Chapter 6

6.1 In keeping with EFA goals, GOB recognizes the need for and importance of early childhood care and pre-school education for children in the age range of 3-5 years to ensure the wellbeing of children, their physical and mental development and effective participation in primary education. The DFA EFA goal for ECCE[1] is 'expanding and improving early childhood care and education, especially for most vulnerable and disadvantaged children'. Studies have confirmed that children completing pre-school education do better in Grade 1. National Education Commission (2003) has recommended it and PRSP (2005) shows it in its policy matrix, indicating goals, activities and responsibilities of concerned agencies, GOB and others. However, developing a system and operational framework for providing ECCE service to target child population remains a big challenge.

6.2 Spontaneous and informal “Baby Classes” have existed in government primary schools for pre-school age children (<6 years), who accompanied their older siblings to school. During the 1990s, nearly one million children attended these classes in Government Primary Schools (GPS); and a similar number attended kindergartens, madrasahs, ethnic neighbourhood centres and other government and non-government institutions for children. By a circular in 1994, the government (PMED) encouraged primary schools to organize “baby classes” but made no provision for a fulltime teacher or regular curriculum. The “baby class” served more as an “activity for familiarizing children with schooling” but “not oriented toward ‘child development’” (PMED, 1999). The Integrated Non-Formal Education Programme (INFEP), 1991-97, under PMED had a component on ECD; a curriculum and learning materials were developed and 63,000 children benefited from this programme.

6.3 The National Committee on Primary Education (NCPE)[2] recognized the importance of pre-school education but in view of shortage of teachers and physical facilities in schools and severe resource constraints, it proposed instead to treat the first six months of Grade I of primary school as preparatory education, thereby obviating the need for separate pre-school program or baby class. That would leave out the children of the hardcore poor who do not enrol in primary schools. PRSP proposes to organize pre-school programme for at least six months. However, the ‘baby classes’ continue to exist in many schools but without proper organization and formalization. There have also been several NGO initiatives to develop pre-school programmes, utilizing community approaches.

6.4 Though NPA I proposed to formalize the ‘baby class’, among others its major thrust was on family- and community-based ECCE programmes. The proposals did not materialize. The PEDP I (1998-2003) proposed to establish ‘baby classes’ in 60,000 schools (GPS and RNGPS) to give it a substantive base but no clear information is available about its implementation. . PEDP II (2003-2009) has proposed a similar programme but the government opted to go for a study first to assess the situation before embarking on any formalized ‘baby classes’ or ECCE activities in primary education sector.

6.5 However, considering the value of pre-school education in preparing children of poor families for primary schools, to minimize dropout and repetition rates, particularly at grade 1, MOPME has recently authorized two NGOs – BRAC and Save the Children USA - to organize pre-primary classes in GPS and RNGPS. BRAC started first and has organized 20,000 one-year school preparedness ‘baby classes’ in GPSs by the end of 2006, on the premises or in the vicinity/catchments of the school, on condition that the mother school would enrol the passing children (33 per centre) in Grade 1. A model of pre-school education has emerged through this partnership between the Government and NGO, giving the government the option of cost sharing and support in early childhood education. BRAC has plans for more ‘baby classes’.

6.6 The other NGO, Save the Children USA, authorized to set up pre-school activities in RNGPS, has organized 2,000 units so far, including home- and community-based centres in school catchment areas, linked to designated mother schools. Plan Bangladesh, another NGO, is working in this area independently with family- and community-based programmes, through and in collaboration with other NGOs – such as BRAC, Dhaka Ahsania Mission (DAM), Grameen Shikkha, etc. It assisted the national ECD project implemented by Bangladesh Shishu Academy (BSA), a field organization of the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs (MOWCA). The BSA centres carry the name Shishu Bikash Kendra; some other NGOs also use this name.

6.7 UNICEF supports the BSA project. UNICEF also supports the pre-school programme of the Integrated Community Development Project (ICDP) of the government in the three hill districts; the pre-school centres are known as ‘Para Centres” (neighbourhood centres) for initiating the ethnic children into education. Plan Bangladesh provided technical assistance to UNICEF as well as the government on ECD project. UNICEF has helped establish an ECD network of BSAF and NGOs involved in ECD.

6.8 To sum up, there are three types of ECCE programs currently in operation though their overall scope remain limited:

(i) Organized school-based pre-primary education program (‘baby class’); NGOs, authorized by the government, establish and manage this programme in government and registered non-government primary schools; private schools also provide pre-school education through play groups in kindergartens, etc.;

(iii) Limited home- and community-based ECD programmes established and managed independently by NGOs.

o Appreciate the role of NGOs and private organizations engaged in ECCE programmes;

o Encourage and authorize select NGOs to establish pre-school classes in government, and registered non-government primary schools (supported by the government);

o Encourage community-based ECD/ECCE centres, established and managed independently by NGOs;

o To establish an ECCE unit to provide oversight and coordinate the activities of NGOs and other organisations, to extend technical assistance in development of teaching, learning, training and play materials for the programme, and ensure enrolment and continuing in primary education; and

o The government recognizes that early childhood programmes should meet not only educational but also such needs as health, nutrition, water, sanitation, etc., particularly of the children of hardcore poor families, for full development of their “cognitive, emotional, social and physical potential” (UNICEF, 2001).

6.10 Establishing a comprehensive program for achieving the DFA goals for ECCE entails a number of issues and challenges:

(i) A comprehensive policy vision on ECCE remains to be developed. The priority focus so far has been on universal primary education (UPE) but there is an increasing realization that achievement of quality goals in UPE will require a much more vigorous engagement with ECCE. The strategic challenge is to build on the lessons learnt from ECCE experience thus far and develop a cost-effective route to scaling up;

(ii) Priority target group for ECCE coverage will be 3-5 year old children of poor families including other disadvantaged groups such as disabled, isolated communities, and communities suffering social exclusion;

(iii) GOB has rightly focused on a partnership strategy for its engagement on ECCE utilizing relevant NGO expertise. Role of other potential actors, namely local governments and CBOs, will also require to be explored;

(iv) Scaling up ECCE will require not only a focus on its academic aspects but also on the ‘care’ aspects since the goal is not only to initiate the child into a schooling process but his/her holistic growth as a personality (see Figure 2). Finding an effective programmatic balance between departmental roles and community/family roles will be a key challenge;

(v) Scaling up ECCE coverage will require major efforts at developing support facilities to provide training, community facilitation, curriculum guidelines for field-level implementers;

6.11 Program tasks on ECCE within NPA II will include but not necessarily be limited to the following:

a) Development of a National ECCE Policy: The government (MOPME), in consultation with relevant Ministries, NGOs, and all other stakeholders, will develop a comprehensive National ECCE Policy (CNEP) indicating contents, modalities of organization and operation, coordination, monitoring and evaluation, as well as an institutional strategy to implement the policy;

b) Types of programs: NPA II envisages three types of programmes to address ECCE:

· Community-based ECCE program (CBEP), centres located within primary school catchments with arrangements for transfer of pre-school completers to the linked mother school; and other activities for total development of children; and

· Home-based program (HBP)as may be necessary and convenient for the target children;

c) Integrated approach to ECCE: the program will follow an integrated strategy that combines health, nutrition, sanitation and education activities in the centres; community-based ECCE centres will receive support from all concerned ministries and other agencies, such as health care, sanitation facilities, National Nutrition Program, etc. MOPME will facilitate coordination of these activities;

d) Two-track implementation approach: The program will run on both formal and non-formal tracks with some variations:

· SBEP will run as a constituent part of all formal government, community and non-government primary schools, including those for the ethnic minorities and disabled children, madrasahs and similar institutions. Primary schools will re-designate existing 'baby class' as 'pre-primary' or 'preparatory' class and generally focus on 5-year old children since taking the 3-4 year old children will over-extend the schools’ capacity and purpose;

· CBEP will organize Community ECCE Centres (CEC) and Home-based program (HBP) under NFE sub-sector for 3-5 year old children of hardcore poor families, provide care and developmental services covering health, nutrition and socialization, and gradually initiate the children to education; conduct the school preparatory course for the 5-year olds and arrange to enrol them in Grade I of primary schools on completion;

· CBEP will help organize community level Day-care facilities (including pre-three children as well) for working mothers, in cooperation with employers, relevant government ministries (MOWCA, MOHFW, Local Government Division of LGRDC), civil society, NGOs and CBOs, Parents groups, etc;

e) Separate classroom in primary schools: the long-term objective will be for the formal school to add an appropriately designed classroom with adequate space, fully equipped with play and learning materials, and a trained teacher/guide; SBEP class will normally take around 30 children, if there are more children it will divide children into sizeable groups;

f) Training of parents and caregivers: the community ECCE centres will be additionally utilized to provide training to parents and other caregivers to enrich their understanding and practice of care-giving, at family, school and community levels;

g) Core curriculum and learning materials: the national program will develop, in cooperation and consultation with NCTB, NGOs, academic organizations and individual experts a set of core learning contents and reasonably priced materials and equipments that could be used and adapted by different agencies and centres to suit the needs of children under their care;

h) Training of teachers, facilitators and supervisors: national capacities in the government and non-government sectors will be fostered to undertake training programs for teachers, facilitators and supervisors so that programme implementation benefits from adequately qualified personnel;

i) Programme innovation: A focus on innovations will be a central part of the strategy to scale up ECCE. Developing good models which can be replicated by local NGOs, CBOs, and community groups will be a major programme focus. Several NGOs have already developed innovative models and these and others will be actively encouraged;

j) Utilization of Information, Education and Communication (IEC): The program will develop and implement an advocacy, social mobilization and communication program through the mass media and other modes to convey the messages of ECCE to the parents in rural, remote, tribal and slum areas. It will also raise awareness among UPs and municipal bodies to initiate both SBE and CBE programmes. A comprehensive IEC program for ECCE will be designed and implemented to achieve the programme objectives.

6.16 DPE will oversee implementation of the school-based ECCE programme (SBEP). Implementation will be through NGOs who will be encouraged to organize an ECCE section attached to primary schools or in its vicinity and on completion enrol the children in Grade I of the mother school or the nearest primary school. DPE will exercise its oversight function through the establishment of a small ECCE Coordinating Unit and through the introduction of an ECCE section in its EMIS to keep track of children enrolled, transferred to grade1, progress in school and included in the school feeding program. EMIS data will be used to assess the progress and working of the SBEP.

6.17 BNFE will implement the ‘family and community-based’ part of ECCE or CBEP/HBP through NGOs and Community-Based Organizations (CBOs), and other community groups dealing with the vulnerable and disadvantaged children. To this purpose, it will establish an ECCE Unit. It will coordinate with DPE for transfer and enrolment of CBEP/HBP graduates to grade 1 in primary schools. MOPME will facilitate coordination with other ministries on nutrition, health and other aspects of the program.

6.18 Non-government centres like Kalyani Schools (of Bangladesh Protibondi Foundation), and other schools for children with hearing, vision, speech, physical disabilities and low cognitive abilities may experiment with the ECCE program. Such programs will have to be especially designed to meet the challenge, developmental and educational needs of children with different types of handicaps.

6.19 The estimated target population for Early Childhood Care and Education by base year 2000 and NPA II phases is shown in Table 6.1 below:

6.20 As already stated, a two-track approach will be pursued with school-based ECCE programme (SBEP) focused only on 5 year olds, and, community based ECCE programs (CBEP) focused on 3-5 year old children of poor families (40 percent of the population in this cohort). The ‘baby classes’ in primary schools will be formalized by phases as 30% by 2005, 50% by 2010 and 80% by 2015[3]. Fifty percent of the 5-year old children will go to formal primary schools and the non-formal stream will cover the other 50% by phases at 30%, 50%, and 80% respectively as in the formal. The implementation approach will be to make a robust beginning on the above targets and gradually expand coverage through NGO assistance. Distribution for the two sub-streams the projections between formal and non-formal sub-sectors is shown in Table 6.2 below:

Sub-sector	Benchmark	Program coverage and distribution by phases (in 000s)[4]
Sub-sector	2000	2005	2010	2015	Total
Total 3-5 year population	10,193
SBEP	-	1,000	1,000	1,317	3,317
CBEP	-	1,019	1,868	1,245	4,132
Total	7,449	2,019	2,868	2,562	7,449

6.21. The DFA goal for Primary Education is “ensuring that by 2015 all children, particularly girls, children in difficult circumstances and those belonging to ethnic minorities, have access to and complete free and compulsory primary education of good quality”. The goal has been restated as an MDG (MDG 2: achieve universal primary education). The Constitution of Bangladesh (1972), UPE programmes of 1980-81, and, the Primary Education (Compulsory) Act, 1990 had already captured the essence of the above commitments underscoring the home-grown nature of UPE commitment by Bangladesh. The country nationalized the primary schools in 1973 under the Primary Schools (Taking Over) Act, 1974 and re-designated them as Government Primary Schools (GPS); the teachers of the schools were made government employees. Later on, the government gave registration to a large number of other community-managed primary schools, and named them as Registered Non-Government Primary Schools (RNGPS).

6.22. There are three types of primary level institutions. Firstly, Government owns and manages the GPSs with support of a local School Management Committee (SMC) and Parent-Teachers Association, PTA. Secondly, local communities manage the RNGPS, satellite and community schools with salary support from government (ranging from 80 to 95 percent). Thirdly, the community manages the non-registered non-government primary schools on their own including ebtedayee madrasahs. The kindergartens and similar private schools operate on their own, without support or supervision from the government.

6.23 Government bears all operational cost of GPSs and provides 100% salary support for the teachers of RNGPS, besides the cost of infrastructure development and training of teachers in PTIs. Government also bears all costs of the experimental primary schools attached to the Primary (Teacher) Training Institutes, and support to community schools and satellite schools, which have since been discontinued. Altogether, the Government bears the cost of running 57,152 (of the 78,363) or 72.9% of all institutions that provide primary level education in the country (re Table 3.4).

6.24 The Directorate of Primary Education (DPE) under MOPME was created in 1981 to implement GOB commitment on UPE. It has grown into one of the biggest government agencies with administrative oversight over the entire formal primary education sector. An important weakness has been the skewed nature of resource use: over 96 percent of budgetary provisions for primary education goes to pay the salaries of the nationwide network of officers, staff, teachers and RNGPS leaving little resources for system development and quality improvement. DPE also suffers from a lack of decentralization and GOB is currently reviewing options for improving operational efficiency of the agency.

6.25 While Bangladesh has made significant progress on its UPE commitments as evident in gross enrolment rates and gender parity, drop-out rates remain significantly high indicating low completion rates. More worryingly, available evidence suggests major weaknesses in classroom achievement indicators and a growing quality divide between rural and urban schools. Specific sub-groups of the poor also suffer from a lack of access to school facilities. Thus, notwithstanding its impressive achievements, significant challenges remain for Bangladesh on meeting many of the substantive indicators of UPE. The overriding challenge is to ensure quality improvements in the formal primary schools where the bulk of the children are.

6.26 In the light of current weaknesses and problems as identified earlier, the following program priorities are proposed for NPA II by 2015:

· Enhance classroom space to an average of 50 sq.m School accommodation to 350 sp.m: total rooms may be linked with the approximate number of children to be served.; for a total of 9 rooms to provide room for ECCE class, library and other facilities including space for initial placement of two computers per school, adjacent to the library;

· Ensure a reliable database on all school-age children in the country; eliminate double and multiple enrolment and discrepancy in GER, NER and wastage parameters on all primary level institutions ;

· Bring schooling facilities within easily accessible range closer to home, well-resourced satellite schools (only where essential) and community schools will be established and supported in partnership with NGOs/CBOs;

· Ensure inclusive approach and access of all school-age children, regardless of their location, ethnic, disability, poverty and such other conditions to primary level institutions or alternative arrangements made for the purpose;

· MOPME taking responsibility for managing and/or ensuring adequate coordination between and among all government and non-government agencies in matters of primary level institutions, including ebtedayee madrasahs.

o Expedite increase in school accommodation to ensure elimination of shift system by phases, latest by 2010;

o Reduce the class size to 46 by 2009 and to 40 by 2015; flexible class structure to allow organizing and reorganizing it for different subjects and activities;

o Ensure time-on-task and increasing the class hour to a minimum of 35 minutes for Grades I-II and 45 minutes for Grades III-V, ensuring actual class transaction time of 30 and 40 minutes respectively with five minutes for transition and roll call; ensuring timely attendance by both teachers and pupils;

o Improve the school and classroom environment by using child-friendly and participatory approach, making the learning a joyful experience, involving children in school improvement and maintenance activities through group projects;

o Consolidate achievements on gender equity by continuing stipend program for girls; explore options for providing some incentives to Grade II graduates of satellite/feeder schools to enrol in Grade III of primary schools;

o Develop and implement a phased school feeding program based on nutritionally-relevant meal content, cost-effectiveness, decentralized supply chains and a management strategy which avoids vesting responsibilities on teachers;

o Ensure that children complete the class and homework so as to enable them to pass the quarterly and annual tests, and complete the primary cycle in five years.

§ Review and improve the curriculum introduced in 2003 to suit the needs of a knowledge-based society operating within a global environment; introduce other interesting reading materials that help develop reading habits and add to the knowledge base;

§ Establish and equip libraries in schools with computers and adequate supplementary reading materials to help develop reading habits and use of ICT so that the creative potential of each child can be stimulated;

§ Review ebtedayee madrasah curriculum to bring it in closer conformity with primary education curriculum so as to widen the opportunity horizon of madrasah pupils and enable them to move on to secondary education;

§ Review the terminal, subject and grade competencies, modifying and updating them as necessary; making them amenable to objective assessment and developing appropriate and adequate indicators to be applied across the board to ensure a basic minimum level of achievement by the pupils in the country;

§ As and when additional resources are available provide textbooks free of cost to all children in all primary institutions where NCTB curriculum is used; expand provision of other relevant accessories such as workbooks, scales, compass, pencils, etc; policy on re-use of books will continue with improvements in paper quality and binding;

§ Promote a career path for teachers and review the option for forming a Primary Education Cadre to infuse primary education management with direct primary school experience; improve salary package for teachers and provide opportunities for advanced training so as to attract and retain quality teachers;

§ Strengthen the sub-cluster training and re-orient them from administrative and personnel-related issues towards issues of improving teacher performance and the classroom and school management system; apply the same principle in URC-based training;

§ Initiate program to significantly upgrade PTI performance with particular attention to library and infrastructural facilities, recruitment of quality instructors with experience of teaching in primary education, abolishing the shift system, developing and adhering to an annual calendar, and introducing three-month refresher courses for teachers once every three years;

§ Transform NAPE into a high-quality professional organization with a professional and well-trained faculty having primary school teaching experience in place of current system of deputation and high turnover; introduce B.Ed (Primary), M. Ed (Primary) course as early as feasible and encourage basic research in primary education;

§ Introduce a paradigm shift from current practice of perfunctory administrative inspection mode to academic supervision by the AUEOs so as to improve classroom performance and strengthen professionalism of teachers;

§ URC’s have to be adequately equipped in all respects to function truly as resource centres for contributing to the training process of all including skill development of AUEOs in mentoring and acting as role model conductors.

Age Group	Benchmark 2000	Growth Projection and Targets by Selected Years (in 000s)
Age Group	Benchmark 2000	2005	2010	2015
Boys 3-5 years	5191	5614	5477	5950
Girls 3-5 years	5002	5408	5276	5732
Total 3-5 year olds	10193	11022	10753	11682
5-year olds	2912	3179	3150	3293
Boys	1477	1613	1600	1674
Girls	1435	1566	1550	1619

Chapter 6

NPA II Components