RURAL BANGLADESH - PreventionWeb

Socioeconomic Profile Findings
Continue Figure 6
% of adults
% of adults
20
15
10
5
0
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Primary Education by Region by Sex
CHT Coastal Drought N/W Char Haor
WFP priority region
Secondary Education by Region by Sex
33
Male
Female
Male
Female
CHT Coastal Drought N/W Char Haor
WFP priority region
Other regions of the country reported that although students tend to leave school as a result
of their poverty, girls are not dropping out of school at the same rate as boys nowadays. This
is primarily because of the stipend received from the government encouraging girls to
remain in school. On the other hand, boys may feel forced to leave school in order to assist
the household in income earning activities.
School drop-out rates accelerate substantially following primary school, especially for girls.
Half of the girls have discontinued secondary school across the regions. Among students
who have completed primary school, more than twice as many males as females went to
secondary school. Socio-cultural attitudes, distances to secondary school, lack of
transportation facility or commitment to expending funds for transportation, and early
marriage, are the factors mentioned by communities contributing to the underachievement of
girls’ post-primary education. Government policy encourages female attendance at the
secondary school level through stipends for girls; nevertheless, female attendance in
secondary schools in WFP’s priority regions continues to lag behind boys.
The regional variation in grade achievement is significant (Table 6). Approximately 17
percent of adults in the Drought and Northwest regions have completed their primary
education. More than 10 percent of the adults living in the Chittagong Hill Tracts and
Northwest region have completed their higher secondary education, compared to four other
regions where the completion rate is not more than six percent. Similarly, approximately six
percent of adults in the Northwest region have obtained university degrees while only three
percent of adults in the Coastal zone reported the same level of education. Educational
achievement appears to be highest in the Northwest.