Primary students drop by over eight lakh

The number of students in all primary-level educational institutions has decreased by over 8.32 lakh in 2023 from the previous year, a government report reveals.

According to the Annual Primary School Census (APSC) 2023, prepared by the Department of Primary Education (DPE), the number of students at just government primary schools dropped by over 10 lakh.

On the contrary, the number of kindergarten and Ebtedayee madrasa students rose by around 2.56 lakh and 36,000 respectively, said the census, which came out this week.

Farid Ahmed, secretary of the primary and mass education ministry, said a dip in the country's birth rate and the DPE's new software, which removed duplicate student data, were two of the main reasons behind the drop in the numbers.

He added that some students moved to Qawmi madrasas after the Covid-19 pandemic due to financial struggles – another reason for the decreased number of students at primary schools.

The APSC-2023 data shows there were 1,97,13,685 students in 1,14,630 government and non-government primary schools, kindergartens, Ebtedayee madrasas and others last year.

In 2022, there were 2,05,46,091 students in 1,14,539 primary-level educational institutions, it added.

The census further said that over the years, Bangladesh has experienced a gradual decline in its population growth rate. In the 2011 census the population growth rate was at 1.46 percent, which dropped to 1.22 in 2022.

With the decline in population growth, the enrollment of students in primary schools began slowing down, it added.

The DPE's software -- Integrated Primary Education Management Information -- is a data storage and monitoring process that manages school management, teacher management, student management, annual census of primary schools, stipend management and annual book distribution activities.

It has significantly improved the cross-checking of multiple data, reducing the possibility of wrong or duplicate data entry of students.

"Due to this, the total number of enrollments declined in the APSC-2023 compared to APSC-2022," the census stated.

According to DPE sources, government primary schools saw a huge drop in the number of students in 2023, when there were 1,09,85,815 students in 65,567 government primary schools. The year before, there were 1,19,95,222 students in 65,565 of them.

On the other hand, the number of students shot up to 48,73,375 in 26,461 kindergartens in 2023, which was 46,08,679 in 26,478 kindergartens in 2022.

KM Enamul Hoque, advocacy adviser of Adult Education and Lifelong Learning in the Asia South Pacific, said the number of students in mainstream primary schools dropped as many guardians opted for Qawmi madrasas and English medium schools.

"Many families, especially from the lower socio-economic groups, suffered financial hardships due to the Covid-19 pandemic and so they shifted their children to Qawmi madrasas as the education expenses there are significantly lower."

DPE officials said that as Qawmi madrasas are not under any government authority regulation, they do not have much information in this regard.

Meanwhile, though the number of primary level institutions decreased in 2021 and 2022 owing to the Covid-19 fallout, it saw a slight rise again in 2023.

Last year, there were 1,14,630 government primary schools, kindergartens, NGO-run schools, Ebtedayee madrasas and other private schools in the country.

The number was 1,33,002 in 2020; 1,18,891 in 2021; and 1,14,539 in 2022.