The `state of affairs` in our primary education

By definition, a primary school is an institution in which children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as primary or elementary education. Primary school is the preferred term in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth Nations, and in most publications of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). In some countries, and especially in North America, the term elementary school is preferred. Children generally attend primary school from around the age of four or five until the age of eleven or twelve. In some places, primary schooling has historically further been divided between lower primary schools and Higher primary schools. In Bangladesh, the educational system is three-tiered. The government of Bangladesh operates many schools in the primary, secondary, and higher secondary levels. It also subsidizes parts of the funding for many private schools. The primary and secondary levels of education are controlled by the seven general education boards, each covering a region. The boards’ headquarters are located in Barisal, Comilla Chittagong, Dhaka, Dinajpur Jessore, Rajshahi and Sylhet. In addition, the Madrasah Education Board covers religious education in government-registered Madrasahs, and the Technical Education Board controls technical and vocational training in the secondary level. A substantial number of NGO-run non-formal schools operate in the country, catering mainly to the dropouts of the government and non-government primary schools. Very few NGOs, however, impart education for the full five-year primary education cycle. Because of this, on completion of their two-to three-year non formal primary education in NGO-run schools, students normally re-enter into government non-government primary schools at higher classes. There are Non-Governmental Schools (NGO) and Non-Formal Education Centers (NFE) and many of these are funded by the government. The largest NFE program is the much reputed BRAC program. However, all NFE graduates do not continue on to secondary school. NGO-run schools differ from other non-government private schools. While private schools operate like private enterprises often guided by commercial interests, NGO schools operate mainly in areas not served either by the government or private schools, essentially to meet the educational needs of vulnerable groups in society. They usually follow an informal approach to suit the special needs of children from these vulnerable groups. But nowadays, some NGO schools are operating in places where there are both private and government schools. Bangladesh’s primary education sector has witnessed some commendable developments in recent years. In the current fiscal year 26,193 non-government primary schools have been nationalised. Almost 100 per cent of school going children were enrolled across the country. Other achievements in the sector include better balance of the male-female ratio, new and improved textbooks, appointment of teachers, introduction of primary education completion of exams, and structural and logistical improvements, among others. The principal concern, however, now lies with the quality of education at this level. Most of the primary schools in the capital Dhaka fail to attract students from well-to-do families who prefer to send their kids to private schools for better education. Moreover, the dropout rate is 39 per cent with low attendance rates adding to the concern. The recently published primary education completion results indicate how the quality of primary education varies from area to area. It also indicates a certain level of discrimination in quality in different areas; the schools in rural areas are lagging far behind in quality in comparison to those in urban areas. Furthermore, the situation in remote areas such as the tea gardens, hill tracts and the haor areas leaves room for a great deal of improvement. Quantity vs QualityAccording to the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education, the current rate of primary school enrolment is 99.47 per cent in the country. However, the unofficial rate is estimated to be much lower, as a large number of children in squatter communities and urban slums do not attend schools because they are busy in their quest of a livelihood. Official statistics reveal that the total number of primary school goers is approximately 17.5 million and the total number of government and non-government primary schools is almost 81,000 across the country. Of these, the number of government primary schools is 37,672, and there are more than 25,000 registered and community schools, with the rest being unregistered primary schools and some run by NGOs at different levels. In addition, it is estimated that there are about a few thousand kindergartens too. The total number of teachers in primary schools is approximately 450,000 of which 201,900 work in government schools. The present government has recruited 69,404 assistant teachers and 1,852 principals. According to sources, the facilities available at government primary schools are more or less of the same standard although a wide gap exists in the quality of education at various levels across the country. There is little doubt that private schools are ahead in quality than government ones and this is clear during the admission season when there is an immense pressure on private schools with limited seats, particularly in Dhaka and other large cities. While there are 269 government primary schools in the capital alone, these fail to attract students other than those from very impoverished backgrounds because of their poor standard of education. It is alleged the general environment of these schools suffer due to the low socio-economic background of the student body. To make matters worse, there are frequent instances of encroachment on school compounds by land grabbers. M M Niyazuddin, acting Secretary of primary and mass education ministry, commented, “We are working hard to ensure 100 per cent enrolment in primary schools to reduce the dropout rate and maintain a minimum standard of education in primary schools. I agree that the standard has suffered in recent years but we have undertaken an extensive program, Primary Education Development Program (PEDP-3), which focuses on improving the overall standard of primary education.” Classrooms or Chicken Coops? Muneera, a fourth-grade student in a government primary school in Rayer Bazar in the capital, seemed in a hurry when this correspondent stopped her at the school gate. “I have to go in quickly otherwise I will only get a seat in the back of the class. You can hardly hear the teacher from such back seat and he gets annoyed if you ask him to repeat anything. That is why everyone in my class tries to come early so that they can sit in the front.” A tour of the school showed an even drearier picture with no playground and damp classrooms packed like sardines with poor ventilation and lighting. Some of the classes even had students standing in the back due to insufficient seating arrangements. It was no surprise that most of the children showed little enthusiasm regarding school. If this is the scenario in most public primary schools in the capital then the condition of those outside of the capital leaves little to imagination. Piyara Akhtar, a primary school teacher at Fakirapool in Dhaka commented, “We are failing to provide facilities that are essential to making schools a source of joy for children. It is often alleged that primary school teachers are not sincere. It is simply not possible to pay attention to each and every child in the classroom and this could be a reason for the lack of enthusiasm in children. We are also poorly paid. We often have to resort to private tutoring to supplement our meager incomes. This situation will not change unless there is a major change in the primary education structure.” It is a common allegation against teachers that they deliberately pay less attention to children in need of special care/attention and resort to hard marking so that more students are compelled to seek them as private tutors. Thus it is one of the important reasons why the quality of classroom teaching has been gradually declining across the country. Mohammad Rafiq, a teacher from Hazaribagh Primary School in Dhaka, said, “We could take measures to make schools more attractive, like organizing annual picnics, regular sports programmes and also more interesting teaching methodologies to make learning a fun exercise. These would help the enrolment rate and also reduce the dropout rate. Textbooks play a very important role in education. They must be interesting from a child’s point of view. Many of the textbooks have gross mistakes. But I must admit that commendable efforts have been made in this regard in recent years.” (To be continued)Courtesy: First NewsProfessor Siddiqur Rahman from Education and Research Institute of Dhaka University, who is also associated with the National Textbook and Education Board, told First News, “The general standard of textbooks has improved in recent times. They now come in colours. We are also working on the printing errors and other mistakes.” He added, “But we must also focus on giving our children a proper education. Just being able to sign one’s name does not make one literate as is widely thought in the country. The standard of education is so poor in primary schools that many who are promoted to secondary schools do not even know basic things like the name of the National Poet or the significance of our Independence Day.” Underpaid TeachersAccording to the government gazette, the basic pay of a primary school teacher is 4,700 taka before receiving training and 4,900 after training, the principal’s salary being 5,200 taka. Other than that, housing allowance makes 60 per cent of the basic, medical allowance is 700 taka, conveyance allowance is 150 taka and tiffin allowance is another 150 taka. There is little scope for growth in career as there are no posts other than principals and assistant teachers in tnese schools. Atiqur Rahman (pseudonym), who has been teaching for the last 18 years and is now the principal of a government primary school in the capital, informed First News, “My monthly income including all benefits is 18,000 taka. After paying house rent of 12,000 taka, there is little left. Both my sons are attending universities. At the end of each month I need to borrow money to fill the gap between income and expenditure.” Rahman further said, “It becomes even more difficult when any additional expenditure is incurred on account of receiving medical treatment or entertaining guests. If this is the situation with a principal then you can imagine what it must be like for an assistant teacher. They have no choice but to resort to private coaching or some other part-time job to make ends meet.” He then explained, “This has its own negative impact on the classroom. Although I do not support the culture of private coaching in principle, I also empathise with the teachers who do it under duress.” It is alleged that teachers are mostly tired and stressed out as a result of which they are usually very irritable and sometimes doze off during classes. However, rural primary school teachers are said to be in a slightly advantageous position, as most do not have to spend money on house rent. There are wide-scale and numerous allegations against rural and urban primary school teachers. Common allegations include, lack of punctuality, irregular attendance, lack of preparation before classes, favouring students who go to them for private coaching, verbal and physical abuse of students, etc. Female teachers often leave early on the grounds of household obligations. Teaching outdone by Additional Responsibilities In addition to teaching, a government primary school teacher is burdened with many other responsibilities, the extent of which is sometimes so much that the responsibility of teaching gets less priority and time. Such duties include census, child survey, elections, preparation of voter identification list, latrine survey, distribution of biscuits, and attending official programmes at district and upazilla levels, among others. Their job also requires extensive traveling when they perform the role of examiners. Various committees are also formed for the day-to-day management of primary schools, such as management committees, guardian’ committees, school welfare committees, etc, which keep many teachers busy with various resolutions and activities that often interfere with their primary role as teachers. Politics and Primary Education “Due to hartals and blockades, the three major exams in the schools got disrupted. Children had to study doubly hard due to the rescheduling of the exams” said mother of Faria Rahman, a third-grade student of Sher-e-Bangla High School. “Besides”, she added, “the schools remain officially open during political blockades when we have to live in fear of sending our kids to school.” A government primary school has 75-gazetted holidays in a year. Schools often need to be unofficially closed due to various programmes such as, vaccination, visits by local Parliament Members, social or cultural programmes, sports events, election booths, etc. Due to such interruptions, many of the schools fail to complete the syllabus during an academic year. Needless to mention, a change in government is followed by a change in school management committees and guardian committees. These recruitments are carried out unofficially by UP chairmen, upazilla chairmen, local MPs and other politically powerful people. As a result schools often fall in the hands of incompetent management committees leading to irregularities and indiscipline. With reference to political influence, a district education officer, on request of anonymity, told First News, “We are totally helpless when it comes to political pressure. It is not possible to keep the school free from political influence. It would have been best if politicians kept schools out of their political race.” Allegations regarding irregularities in teacher recruitment are rampant at all levels. Anwar Hossain (pseudonym), an assistant teacher at a government primary school in Gazipur, informed, “I had to pay 100,000 taka in cash as a bribe to get recruited although I qualified in the written examination. Recruitment is marred by bribes, political manipulation and nepotism. As a result, the overall standard of teaching suffers as many incompetent candidates get recruited over competent ones.” Another district education officer said, “I shall not deny the fact that recruitment does take place on the basis of political influence and special requests. However, the candidate has to qualify in the written examination first.” School Meal Program Babul Kumar Shaha, project director of school feeding program, said that government funding covers 42 and World Food Program (WFP) 30 upazillas across the country that benefits a total of 2.7 million students at various government, registered non-government and community primary schools, NGO-run schools and a few madrasahs, which get 75g of biscuits per day. WFP and the government of Bangladesh in 2010 jointly undertook the program. It is believed that the program has succeeded in attracting students in many downtrodden districts. Abu Mohammad Saleh, principal of Kankonipara government primary school in Rangpur, commented, “The program has significantly impacted the daily attendance of students most of whom come from very impoverished backgrounds who cannot afford a mid-day snack.” However, the students have more to say. Shahnaz Akhtar, a sixth-grade student of Nandail Chandipasha Model School in Rangpur, said, “We are being given the same biscuit for the last few years. It does not taste that good either but we still have it, as we get very hungry by the time it is served. I wish they gave us something else to eat.” Asked if anyone ever fell sick after eating the biscuits, she replied in the negative. WFP has the mid-day meal program in schools of 60 countries including India and Sri Lanka where it is believed that a total of 20 million children are benefited. In developed countries like USA, UK, Sweden, Japan and France, mid-day free meals are provided in schools at government and private initiatives. In Japan, about 99 per cent of primary schools and 82 per cent of high schools provide free lunch to students. Encroachment of School Land According to sources, about 15 schools in the capital city have lost their land to land grabbers. Local influentials have constructed commercial and residential buildings on school compounds. Not much has been achieved from the legal battles against them. Khodabaksh Government Primary School in Captain Bazar has shut down due to encroachments. Shahin Government Primary School adjacent to Mohammadpur Town Hall in the capital has already lost 31 per cent of its land to encroachment. A massive garbage depot stands right in front of the school gate making it difficult for students to concentrate on studies because of the bad smell. Smoke from cooking within the doue compound is also another nuisance. Laundry is hung on a clothesline inside the school compound. Established in 1968, a certain part of the school is occupied by stranded Pakistanis. Nazirabad Primary School, established in 1941 in the capital has also lost about 10 per cent of its compound to encroachers. It is alleged that almost every week some social program like weddings or cultural shows are held on the school premises with cooking in large vessels. School authorities alleged that their complaints have been consistently falling on deaf ears. Motijheel Government Primary School established in 1996, built on its own land has been declared a highrisk building. Classes are, therefore, being held in Post and Telegraph Government Primary School as a temporary arrangement. Kamrangir Char Government Primary School, Wari M A Alim Primary School, Gendaria Mohila Samity Government Primary School, F K M Government Primary School, Suritola Primary Schoool, Haji Yusuf Ali Government Primary School are among others in the capital, which have lost part of their compounds to land grabbers.These are but some of the examples from Dhaka City, there are many instances of how schools have either been closed after losing their land or have been squeezed in size after encroachers took illegal possession of land. An investigation will reveal how a large number of primary schools in the country are under threat from influential quarters and might lose their land in the near future. Increasing DropoutsAs a signatory to the United Nations Child Rights Convention, Bangladesh is obligated to ensure education as the fundamental right of each and every child. While it can be claimed that Bangladesh has come a long way in improving the enrolment rate in primary schools in the last two decades, there is still a growing number of children who are dropping out of school every year. There are also some areas and communities where children do not even have access to a school. Facilities for handicapped children also need a great deal of upgrading. Roughly about 99 per cent of the children in Bangladesh enroll in primary schools but it is estimated that about 40 per cent drop out before completing primary education. Despite government and private initiatives the dropout rate remains high to this day. According to Bangladesh Primary Education Annual Sector Performance Report 2012, around 2.6 million children aged between 6 and 10 are not going to school at present. The good news is that of a diminishing dropout trend with 50.5 per cent in 2006 and 2007, 49.3 per cent in 2008, 45.1 per cent in 2009 and 39.8 per cent in 2010. A survey carried out by Education Watch in 2008 showed that about 50 per cent of the kids drop out of school before they complete the fifth grade. Of these, boys constitute 51.7 per cent while 48.3 per cent are girls. The survey also revealed that the dropout rate is 52.4 per cent in rural areas while in cities it is 30.4 per cent. The dropout rates are significantly higher in less developed regions such as the hill tracts, haors and islands. Shaymol Kanti Ghosh, director general of the Primary Education Department, informed First News, “We have taken a lot of initiatives to reduce the primary school dropout rate. We are currently providing school meals to primary school students in 96 upazillas. There will be 1500 new schools in total in areas where there were no primary schools before. We will also take the necessary measures to make learning more enjoyable in primary schools to control dropouts. Under a program called Reaching Out-of-School Children (ROSC) in 48 upazillas we arrange lessons in separate schools for children who dropped out. Very soon the program will be extended to 100 more areas.” The Informal Education Program by the government in collaboration with UNICEF and CIDA has reached out to 66,000 children aged between 10 and 13, who were working in urban areas during 2004-12. The program is also providing vocational training to children over 14 years of age. Samir Ranjan Das, Chief of Research Evaluation department of BRAC, informed that the organization’s education program covers 22,000 schools. In addition to BRAC, a significant number of NGOs are working along with the government to reduce the dropout rate. Among these, PLAN Bangladesh, Dhaka Ahsania Mission, Save the Children, Jagoroni Chakra, and Aparajeo Bangladesh are amongst those worth mentioning.Two Boxes”Commendable steps have been taken for the development of primary education.”-Afsarul Amin , Primary and Mass Education MinisterThis government has taken several steps for the development of primary education and it is for this reason that the primary school dropout rate has been reduced significantly in recent years.About 7.8 million children across the country have been incorporated in scholarship programmes, which is 45 per cent of the total number of primary school students. The school-feeding programme is there in 96 upazillas. ROSC program is also an effective education program targeting children who had previously droppd out of school.We are also trying to improve logistical and structural facilities in schools to retain students. Steps are also being taken to improve lessons to make them more recreational for children. Many more villages which did not have primary schools before are going to have one primary school each and more children will be able to attend schools as 1500 new schools are being built in those villages. Of them, 800 have been established already. We hope the dropout rate will further reduce in the coming years because of the focused measures that have been taken recently.”The primary education sector needs more investment.”Rasheda K Chowdhury, former Adviser to Caretaker Government and Executive Director of Gonoshakkhorota ObhijanPrimary education sector is one of the few areas where Bangladesh has made some commendable advancement since its Independence. A large number of children have been brought under the sector. But the saddest part is that most of these children fail to continue with their education. In order to retain children in schools, the government also needs the cooperation of non-government organisations.The issue of education must be extended to the district level instead of keeping it in the hands of the concerned ministry. Local governments must be empowered in this regard. More effective supervision mechanisms must be created to monitor certain issues such as how schools are being run at local levels, the performance of teachers, why children are not coming to school, etc. The most important is to increase the national budget for primary education. There are many pitfalls in our education systems, which need to be addressed. And for that, more investment is required before anything else.