The 'Education Watch", under the aegis of the Campaign for Popular Education (CAMPE), Bangladesh, has conducted a number of studies since 1998 with a focus on quality of education, especially at the primary level. The report for 2015 has just been released at a function with the Minister for Primary and Mass education as the chief guest and Wahiduddin Mahmud and Hossain Zillur Rahman, two former advisers of caretaker government, as special guests.
We need to consider this year's study seriously for a few reasons. First, the information generated in the report could possibly serve as the base line for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Recall that one of the 17 SDGs, adopted at the UN in September 2015, relates to ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. Second, with some tilts and aberrations, the evaluation in Education Watch 2015 would indicate to the successes (or failures) in attaining MDG goals. Finally, the quality of education as observed in the 2015 report could be compared with the quality observed in 2008 thus allowing for a comparison between two time periods. In fact, the longitudinal assessment constitutes the meat of the report.
The research team of CAMPE study comprised a group of experts in the field, Samir Ranjan Nath, A Mushtaque Raja Chowdhury, Kazi Saleh Ahmed and Manzoor Ahmed. They used an Input-Process-Output Model (IPO for short) taking due cognizance of input indicators (infrastructure and facilities), process indicators (e.g. attendance), and output indicators such as proportion of students surviving to the fifth grade, coefficient of efficiency, etc. The sample size and its distribution apparently conform to rigorous statistical tests. However, the good news is that those of us disheartened by the "disarray" in the whole educational system and performance could possibly breathe a sigh of relief after perusing the report. It is because performance in primary education over time seems to indicate light at the end of the tunnel. Some of the findings from Education Watch 2015 are as follows:
" Take water and sanitation first. Less than half of the schools had drinking water source on the premises in 1998 which increased to three-fourths in 2014. More importantly, 80 per cent of water was found arsenic-free. Toilet facility was available in two-thirds of primary schools in 1998 which rose to 70 per cent in 2008 and 89 per cent in 2014. Again, in 1998, less than 10 per cent schools had clean toilets that increased to 62 per cent in 2014. But the majority of the schools had common toilets; separate toilets were found proportionately more in government schools.
" Secondly, improvements were also in evidence on the educational infrastructure side. For example, only 2.0 per cent of the sample schools had library in 2008 as against 13 per cent now. Seating capacity in the classrooms were up from 32 in a class to 40 and so is the case with the number of classrooms.
" Thirdly, less than half of the schools had student-teacher ratio of 40:1 in 1998 that decreased to 59:1 in 2014. Roughly 60 per cent of the teachers attended schools before start of school hours in 1998 that rose to 66 per cent in 2014.
" Fourthly, about 92 per cent of the schools had functional management committee (SMC) with 41 per cent female members in 2014 compared to less than one-fifths in 1998.
" Fifthly, in 1998, 45 per cent of head teachers had at least a bachelor degree which increased to 74 per cent in 2014. The proportion of trained teachers increased from 71 per cent in 1998 to 84 per cent in 2014 and the ratio is higher in rural areas than in urban areas.
Let's now look at the outcome variables. The Education Watch 2015 report shows less dropout in primary grades across the board compared to 1998, and improvement in retention for higher grades and greater efficiency. More children are reported to be enrolled at right age as reflected by the information that only one-fifths of the first grade was of age six in 1998 against one-thirds in 2013. The ratio of students enrolled at 6-7 years rose from 46 to 65 per cent over the comparable periods. The number of school dropouts fell from 3.4 million in 2000 to 1.0 million in 2014. Classroom attendance rate has increased from 59 to 75 per cent. The coefficient of efficiency of primary education (measured by the ratio of expected number of years to complete the cycle and actual number of years expressed as per cent) increased to 74 per cent - 69 per cent for boys, 79 per cent for girls, and 75 per cent for rural and 72 per cent for urban. The rural government primary schools are observed to be more efficient than urban ones.
The mean number of competencies achieved by students increased over time - from 16.1 in 2000 to 20.1 in 2014. The urban students performed better than rural in every test. On average, students achieved 75 per cent of the competencies in the 2014 - 83 per cent in primary science, 79 per cent in Bangladesh and global studies, 74 per cent in Bangla, 69 per cent in mathematics and 62 per cent in English. The highest increase was recorded in mathematics followed by English and Bangla. "Although the students' performance increased in both 'knowledge' and 'understanding' domain, the rate of increase was faster in the 'knowledge' domain. Information on education and literacy attainment revealed that literacy rate of the population also increased over time.
The report shows that there have been improvements in physical and educational facilities, intermediate output indicators, elimination in gender disparity in primary education, women employment in primary schools, educational attainment and literacy status of population, etc.
While giving a glimmer of hope, the report also points to some gloomy corners through critical lenses. For example, the report refers to inequity in the access to quality education, lack of comprehensive upazila-based assessment, inadequate classroom teaching which should be filled with funfair to attract children, etc. Most importantly, three million out-of-school children happen to be most vulnerable in terms of disabilities, geographical location and socio-economic status.
As the foundation of the multi-layered education system in the country, primary education needs more attention than it has received hitherto both in terms of budgetary allocation and social recognition. After all, if the foundation goes wrong, a multi-storied building might collapse. Take the cue from Taiwan, if possible.
The writer is Professor of Economics at Jahangirnagar University.
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