Abstract
The classroom culture in the countries like ours is not at all favourable to the children of poor families. Teacher and student ratio is so poor that these children do not get any attention in the schools. In Bangladesh about one third of the children leave schools two or three years after enrolment, but without learning anything. Traditional teaching techniques are fearful to them. The authorities are blaming the children for all the non achievements.
Children are compelled to memorise text without understanding the meaning. The upper class of the society already has established a separate education system for their children. So they are not much concerned about the public primary school. Some NG0s in Bangladesh like PROSHIKA & BRAC introduced the non-formal structure of primary education, targeting the children of the poor families. About 15 per cent of the total enrolment in primary education are looked after by this structure. This includes those children who have no scope of study in the formal system. Education in this structure is lively to the children and they enjoy the learning. Community participation, safe environment, active learning technique, learners centuredness are the basis of success of thus structure. NG0s in Bangladesh are implementing this challenging structure with much confidence. This structure not only include the excluded, but also concern about the quality of education.
The story of the late 50s to 60s
When I started in class one of primary school in 1958, there were 30 students in the class. The range was the children of marginal farmers to solvent families. But only the children of solvent families could complete the full primary school cycle. After completion of five year primary education, 20 of my classmates had dropped out. What happened to them?
- 8 to 10 of them dropped out because of absolute poverty. They had to assist their parents in agricultural activities. - The other children dropped out because of the non friendly classroom culture.
What are the reasons for these children dropping out?
- The teachers were committed to teach the children of the particular class to which they belonged.
- Children of the poor families got no attention from the teachers.
- Physical punishment of the poor children was routine by the teachers.
The farmers and labourers used to send their children to school with the hope that their children would be educated. But after two or three > years they found that their children had learnt very little or not at all. This emphasised that education is a luxury and not really > accessible to the poor and it led them to withdraw their children from the system. As a result the literacy rate in the country did not exceed 20 per cent up to the 60s. Out of 10 million school aged children, five million were enrolled in primary schools and of the enrolled children only 30 per cent had the opportunity to complete primary education. Children of landless families did not enroll at all.
Post liberation situation
Bangladesh became independent in 1971 after a nine months liberation war. The new country developed its own written constitution. The constitution declared that primary education is a right of all boys and girls of the Republic. Some steps were taken.
- Primary schools were nationalised
- Students were provided with clothes, books and tiffin
These initiatives brought positive results, but they did not last long. As a result, the dropout rate of children especially girls increased. In 1975, the number of primary school aged children was about 15 million and there were about 36000 government primary schools which could accommodate only 7.5 million children. In 15 years the number of government primary schools had remained almost the same but the number of children had increased by 5 million. From these statistics it is clear to us that the government of the country was not concern about their constitutional obligation to provide free primary education for all boys and girls.
The Scenario of 1990
The UN declared 1990 to be International Literacy Year with the slogan 'Education For All by the year 2000 (EFA2000)'. The government of Bangladesh took some measures following this Programme.
- The compulsory Primary Education Act was introduced for 6-11 year old children.
- The objective of achieving a literacy rate of 80% by the year 2000 and 100 per cent by the year 2005 was set.
Ten years after the declaration of EFA 2000, some positive results can be seen. The enrolment of children has increased to more than 90 per cent. The ratio of enrolment between boys and girls is equal. On the other hand, the quality of education has not improved. The drop out rate is as much as before, and is about 40 per cent before completion of primary education. Most of the drop out is due to the unattractiveness of the school environment.
The reasons for the unattractiveness of the school.
- The classrooms are over crowded. In an ideal classroom a maximum of 40 learners can be accommodated. But, in our case more than 60 learners are accommodated in the same room, and in many cases in poor areas there are about 100 children.
- The teacher and student ratio is inappropriate. A teacher is responsible for 60 learners on average. The teachers do not feel comfortable to teach in such an environment. So, the teacher is concerned only about the good students who are generally from the solvent families.
- The contact hours are low when considering the subjects taught. The children of well off families can take private coaching, but the children of the poor families cannot afford to do so.
- In many cases, teachers punish the children of the poor families physically and mentally.
- The teaching method is one way. Generally the learners are compelled to memorise the lessons without understanding the meaning or context.
- No special attention is given to children with physical or learning difficulties.
Intervention of the NGOs
In order to meet the needs of the poorest children, who had so far been excluded the Non Government Organisations (NGOs) of the country started providing education for them. The first such work was initiated on a large scale from the late 80s. The opportunity of education was thus created for the children who could not go to school and those who dropped out from the formal system. The new system got much attention in the community.
This system of Non-Formal Primary Education (NFPE) is renowned through out the world. In the year 2000, about 18 million children are enrolled in primary education throughout the country, with15 per cent of these in NFPE sector. In formal primary schools the drop out rate is still about 40 per cent, but in NFPE the drop out rate is less than 10 per cent. What are the primary elements for making the NFPE centres attractive to the children of the poor families?
- The NFPE centres are established by the active participation of the community. The community decides when the centres will be run. The committees of the centres are empowered to take decisions.
- The student teacher ratio in the NFPE centres is appropriate. Generally one teacher is appointed for 30 learners.
- The sitting arrangement of the learners is U shaped so that the class can be conducted with adequate interaction between the students. - Activity based learning means students that do not memorise the lessons like parrots.
- Use of creative writing and story telling make the learners interested in continuing their study.
- Teachers do not teach with traditional methods. They use more modern techniques of teaching. The teacher is a co-learner in the classroom.
- The content of the curriculum is lively and reflects the poor peoples lives.
- In both curriculum and practice gender equity exists.
- NFPE centres are beginning to take account of disability and difficulties in learning.
- The syllabus is concerned with poverty alleviation.
Who is providing NFPE?
PROSHIKA and BRAC are the main two organisations who provide Non Formal Primary Education (NFPE) for the disadvantaged. They also support 500 other small NGOs to run NFPE centres.
Each centre is started with 30 learners. A teacher (in most cases a woman) with requisite qualifications receives 30 days training (Foundation training is for 15 days) in different stages. The children remain in the same centre until the completion of their course.
In a Proshika NFPE centre, the cost of primary school graduation of a learner is Taka 3500 (US $ 70). Of this the cost of the school house and salary of the teacher is Taka 200 (US $ 4). It is less than 6 per cent of the total. On the other hand, 85 per cent of government primary school expenditure is spent on the building and maintenance and of the salary of the teacher. The NGOs spend more on textbooks and other supplementary materials, and on the training of the teachers and other personnel.
After less than 15 years NFPE has become a necessary strength to the education system of the country . Most of the children it covers would remain illiterate without this effort. UNICEF started its largest education programme for the urban hard to reach children of Bangladesh. The NGOs experienced in NFPE are implementing this programme. People from different parts of the world are visiting Bangladesh to learn from this system
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