Government primary schools in Dhaka

My wife was asking me to find a government primary school adjacent to our home ( Rampura) to get the boy who works as a domestic helper in our house enrolled to receive education comparatively at a cheap rate. I failed to give her the exact information which finally led her to get the boy enrolled in a NGO run school in class four. This incident coupled with the request of a journalist friend to write an article on the government primary school situation of this mega city. I started searching for the necessary information on the website but no such recent information is available there. However, I inserted some old information regarding the government primary school situation of the city spiced with my comments, ideas and recommendations. The education that facilitates the children of 6-11 years age group to amplify their mental behaviour and attitude is called Primary Education. This primary education is the fundamental of all education. According to the United Nations, a person aged 18 years or less is termed as a child. In Bangladesh it is 16 or less. But in this country, access to all kinds of education is still a' chance not yet rights. The system, quality and advancement of education are not improved according to the needs of the citizens. According to the Child Education and Literacy Survey 1997, conducted by the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education, the overall literacy rate of 7 years or above in Bangladesh is about 47.3 per cent (Female 41.5 per cent and male 50.6 percent). The gap between urban and rural areas is very significant, rural 41 per cent and urban 59.9 per cent. The reasons of lower literacy rate in rural areas are poverty, lack of awareness, lack of interest in education, superstition and no definite aim or gain lying before them through education. Though the rate of education is higher in urban areas, this is limited within the higher and middle income group. The people living in slums still have lower literacy rate. A joint study of Asian Development Bank and Bangladesh Planning Commission, in 1995-96 revealed that 61.3 per cent of urban population are below poverty line and out of them 40.2 per cent are staying below the hard-core poverty line. As a result the poor families are more willing to engage their children in jobs rather than sending them to school. It is a fact that the condition of government primary schools is very poor in Dhaka city, which is renowned as the most resourceful area as regards to education of the country. One report suggests that 26 per cent of slums in Dhaka have a government school and 27 per cent have an NGO school. According to the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education Dhaka City accommodates 295 government primary schools. We know that around 13 million people live in this mega city. So, only 295 government primary schools appear to be extremely poor number comparing to the huge population. Providing education is a sacred responsibility of any democratic government. We cannot expect to go ahead avoiding this solemn responsibility or to rest on other entities. Even if other entities like NGOs or private sector try to spread primary education among the poor and slum dwellers, government should have a strong mechanism to coordinate the whole affair. But unfortunately it remains quite absent which has created opportunities for the private kindergarten schools to be run commercially and thus restricting education facilities only among the affluent people. What about the middle income and low income group who find it extremely difficult to get their children educated in the private institutions at primary level. We hardly see any government primary school in a proper place in the city. No guardian except the hardcore poor tend to send their children to government primary schools as it is widely known that the over all situation existing there lacks proper academic atmosphere. The government primary schools in the city must have a different set of teachers, infrastructure, supervision; and education facilities to vie with the schools established every nook and corner of the city to attract the guardians. The government primary school teachers of Dhaka city must have adequate incentives to perform their professional duties quite differently from the rural teachers. They must be imparted special and regular training with a strict monitoring and supervision system to ensure quality education. Giving quality education to the poor and hard-core poor of the city is the duty of the government and receiving education is the right of the citizens. As government primary schools are not set up for the slum dwellers, the children are deprived of receiving government books and other education materials meant for the poor. Besides schools run by NGOs are not available in all the slums. In this age of internet, the slum dwellers and the children of the disadvantaged populace will remain away from the knowledge of information technology (IT) is not acceptable. Infrastructure development like adequate number of classrooms, hygienic toilet, and access to pure drinking water should be available in the existing government primary schools in the city. Some studies revealed these facilities deplorable. A further jerk in this sector can bring some positive change. Proper in-service training and monitoring mechanism should be developed. Education department officials of the government can frequently visit the city primary schools which is not so easy for the rural areas. But experiences say that these schools hardly see any government officials. Attractive education materials, congenial environment, trained teachers stand as great dividing factors between government and non-government primary schools in the city. Government primary schools must ensure these elements in order to survive well, if they really want to survive. During the 1990s and early 2000s Bangladesh experienced strong urban economic growth, reduction in poverty, and rapid improvement in primary school enrolment. But it is not clear whether this enrolment happened in government primary schools or those in the private sector. Though there is no such sound or easily available statistics, we find the mushroom growth of kindergarten and English medium schools at every nook and corner of the cities. This proves the shifting the purview of education from the government to the private sector, commercialisation of education and education is for those who can afford to buy it. The writer is Programme Manager, BRAC, and can be reached at email: mmbillah2000@yahoo.com