BRAC centres its work on educating the poor
Thursday, 23 February 2012
Tithe Farhana and David Meagher in the first
of a two-part article on the 40th anniversary of BRAC
The Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) is 40 years old and going strong. Originally created to rebuild a war-torn country after the liberation struggle, BRAC was founded in 1972. It is the largest NGO in the world.
BRAC works in 10 countries in Africa and Asia. Funding agencies from Canada, the US, Japan, Scandinavia and Europe have come in aid of its operation. With a mantra to eradicate poverty through education, BRAC leads the way with innovative and creative programmes.
Education for the poorest: Human rights, gender issues, food security, environment and social enterprise all come under BRAC wing but education has transformed millions of children's lives in Bangladesh. In the last ten years great strides have been made to Bangladesh's education system, tackling the gender gap, taking education to the remotest corners of the country, setting up schools in urban slums and ensuring that ethnic children are taught in their own indigenous language as well as in Bengali. And incentives such as providing free food and supplying children with wheelchairs, hearing aids, glasses and ramps and minor corrective surgery.
With financial support from the US and Japan, Bangladesh's 'Second Primary Education Development Program' (PEDPII) was launched in 2003 designed to 'reduce poverty and support sustainable economic development through universal primary education, by raising learning standards and student achievement. BRAC was and still is at the forefront to deliver the project as a key part of the government's 'Education for All (EFA) and poverty reduction agenda'.
BRAC runs 26, 350 pre-primary schools and so far 3.0 million children have been enrolled in primary schools. Without PEDPII and its aid partners (ADB, Ausaid/UNICEF, CIDA, DFID, EC, JICA, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, World Bank) children living in abject poverty would never have been able to start a new life, experienced by wealthier households in Bangladesh.
While the government in Bangladesh provides mainstream education, BRAC centres its work on educating the poor who can't afford to pay for schooling, bringing learning to ethnic minorities by striving to end discrimination and tackles the problem of gender disparity and school attendance to reduce girls' drop-out rates. This falls exactly within the remit of PEDII which is 'to enhance the quality of education for working children and those living in poverty, especially those in urban areas; for children with disabilities; and for children from minority communities'.
The largest NGO in the world works alongside the state education system complementing and supporting the government's agenda and engages numerous other smaller NGOs to implement the programme. The difference between the state and BRAC is that students get flexible learning for free rather than formal education offered by the state, a system where learning by rote takes priority, which is often criticised by educators. At the last count the umbrella NGO is working with over 700 smaller non-governmental organisations rolling out innovative learning programmes to inner-city areas as well to the far reaches of the country. So far BRAC has built over 50,000 schools.
BRAC offers flexible education: BRAC education is aimed at all ages from pre-primary to university, with schools being opened all over Bangladesh. But the country has a long way to go before achieving universal 'cradle to grave' education and equal opportunity for all. However, BRAC fills the pre-primary vacuum by providing schooling for children whose parents are illiterate and unable to assist their infants in their study, something that many parents take for granted. The parents of BRAC children cannot read and are unable to help with homework, unable to share story books with their offspring. Children as young as three years old attend pre-primary schools for a year as a transition to primary for six year olds. BRAC states a clear fact: In underprivileged families parents may not have the education necessary to teach children foundational literacy, reading, and mathematical skills, which are available to 'better-off, educated parents.
UNICEF sees this as a fundamental basic requirement for all children: 'Comprehensive early childhood care provides a strong foundation for good health, growth, and success in education, according to global evidence. Pre-school education is important for early learning and to prepare children for primary school'
UNICEF goes on to say that retention rates are much higher if children 'get into the habit' of attending school. For those children whose next step is primary school benefit from the earlier learning as academic performance is improved. And it is not only the children who benefit, parents are educated too, they are made aware of good parenting, early childhood need, and they themselves learn how children learn. UNICEF states: 'Many parents and caregivers, particularly those in extreme poverty or geographic isolation, have inadequate knowledge of early childhood care, child development and early learning opportunities, which affects children's psychological and social development'.
BRAC educates those destined to fall through the net: But, what if a child has missed out altogether, unable to attend both pre-primary and primary school? Another amazing success story is BRAC's 'Second Chance Schools' which is bringing children into the education fold who have never been taught. Typically these are children with a background of extreme poverty.
Many are city children of slum-dweller parents, either abandoned or orphaned. Children stay home to care for siblings, sick or old family members or are assisting with daily tasks, sifting through rubbish for anything that is salvageable or recyclable.
BRAC educates homeless, orphaned beggar children with Second Chance Schools - a novel intervention bringing children into education that would have certainly fallen through the net and missed school altogether whatever their background. BRAC says on its website that it 'runs the largest second chance non-formal school system in the world, besides Bangladesh'. It runs Second Chance schools in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Uganda and Southern Sudan'.
The schools are unique as they operate as small independent affairs as one-class room buildings with maximum number of between 30 and 33 children of varying ages from nine to eleven. This model replicated across Bangladesh which tackles primary school dropouts, mainly girls, whose parents want them at home to work, or whose parents who see marriage as more important than education, and believe girls have no need for education.
BRAC has operated Second Chance schools for the past 25 years. The concept is a great success because of some exclusive features: the term times are designed around sowing and harvest times in rural areas, with shorter vacations, so children can be of help to their families at busy times. Teachers are usually women from the community, familiar with local families and the problems and hardships they face. Homework is all but non-existent as BRAC recognises that parents are unable to help their children. Parents are uneducated and live in with homes that are not conducive for children to tackle school work. A typical home of a' Second Chancer' is one that is a basic shelter without furniture with a baby or younger sibling to be cared for. There is no time spared for homework which parents see as a time wasting activity. There is no place for exercise and textbooks. Class times are flexible with some schools operating on a shift pattern starting at six in the morning and finishing at ten at night. The lessons are fun and interesting with dancing and singing and rote learning is discouraged. Most importantly, Second Chance schools are free compared to government-run establishments, which the poorest of parents can ill-afford.
Tithe Farhana can be reached at
E-mail : tithefarhana@gmail.com
of a two-part article on the 40th anniversary of BRAC
The Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) is 40 years old and going strong. Originally created to rebuild a war-torn country after the liberation struggle, BRAC was founded in 1972. It is the largest NGO in the world.
BRAC works in 10 countries in Africa and Asia. Funding agencies from Canada, the US, Japan, Scandinavia and Europe have come in aid of its operation. With a mantra to eradicate poverty through education, BRAC leads the way with innovative and creative programmes.
Education for the poorest: Human rights, gender issues, food security, environment and social enterprise all come under BRAC wing but education has transformed millions of children's lives in Bangladesh. In the last ten years great strides have been made to Bangladesh's education system, tackling the gender gap, taking education to the remotest corners of the country, setting up schools in urban slums and ensuring that ethnic children are taught in their own indigenous language as well as in Bengali. And incentives such as providing free food and supplying children with wheelchairs, hearing aids, glasses and ramps and minor corrective surgery.
With financial support from the US and Japan, Bangladesh's 'Second Primary Education Development Program' (PEDPII) was launched in 2003 designed to 'reduce poverty and support sustainable economic development through universal primary education, by raising learning standards and student achievement. BRAC was and still is at the forefront to deliver the project as a key part of the government's 'Education for All (EFA) and poverty reduction agenda'.
BRAC runs 26, 350 pre-primary schools and so far 3.0 million children have been enrolled in primary schools. Without PEDPII and its aid partners (ADB, Ausaid/UNICEF, CIDA, DFID, EC, JICA, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, World Bank) children living in abject poverty would never have been able to start a new life, experienced by wealthier households in Bangladesh.
While the government in Bangladesh provides mainstream education, BRAC centres its work on educating the poor who can't afford to pay for schooling, bringing learning to ethnic minorities by striving to end discrimination and tackles the problem of gender disparity and school attendance to reduce girls' drop-out rates. This falls exactly within the remit of PEDII which is 'to enhance the quality of education for working children and those living in poverty, especially those in urban areas; for children with disabilities; and for children from minority communities'.
The largest NGO in the world works alongside the state education system complementing and supporting the government's agenda and engages numerous other smaller NGOs to implement the programme. The difference between the state and BRAC is that students get flexible learning for free rather than formal education offered by the state, a system where learning by rote takes priority, which is often criticised by educators. At the last count the umbrella NGO is working with over 700 smaller non-governmental organisations rolling out innovative learning programmes to inner-city areas as well to the far reaches of the country. So far BRAC has built over 50,000 schools.
BRAC offers flexible education: BRAC education is aimed at all ages from pre-primary to university, with schools being opened all over Bangladesh. But the country has a long way to go before achieving universal 'cradle to grave' education and equal opportunity for all. However, BRAC fills the pre-primary vacuum by providing schooling for children whose parents are illiterate and unable to assist their infants in their study, something that many parents take for granted. The parents of BRAC children cannot read and are unable to help with homework, unable to share story books with their offspring. Children as young as three years old attend pre-primary schools for a year as a transition to primary for six year olds. BRAC states a clear fact: In underprivileged families parents may not have the education necessary to teach children foundational literacy, reading, and mathematical skills, which are available to 'better-off, educated parents.
UNICEF sees this as a fundamental basic requirement for all children: 'Comprehensive early childhood care provides a strong foundation for good health, growth, and success in education, according to global evidence. Pre-school education is important for early learning and to prepare children for primary school'
UNICEF goes on to say that retention rates are much higher if children 'get into the habit' of attending school. For those children whose next step is primary school benefit from the earlier learning as academic performance is improved. And it is not only the children who benefit, parents are educated too, they are made aware of good parenting, early childhood need, and they themselves learn how children learn. UNICEF states: 'Many parents and caregivers, particularly those in extreme poverty or geographic isolation, have inadequate knowledge of early childhood care, child development and early learning opportunities, which affects children's psychological and social development'.
BRAC educates those destined to fall through the net: But, what if a child has missed out altogether, unable to attend both pre-primary and primary school? Another amazing success story is BRAC's 'Second Chance Schools' which is bringing children into the education fold who have never been taught. Typically these are children with a background of extreme poverty.
Many are city children of slum-dweller parents, either abandoned or orphaned. Children stay home to care for siblings, sick or old family members or are assisting with daily tasks, sifting through rubbish for anything that is salvageable or recyclable.
BRAC educates homeless, orphaned beggar children with Second Chance Schools - a novel intervention bringing children into education that would have certainly fallen through the net and missed school altogether whatever their background. BRAC says on its website that it 'runs the largest second chance non-formal school system in the world, besides Bangladesh'. It runs Second Chance schools in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Uganda and Southern Sudan'.
The schools are unique as they operate as small independent affairs as one-class room buildings with maximum number of between 30 and 33 children of varying ages from nine to eleven. This model replicated across Bangladesh which tackles primary school dropouts, mainly girls, whose parents want them at home to work, or whose parents who see marriage as more important than education, and believe girls have no need for education.
BRAC has operated Second Chance schools for the past 25 years. The concept is a great success because of some exclusive features: the term times are designed around sowing and harvest times in rural areas, with shorter vacations, so children can be of help to their families at busy times. Teachers are usually women from the community, familiar with local families and the problems and hardships they face. Homework is all but non-existent as BRAC recognises that parents are unable to help their children. Parents are uneducated and live in with homes that are not conducive for children to tackle school work. A typical home of a' Second Chancer' is one that is a basic shelter without furniture with a baby or younger sibling to be cared for. There is no time spared for homework which parents see as a time wasting activity. There is no place for exercise and textbooks. Class times are flexible with some schools operating on a shift pattern starting at six in the morning and finishing at ten at night. The lessons are fun and interesting with dancing and singing and rote learning is discouraged. Most importantly, Second Chance schools are free compared to government-run establishments, which the poorest of parents can ill-afford.
Tithe Farhana can be reached at
E-mail : tithefarhana@gmail.com