2.5m children still out of school
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Even after the government and private sectors' continuous efforts to bring children to schools and improve education quality, about 2.5 million school-aged children remain out of educational institutions.
Meanwhile, the current dropout rate is still 17.9 percent for primary education, and it is much higher for secondary education, as fewer than half the students go through the five years.
Additionally, the student-teacher ratio remains very high, at 46 to 1, and about 77.4 percent of schools have double shifts.
Dr Mostafizur Rahaman, programme manager at Campaign for Popular Education (CAMPE), shared the data while presenting his keynote at a webinar yesterday.
The webinar titled "Achievement, challenges and way forward in Bangladesh's Golden Jubilee", was jointly organised by CSO Alliance, CAMPE and Dhaka Ahsania Mission.
According to Dr Mostafizur, only 26 percent of teachers have received leadership training, while there is a lack of trained teachers who are proficient in braille.
He recommended preparing a comprehensive plan to achieve national education targets, and a monitoring system involving the government, NGOs and teachers.
At the same time, authorities concerned need to focus on inclusive education materials and designing special programmes for disadvantaged groups, especially for indigenous children, he said.
Jatiya Sangsad Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury joined the webinar as chief guest and discussed different positive initiatives for students who are from underprivileged communities.
She mentioned the arrangement of "Sheikh Russel Digital Labs" at educational institutions, mid-day meal programmes for students studying in government primary schools, separate wash blocks for girls, and disbursing stipends through mobile financial services.
She also urged to create a conducive environment for students with disabilities, including introducing braille and establishing separate wash blocks for them.
She highlighted the necessity of technological skills for teachers and regularly training them about specific topics, so that they can teach those to students.
The webinar's chair Dr Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad, chairperson of PKSF and Education Watch, said institutional decentralisation and formation of a permanent education commission is a must to strengthen the education sector.
Special guest Dr Manzoor Ahmed, professor emeritus at Brac University, underscored the need for putting national importance on pre-primary and early childhood education.
He called upon everyone to join hands and work together to implement the child education policy of 2013 and strengthen the technical education sector.
Ashrafunnahar Misti, executive director of Women with Disabilities Development Foundation, said although the national education policy talks about a uniform education system for students with disabilities, in most cases, teachers, especially headteachers and those who are in management committees, are not willing to allow those children integrate into schools.
Lawmaker Aroma Dutta; Shykh Seraj, head of news at Channel i; Quazi Faruque Ahmed, member of National Education Policy 2010 Formulation Committee; Parveen Mahmud, chairperson of UCEP; among others, spoke at the webinar, moderated by Rasheda K Choudhury, convener of CSO Alliance and executive director of CAMPE, and co-moderated by Asif Saleh, executive director of Brac.
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