Third and Fourth Periodic Report on CRC - Unicef

Convention on the Rights of the Child
7.3 Aims of education with reference also to
quality of education
Bangladesh has demonstrated a high level of commitment to primary education since it became a party to the
Education for All (EFA) goals adopted in World Conference on Education for All in Jomtien in 1990. Despite the
achievements <strong>and</strong> success, major challenges still remain in respect of quality of education <strong>and</strong> learning
outcomes, as well as access to <strong>and</strong> participation of a large number of children most of whom are poor <strong>and</strong>
disadvantaged.
Studies indicate that those who complete five years of primary schooling, a significant number of them (some
36 percent) do not achieve the desired level of competency. The factors that continue to influence performance
<strong>and</strong> quality include crowded classrooms with poor physical facilities in the institutions, high student teacher ratio,
low teacher-student contact hours, poor quality of teachers, <strong>and</strong> poor quality of learning materials, ineffective
teaching-learning methods, <strong>and</strong> unfavourable home condition, particularly in the poor households.
One of the main initiatives taken by the Government to address the issue of quality was through the IDEAL
Project, implemented in 32 out of 64 districts covering 7.3 million children during 1998 to 2004. The project
contributed to teaching-learning improvements in primary schools <strong>and</strong> introduction of Multiple Ways of Teaching
<strong>and</strong> Learning (MWTL). The major interventions included professional competency development of primary
school teachers, community involvement in planning <strong>and</strong> management of schools, <strong>and</strong> supervision of
management training for supervisors. Most features of IDEAL project have been incorporated in the PEDP II
programme <strong>and</strong> are being continued.
Despite this success, it is widely perceived that much needs to be done to improve the quality of education. To
address this, the Government has recently adopted the PEDP II, a sub-sector approach to primary education
aimed at removing coordination problems <strong>and</strong> addressing systemic <strong>and</strong> policy issues. The overall goals of
PEDP II are to:
Increase primary school access, participation <strong>and</strong> completion in accordance with Government’s National
Education Policy (NEP) 2000, Education for All (EFA) <strong>and</strong> other policy commitments.
Improve the quality of student learning <strong>and</strong> performance outcomes (i.e. achievement).
PEDP II is being implemented in all the 64 districts covering more than 65,000 primary schools for approximately
19 million children aged between 6-10 years. Eleven donors <strong>and</strong> development partners are supporting the
project.
During 2005 a new initiative was undertaken to introduce Life Skills-based Education (LSBE) in secondary
schools. UNICEF is working jointly with the National Curriculum <strong>and</strong> Textbook Board (NCTB) <strong>and</strong> the Directorate
of Secondary <strong>and</strong> Higher Secondary Education (DSHE). Curriculum <strong>and</strong> formal <strong>and</strong> non-formal materials have
been developed, <strong>and</strong> workshops <strong>and</strong> training conducted on LSBE. A working group has been formed <strong>and</strong>
trained to take the work forward in the next country programme.
In recent years there has been a thorough revision of the primary curriculum <strong>and</strong> new textbooks have been
developed. As part of this exercise, gender biases have been removed <strong>and</strong> concepts of environmental
awareness <strong>and</strong> sustainable development introduced.
The State Party has initiated the decentralization of primary <strong>and</strong> secondary education management structure.
Uni-track curriculum in secondary level has been introduced since 2006. Privatization of text book production
<strong>and</strong> publication has started for secondary level (grade 6-10) <strong>and</strong> by 2007 all books under secondary level will
be privatized.
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