TOPIC:

The Dropout Rates of

Underprivileged English medium

Primary School Girls in Urban

Areas

Submitted by:

Sinyat Ahmed

Introduction

• Bangladesh has a population of 156.6 million with around 23 million children of primary school age (ages 6-10).

• Close to half these children are girls.

• This results in gender parity of enrollments in both primary and secondary schools.

• There is also evidence of a percentage decline in girls going into secondary schools.

• When dropout rates are added to the number of girls who have never enrolled there are over 2 million primary school age girls out of school.

Background Information:

• The dropout rates of underprivileged girls have been going up and there are

multiple reasons behind this phenomenon:

• Child labour is one of the main factors in keeping young girls out of secondary

school.

• Early marriage is still another big concern. Underprivileged young girls are still being forced into marriage by

their families.

• Helping out large households at a young age to raise their brother and

sisters and do chores.

Why we need to educate women?• Literacy and education rates are known to be

one of the main factors behind a country moving on from being a “developing nation” to

a “developed nation”

• Studies show that educating female’s leads to an increase in overall education of both genders and higher standards of living.

• Educating females can have a ripple effect between families and across generations.

• Educated women can recognize the importance of health care and seek it for

themselves and their families.

• Education helps them know their rights and how to seek it.

Literature Review• Since Bangladesh’s liberation in 1971, tremendous efforts have been given by

both government and private local/foreign organizations to boost the literacy

rate and educate the population of Bangladesh. In 1971 the GDP of

Bangladesh was only $7 billion. Research and reports published by both local

and foreign organizations have played a key role in highlighting problem areas

and providing solutions to advance the development of Bangladesh; and over

the past 40 years have impacted in the significant growth of the GDP which

presently stands at almost $130 billion, with an increase in literacy rates from

16.8% to 57.7%.

• Although a lot of research has been done and reports have been written on a

multitude of topics, there is more to be studied and more investigations to be

made to further our understanding of the socio-economic conditions of both

rural and urban Bangladesh. Therefore past research and reports play a key

role in highlighting current problem areas and pinpointing areas that need to

be further studied to improve upon current conditions.

• Thus, in selecting the topic of this research proposal, the following reports

which had examined and described the roles, barriers and challenges of

“Women’s Education in Bangladesh“have been studied to get a better

understanding of the topic, and be able to propose a research on the “Dropout

Rates of Underprivileged English medium Primary School Girls in Urban

Areas”.

Purpose/Objectives/Goal:

• The purpose of this proposal is to do an in depth research into why “the dropout rates of underprivileged girls in English medium schools in urban areas” have been increasing.

• Developments in socio-economic conditions of urban areas play a significant role in the advancement of a nation.

• Through this research we can delve deeper into the causes of the low number of graduates of secondary, higher secondary education of females in the country; and get a clear understanding and perspective of the persisting problems in the stagnation of development in overall Women’s education.

• By targeting a specialized field of research like this, extensive research and study can be done on the main issues and pragmatic solutions can be found to alleviate some of these problems.

Research method

Data source:

• Both primary data and secondary data.

• Some of the questionnaire has been

extracted through in depth literature review

and in the process will help us to gather more

knowledge through the experienced

researcher.

Method of collecting data:

Study location: Data collection will be done in Dhaka City. Primary schools for Underprivileged kids

that follow the English medium curriculum will be targeted.

Target population: Our main target population will be primary school going girls, their parents and

teachers.

Sample size: Our proposal is targeting a small demographic. English medium primary schools for

underprivileged girls with a small student population of 50 to 100 students.

Types of survey: Information will be collected by personal interviews and questionnaires. The

questionnaire will be designed as a multiple choice close ended question and with one or two open

ended questions.

Questionnaire designs: Since the research is about underprivileged girls in English medium

primary schools in urban area during our survey we will ask many questions which are vital to the

research.

For parents What is the reason you send your daughter to school?

Do you want your daughter to go into higher education?

For teachers Are there more girls to boys in ratio?

What is the percentage of student dropping out after or during primary school education?

Expected Outcomes and Concluding

• Our proposal is to find out the reasons and causes of the Dropout rate of Underprivileged English medium Primary School Girls in Urban Areas.

• The excepted outcome is to find out why and what leads to a higher number of girls dropping out more than boys in ratio even though they are a significant contributor of the economics of the

country.

• During our research the outcome we expect will mostly be related to the financial state of the parents. Also since the schools are English curriculum based, the parents question the benefits of

learning and speaking a foreign language.

• Another reason is cultural barriers which in this case is families wanted to marry of their girls as soon as they hit puberty. Families start looking for grooms for their daughters and think if the girl

becomes too old it will be a burden for them to find a groom.

• Benefits of the proposal is to get a clearer understanding of the specific causes which result in girls dropping out more than boys from the education system, and the increase in the rate of girls

dropping out. With this we can look for solutions for the betterment of female education in the country and furthering the cause for women’s empowerment in the society though education,

starting at an early age.

References

• The Jaago foundation http://jaago.com.bd/

• Street wise http://www.streetwise.com.bd/

• Unicef Bangladesh http://www.unicef.org/bangladesh/education.html

• The financial times http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/old/index.php?ref=MjBfMTJfMDJfMTJfMF8zMV8xNTE3MTk=&feature=c3BlY2lhbHNOZXdz&na=RkUgRURVQ0FUSU9O

• Banbeishttp://www.banbeis.gov.bd/webnew/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=479&Itemid=166

• Faithful Education: Madrassahs in South Asia By Ali Riaz

• http://books.google.com.bd/books?

Abbreviations

• NGO=non government organization

• GDP= Gross domestic product

• JICA = International cooperation agency

• CAMPE=campaign for popular education

• UNICEF=United nation children’s fund

• Banbeis=Bangladesh bureau of education information and statistics