Education

 

 

In recent years, Bangladesh has made significant progress in the education sector, having achieved a primary enrolment rate of over 92 percent and gender parity at both primary and secondary levels. High drop out rates, particularly among girls, and lack of universal access remain a problem. Access to education is an issue particularly for children living in remote areas, from extremely poor households or ethnic minority groups, and those with special needs. There are also few services to prepare children of illiterate parents to enter and stay in school. The drop out rate among these groups is especially high.

Another major challenge for all education service providers in Bangladesh, including the government, continues to be in the provision of quality basic education. Education today faces the challenge of creating a level playing field for all children in an increasingly globalised world. Education should provide children with the attitude as well as the skills that are conducive to promoting creativity, problem solving, and coping with uncertainties. Bringing every child into the classroom is no longer enough - each child is entitled to a high quality of education that will best prepare them for the future.

The goal of the BRAC Education Programme is to make a significant contribution to the achievement of education for all in Bangladesh.We aim to improve the quality and delivery of services in education appropriate to the needs of poor children, in particular girls, and to increase their access to those services. Our purpose is to help fill the remaining gaps in coverage, retention, and quality of compulsory primary basic education in Bangladesh.

We launched our education programme in 1985 with 22 one room primary schools. Since then, our education programme has become a leader in providing non-formal education primary education to underprivileged children out of the formal education system. Our schools and teachers work to build the skills and confidence of the children and motivate them to continue their education through the formal system.

We now provide pre-primary and primary education in collaboration with our partner NGOs, targeted towards the needs of marginalised children in both rural and urban settings. We also work with rural secondary schools through our Post-Primary Basic Education Programme, livelihood development for adolescents, and Continuing Education Programme for rural youth and adults.