggest obstacle is often not their ability.

It is their family’s financial situation.

Some parents still believe that once their children are old enough, they should stop studying and help on the farm.

Rahman is trying to give them another path.

His vision goes beyond the school

Rahman knows that asking people for donations year after year is not a sustainable solution.

His long-term goal is for the school to eventually create opportunities that can help sustain itself.

One idea is to provide older students with additional English and practical skills training, helping them eventually access better employment opportunities.

Rahman hopes that some students can one day find skilled work, including opportunities overseas, rather than being trapped in the same cycle of low-paid agricultural work that affected his own family.

It is a long-term vision.

For now, the immediate priority is simple:

Finish building the school. Keep it running. Give the children a chance to continue learning.

A second chance that became a chance for hundreds of children

Rahman could have used his compensation to build a more comfortable life for himself.

Instead, he chose to put much of it towards a school.

He had already experienced what it was like to lose his education because his family could not afford it.

He did not want other children to face the same fate.

His accident changed his life forever.

But Rahman does not see himself as unlucky.

He sees himself as fortunate to have survived.

And that is why he wants his second chance to mean something.

Why should I think of myself only? Why not do something meaningful? I want to make something good, so people can benefit because of it.”

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Help Rahman finish what he started.

The school is already 95% complete.

Now, Rahman needs help to finish the remaining work and ensure that the school can continue operating for the children who depend on it.

Your contribution will help provide:

• Funds to complete the remaining 5% of the school building
• Solar power and essential school improvements
• Classroom, library and computer facilities
• Ongoing operating costs for around 250 students
• Support for children whose families cannot afford school fees

Rahman was given a second chance at life. Help him give hundreds of children a second chance at theirs.

Donate today and help finish building Al-Shohag School.

Media Coverage

Rahman’s journey and the story of Al-Shohag School have been featured by local media, helping to shine a light on his remarkable journey from surviving a devastating workplace accident in Singapore to building a school for children in his home community.

• Channel News Asia (CNA) — 10 years after workplace blast in Singapore, former migrant worker expands school he built in Bangladesh
• Mothership — I came to S’pore from Bangladesh to work at age 20 & an explosion left me in a 3-month coma. Here’s my story.
• Mothership — “I survived an explosion in S’pore that left me in a coma. Now, I run my own school.”
• Mothership — S’pore migrant worker who survived explosion to start primary school in Bangladesh now hopes to expand to secondary
• Mothership Instagram — Feature on Rahman and Al-Shohag School
• Lianhe Zaobao — Feature on Rahman’s journey and school
• Salt&Light — “The explosion was not an accident but a divine appointment”: Bangladeshi worker who suffered burns over 73% of his body is now the founder of schools in his village