GO-NGO collaboration, a must for primary education

Considering the significance of ensuring primary education to all school going children in Bangladesh, government has taken many unprecedented as well as history making initiatives in the recent years. The most remarkable initiatives taken by the government for developing primary education are nationalisation of all types of non-government primary schools, physical infra-structural development of schools, establishment of new primary schools in the non-school areas, appointment of new teachers with creation of additional teacher post in each school etc.   As a result of taking rationale and pragmatic initiatives like mainstreaming of  inclusive primary education and pre-primary education all over the country, government  achieved significant success in this sector. Extraordinary success in primary education sector can be measured in the fields like enrolment of all school going children, increased rate of passed students in the Primary Education Completion Examination (PECE), reduced rate of dropped out students etc.  
Despite huge achievement in this sector, the government is still seriously concerned about providing quality primary education to each and every child. It is a matter of great regret that most of the government owned primary school children are from poor and vulnerable group of families. Huge number of primary children are first generation learners. Their families are economically insolvent. They do not have congenial and comfortable learning environment in their houses. A student must have regular learning habits at home to consolidate his/her learning basis. So, this is a big challenge for the government to provide quality primary education to these significant number of underprivileged children through strengthening learning abilities.
Besides direct intervention and supervision by government and non government organisations are also working towards expanding primary education as well as ensuring quality education. Since government has taken initiatives of mainstreaming inclusive primary education and pre primary education, therefore NGOs might be given the responsibility of working with the government only in the field of ensuring quality. NGOs may not have opportunity to run primary schools or pre-primary centres if government achieves success in establishing schools in hard-to-reach areas like tea gardens, haor areas, hill areas etc. So, collaborative efforts of GO-NGO are inevitably required for ensuring quality primary education to all children of primary schools just to fulfill goals of MDG and implement all agreed international commitments regarding primary education.  
GO-NGO collaboration may contribute to provide support to the underprivileged and vulnerable children outside school so that they can develop learning abilities in preparing daily classrooms lessons by removing subject wise learning difficulties. Collaborative initiatives may be taken also in the fields of providing learning support for developing reading (Bangla) and numerical skills to the children up to grade three and ensuring attentive existence of children in the classroom through launching mid day meal or school feeding programme. Government may bring all concerned NGOs under an umbrella with a view to implementing above initiatives towards ensuring quality in primary education. Government may entrust experienced NGOs with the responsibility of setting up Supportive Learning Centres (SLCs) at school catchments areas only for underprivileged children those do not have opportunities of learning at home. These centres must run with the flexible time schedule convenient to children outside school timetable. Local retired teachers or interested jobless educated males/females may be given the responsibility of teaching or supporting children providing training on NCTB published teacher's guide and subject wise training manuals. The intension of setting up SLCs is to support those children  who are first generation learners to complete their daily classroom activities like completing home work, clarifying understandings of lessons and solving mathematical problems.
SLCs may contribute to develop reading (Bangla) and numerical skills for the children of grade one to grade three. Attaining reading skills in language especially in Bangla (phonemic awareness,  phonics or letter knowledge, vocabulary development or word knowledge, fluency and comprehension) and numerical skills ( four fundamental rules) up to grade three for each and every child is very important towards achieving mastery learning in all subjects except English at the end of primary education cycle. Since these types of learners have insufficient contact hours at primary schools and they do not have congenial learning environment at home, therefore challenge of attaining reading and numerical skills by such learners from grade one to three is very difficult to address for the government alone. So, SLCs might be given the responsibility of developing reading and numerical skills to the underprivileged children. There should be the provision of having a library in these centres with printed reading materials.
National and international NGOs like BRAC, Save the Children, Aga Khan Foundation, Ahsania Mission etc have the expertise on running programmes regarding quality primary education with the financial support of USAID, EU, DFID, CIDA, SIDA etc.  So, government may entrust each renowned big NGO with the responsibility of implementing the above programmes in selected districts by local experienced partner NGOs so that all underprivileged children all over the country may be included as beneficiaries. Local partner NGOs may set up as well as run SLCs and must have coordination with the teachers and SMC members of primary schools and local primary education authorities. Local primary education authority may monitor the activities of NGOs. Local NGOs may also be given the responsibility of providing training to government schools teachers ( Bangla and Mathematics) along with SLC teachers and concerned academic supervisors (URC Instructors, Assistant Upazila Education Officers) on reading and numerical skills for strengthening all primary school children's reading and learning skills. Ministry of Primary and Mass Education may take the initiative of preparing training modules on reading and numerical skills with the combined efforts of GO-NGO experts. SLCs may take initiatives of motivating parents and guardians to make congenial learning environment for children at home for sustaining.
Government may think of launching midday meal or school feeding programme along with supplying two sets of school dress every year and note books/pencils/pens for all primary school children with the financial support of NGOs or donors instead of continuing its  stipend project.
If primary school children can achieve five components of reading skills in Bangla up to grade three, they may read and understand easily the contents of other major subjects except English and that definitely may help them to achieve competency in all subjects till grade five. On the other hand, if they are able to attain numerical skills i.e four fundamental rules in mathematics, they must not face difficulties for solving problems in mathematics till grade five. Therefore Supportive Learning Center (SLC), a collaborative initiative of GO-NGO can play pivotal role in ensuring underprivileged children's equal and effective learning through developing reading and numerical skills as well as supporting them to continue learning habits and practices outside school. This definitely tends to strengthen their mastery of learning at the end of completing primary education cycle.
The writer is working for primary
education in Bangladesh,
email: auparbayazidkhan@gmail.com