This is due to insufficient number of teachers, their negligence in duty and lack of monitoring by the authorities, sources said.

Many guardians and local elite in these districts while talking to this correspondent deplored

that the concerned departments do not feel the urge to take effective measures to check the dropout and ensure good primary education.

Because of the degrading quality of primary education in government primary schools, kindergartens are mushrooming in towns, which is creating discrimination in education at primary level. Such schools are also coming up in rural areas.

Officials at district education offices (DPEOs) said the dropout rate will increase if this trend is not checked right now.

They said posts of District Primary Education Officer is vacant in Kurigram, Lalmonirhat, Nilphamri, Gibandha, and Panchagoar districts for several years.

Upzila Primary Education Officers are in charge of DPEO in these districts.

Teacher shortage in these districts is also acute.

Sources at Divisional Education Office in Rajshahi said posts of 144 primary school teachers out of 680 are vacant for long.

Sixty percent of these vacant posts are in greater Rangpur and Dinajpur.

According to a record with Rangpur District Primary Education Office, there are 1882 primary schools, ebtedaee madras, and kindergartens in the district.

Of these, the number of government primary schools is 701, registered primary schools 579, community schools 41, primary schools attached to high schools 29,

kindergartens 35, and ebtedaee madrassahs 245.

A total of 3,37,507 students --1,59,262 girls and 1,78,245 boys-- were enrolled in these institutions last year.

Md Nobuat Hossen, Director of Primary Education in Rangpur, said the dropout percentage was 27 in 2003. Last year's percentage is yet to be ascertained, he said.

Many of the upzila education officers seeking anonymity told this correspondent that the percentage would be over 33.

A teacher at Carmichael Collegiate Primary School said a large number of students in failed in annual examinations last year and they left school. The poor result in examinations was due to negligence by teachers, he claimed.

Records with the Directorate of Primary Education in Rajshahi shows that 38 posts of Upzila Primary Education Officer out of 125 and 73 posts of Assistant UPEO out of 506 are vacant in 16 districts under Rajshahi division.

In remote shoal areas, many teachers of government primary schools seldom come to school, guardians alleged.

At places, government teachers hire educated youths to take classes while they remain absent, they alleged.

But the alleged irregularities can not be monitored due to insufficient manpower at district education offices, the sources said.