Since its inception in 2001, ensuring holistic growth for its students has been a prime objective of Brac University. The university has always endeavored to instill a strong sense of commitment in students to work towards national development and bring progress through various community engagements. The ideal way to do this, Brac University believes, is for both students and teachers to play a major role in their respective capacities by being responsive to the needs of society, like those hit hardest during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Keeping this in mind, Brac Institute of Languages (BIL) launched a charity fund drive in February 2021 that has been named ‘BIL Charity Fund’. This fund is an extended continuation of BIL’s existing philanthropic endeavors that will allow the BracU community to respond to the needs of distressed communities during this time of global uncertainty.
Regarding this initiative, the Senior Director of BIL Lady Syeda Sarwat Abed has said: “Being a significant contributor to quality education in the field of higher education in Bangladesh, we must recognise the needs of our society, and stand by the poor and the underprivileged communities. If we fail to assume our responsibilities towards the society, higher education will lose its purpose, its relevance to human life and development, and prove to be completely ineffective.”
The contributions by the BIL Charity Fund thus far include a donation of one lakh taka to the charity foundation “Shongjog” (Connecting People) for the treatment of Covid-19 infected patients. Besides this, the charity has also distributed clothes among 450 poor people in Savar on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr, distributed books and other educational materials to 100 underprivileged school students, and participated in various awareness-raising campaigns to promote health and wellbeing.
BIL pledges to expand and continue its current charity initiatives further to meet its commitment to the society as a whole.