# বহুনির্বাচনী প্রশ্ন
River gypsies in Bangladesh face various problems. First, Bangladesh is getting urbanised very rapidly. Gypsy people are losing their customors among the urban population. Hence, their income is threatened. Secondly, 24,000 kilometres of previous waterways has shrunk into only 6,000 kilometres in the country in dry seasons. Scientists believe that Bangladesh will be worst affected by global climate change. The unpredictable rain and drying out of rivers have made boat movement heavily restricted. Thirdly, many river gypsies are changing their lifestyle in the context of changed reality. They are thinking of living permanently on land. The authority feels that river gypsies need help to survive in the mainstream population. Therefore, the government is offering voting rights, permanent housing and bank-loan facilities. However, changes do not come overnight.
Traditionally, river gypsies are used to water life. They have inherited from their forefathers necessary life skills to survive in waters. They have no education and training to adapt to mainstream modern society. So the state feels the need to bring them under formal education network. But they have no permanent living place. Gypsy children are born and brought up on roaming boats. Therefore, they cannot go to conventional schools. And hence, mobile boat-schools are being established for gypsy children. Some voluntary organisations are running special schools on boats to educate river gypsy children in some areas.
