High rate of school dropouts

 About 50 percent of primary and 80 percent of secondary level students drop out
 of school in Bangladesh, according to a report released on 17 December by the
 Campaign for Popular Education (CAMPE) ,  a Bangladeshi non-governmental organisation (NGO).

The report entitled Education Watch  2006  refuted the government’s claim that primary education was free in  Bangladesh.

The report said 59 percent of total spending per child in government primary schools and 71 percent of spending per child in government-assisted secondary schools came from parents. Spending  included tuition fees, admission fees, bags, transport and other such related costs.

A large portion of the money goes to private tutors, the report said.

More needs to be done to achieve  parity in primary and secondary education. The report said rich families were able to spend more on their children’s education, resulting in a growing  educational gap between rich and poor.

The Education Watch report also said  public spending on primary and secondary education was low in comparison to other developing countries.

In terms of overall national spending on education, Bangladesh with 2.2 percent of gross domestic product  (GDP) falls far short of the 6.0 percent stipulated in the April 2000 Dakar  Framework for Action - to ensure education for all.

Nepal,  with 3.4 percent, and India, with 3.3 percent do  significantly better, the report said. 
 
“Not on  track”

Photo: David Swanson/IRIN

There are some 80,000 primary schools in Bangladesh

"At present we are not on track to achieve the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) for 2015 or to fulfil the  constitutional pledge to 'extend free and compulsory education to all  children’," the report said.

The report showed annual public  expenditure per student in a government primary school in 2005 to be US$25,  followed by $24.50 in the Ebtedayee (registered non-government) `madrasas’ (Islamic schools). Annual public expenditure per student was only $9.5 in registered non-government schools. 

At the secondary level, annual  public expenditure per student is $36 in government assisted schools and $55 in  Dakhil (secondary level) `madrasas’, the report said.
 
At the primary level, the highest  public spending per student per year was $25.80 in government schools, followed  by $24 in `madrasas’. For other types of institution the figures varied from 96 cents to around $10.

Urban-rural divide
 
The report also found wide variations in public funding between urban and rural institutions of the same type at both primary and secondary levels.

"We are not at present on track to achieve the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) for 2015 or to fulfil the constitutional pledge to 'extend free and compulsory education to all children’," the report warned.

“CAMPE has several hundred NGOs in its network. They can facilitate and promote dialogue between the government, the school and the community, and help in raising awareness and understanding of educational issues in the community,” said Dr Manzoor Ahmed,  director of Brac University Institute of Educational  Development.

The objective of the report is to gain an understanding of educational expenditure at primary and secondary levels  in the country, said Rasheda K. Chowdhury, director of CAMPE.  
 
The report was based on a 2005 study  covering 313 institutions at the primary level with 18,625 students; at the  secondary level a total of 283 institutes with 16,529 students were covered. The  report used 2005 statistics and costs.

sa/ds/cb