United Nations Development Programme – Bangladesh

United Nations Development Programme – Bangladesh

Chittagong Hill Tracts Development Facility (CHTDF)

Progress Report on

Strengthening Basic Education in the Chittagong Hill Tracts - Phase II

(Reporting Period: 01 January 2013 – 15 June 2014)

Prepared for

The European Union

June 2014

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PROJECT SUMMARY

Contract No. : ASIE/2009/205-321 Project Title : Strengthening Basic Education in the Chittagong Hill Tracts-Phase II Project Start Date : 21 December 2009 Project End Date : 20 March 2015 Reporting Period : 01 January 2013– 15 June 2014 Project Budget : 8.350 Million EURO (EU contribution: 6.6 Million EURO) Executing Agency : Chittagong Hill Tracts Development Facility, UNDP-Bangladesh Responsible Ministry : Ministry of Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs (MoCHTA) Project Area : 13 Upazilas of 3 Hill Districts of Rangamati, Bandarban and

Khagrachari in the Chittagong Hill Tracts region of Bangladesh (One Upazila has been newly included in 2014).

Beneficiaries : Remote communities of target Upazilas in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Objective : Overall objective: "Improved socio-economic development of the CHT in line

with the principles of CHT Accord". Within the scope of this overall objective, the project purpose is: "Establish and promote access to a quality primary education system in the CHT.”

Strategies : The strategies are as follows:

Supporting community-established schools, and helping these get government registration with HDC support

Strengthening capacity of service providers and duty-bearers, particularly HDCs, to support community-based schools

Promotion of gender equity and inclusiveness Policy advocacy

Target Results : The Key results desired are as follows:

Policy Driven Advocacy - Supporting government to fulfill its educational commitments in the CHT, leading to more relevant education

Strengthening Systems - Strengthening knowledge and capacity of regional and district education system and so improving planning and management for effective service delivery

Increasing Access - Increasing numbers of teachers and quality of school buildings thus increasing access to basic education

Quality Education - Improving quality of education, enhancing children’s learning, reducing repetition and drop-out rates

Multi Language Education - Using local CHT languages and culturally sensitive curricula, ensuring education is more relevant, improving quality and reducing repetition and drop-out rates

Contact Person : Henrik Fredborg Larsen, Director, CHTDF, UNDP

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Table of Contents PROJECT SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................................................... 1 LIST OF ACRONYMS ........................................................................................................................................................... 4 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ..................................................................................................................................................... 6 I. INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................................................. 10

1.1 Background..................................................................................................................................................................................... 10 1.2 Project Area .................................................................................................................................................................................... 11 1.3 Objectives ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 11 1.4 Key Strategies ................................................................................................................................................................................ 11

II. KEY ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT AND RESULTS ACHIEVED ....................................................................... 12 2.1 Component 1: Policy focused Advocacy and Support ................................................................................................. 12 2.2 Component 2: Strengthening Systems ............................................................................................................................... 16 2.3 Component 3: Access to Education ...................................................................................................................................... 20 2.4 Component 4: Quality Education .......................................................................................................................................... 24 2.5 Component 5: Mother tongue-based Multi-Language Education (MLE) ............................................................ 28

III. Activities Not Done and Work Plan for 2014 - 2015 .................................................................................... 30 3.1 Activities not accomplished in 2013 .................................................................................................................................. 30 3.2 Future Work Plan (1 April 2014 to 31 March 2015) ................................................................................................... 30

IV. VISIBILITY AND COMMUNICATIONS ................................................................................................................. 31 V. PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND PARTNERSHIPS .............................................................................................. 32

5.1 Project Management ................................................................................................................................................................... 32 5.2 Partnerships ................................................................................................................................................................................... 32 5.3 Governance Committees ......................................................................................................................................................... 33

VI. MONITORING AND EVALUATION ........................................................................................................................ 33 VII. LESSONS LEARNT, CHALLENGES, ACTION TAKEN AND SUSTAINABILITY ..................................... 33

7.1 Lessons Learnt, Challenges and Action Taken ................................................................................................................ 33 7.2 Sustainability ................................................................................................................................................................................. 35 7.3 Way Forward ................................................................................................................................................................................. 36

VIII. STATUS OF EXPENDITURE (INTERIM REPORT) ........................................................................................ 36 Annex-1: Project Area Coverage (households, population and students by Upazila) ............................................... 38 Annex -2: Year wise Increase of Primary Education Accessibilities and Students ..................................................... 38 Annex -3: Number of Students Passed in Primary Examination Certificate (Year-wise) ........................................ 39 Annex-4: LoA Achievements in the HDCs in 2013 by District .............................................................................................. 40 Annex- 5: Progress on Communication and Visibility Plan ................................................................................................... 41

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LIST OF ACRONYMS

ADB Asian Development Bank

BNFE Bureau of Non Formal Education

CHT Chittagong Hill Tracts

CHTDF Chittagong Hill Tracts Development Facility

CIDA Canadian International Development Agency

CMC Centre Management Committee

DDCC District Development Coordination Committee

DPE Directorate of Primary Education

DPEO District Primary Education Officer

EMIS Education Management Information System

EO Education Officer

EU European Union

GIS Geographical Information Systems

GoB Government of Bangladesh

GPS Government Primary School

HDC Hill District Council

HH Household

HSC Higher Secondary School Certificate

LoA Letter of Agreement

MDG Millennium Development Goal

M&E Monitoring and Evaluation

MG Mothers’ Group

MICS Multiple Indicators Cluster Survey

MLE Multi Language Education (Mother-tongue based)

MoCHTA Ministry of Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs

MoEF Ministry of Environment and Forest

MoPME Ministry of Primary and Mass Education

NAPE National Academy for Primary Education

NCTB National Curriculum & Textbook Board

NFPE Non-formal Primary Education

NGO Non-Government Organization

NGPS Non-Government Primary School

NSC National Steering Committee

PEDP Primary Education Development Program

PRSP Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper

PSC Primary School Certificate

PTA Parents Teachers Association

PTI Primary Training Institute

RHDC Rangamati Hill District Council

RNGPS Registered Non-government Primary Schools

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SAS Strategic Action Society

SDP School Development Plan

SSC Secondary School Certificate

SMC School Management Committee

TAC Technical Advisory Committee (to the NSC)

ToT Training of Trainers

UC Upazila Coordinator

UDCC Union Development Coordination Committee

UEO Upazila Education Officer

UNDP United Nations Development Programme

UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund

UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

USD United States Dollar

WFP World Food Programme

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Introduction and Background The Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), located in the South Eastern part of Bangladesh, is divided into three hill districts: Bandarban, Khagrachari and Rangamati with the total area of 13,344 square kilometers. The estimated population of CHT is 1.58 million1, being home to 11 minority ethnic groups, each of whom has their own distinctive language, culture and tradition, and Bengalis, the majority ethnic groups in Bangladesh. The region is geographically distinct and remote from the plains, made up of very steep, rugged hilly terrain and in many places, dense bamboo jungle. The remoteness of villages and various political issues associated with a protracted conflict have seriously impeded the socio-economic development of the region. Basic education is an important sector which has been affected by the prolonged conflict in the region. Due to closures, relocation of schools and displacement of the population in the CHT combined with personal and livelihood insecurity, the progress in education indicators including enrolment, literacy and school completion rate of children of the minority ethinic population had been much lower than the national averages. Substantial number of households still remain excluded from the educational process. Since the signing of the Peace Accord in 1997, relevant government institutions have been established in the CHT, including three Hill District Councils (HDCs) to support the peace and development process in the region. Of the 33 subjects that are supposed to be transfered from the national government to the Hill District Councils, more than half have been decentralized and transferred including pre-primary and primary education as per the Peace Accord. Chittagong Hill Tracts Development Facility (CHTDF), UNDP Bangladesh as part of its support to implementation of the Peace Accord, supports the HDCs to manage services in subjects such as education, health, and agriculture. CHTDF is implementing ‘Strengthening Basic Education in the Chittagong Hill Tracts Phase-II’ project, building upon results achieved in Phase-I. The Phase II project started in December 2009 and has a revised implementation timeframe up to February 2015. The project has a total budget of 8.350 Million Euro with 6.6 Million Euro being contribution from the European Union (EU). The main project strategies are to strengthen community based schools managed by HDCs and link them to government systems under the national financing scheme, and to improve community involvement in school management for increasing quality of education. The policy driven advocacy aiming at the national support framework for the HDC-managed schools is the overarching focus of the project. The project works in partnership with the Ministry of Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs (MoCHTA), three Hill District Councils (HDCs) and Ministry of Primary and Mass Education (MoPME), Directorate of Primary Education (DPE), NGOs and representatives from local community based organizations. The expected results include the followings: Policy Driven Advocacy-Supporting government to fulfill its educational commitments in the CHT,

leading to more relevant education; Strengthening Systems -Strengthening knowledge and capacity of the regional and district education

system and thereby improving planning and management for effective service delivery; Increasing Access-Increasing numbers of teachers and quality of school buildings, thereby increasing

access to basic education; Quality Education-Improving quality of education, enhancing children’s learning, reducing repetition

and drop-out rates; Multi Language Education-Using local CHT languages and culturally sensitive curricula, ensuring

education is more relevant, improving quality and reducing repetition and drop out rates.

1 Bangladesh Population and Housing Census, 2011

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This report is the fourth progress report, covering the key activities and results achieved during the reporting period of 01 January 2013 to 15 June 2014. The key results achieved under the five support areas are summarized below. Policy Driven Advocacy The project continued to work on the upstream policy changes to address sustainability of the interventions and to bring the HDC-managed schools under the national financing scheme. Various forums such as inter-ministerial meetings, and Technical Advisory Committee meetings were utilized to bring up the nationalization issue as a matter of priority and resolve practical challenges hindering the nationalization. As a result and building on several milestones already reached in the previous years, 42 supported schools2 have now been successfully nationalized, enabling them to be covered fully under the national financing scheme for the first time. Further, the advocacy work resulted in approval by the government to de-reserve 13.20 acres of government reserved land for granting leases in favor of 44 project-supported Non-Government Primary Schools (NGPS), which are established in the reserved forest land of CHT. This implies that these schools can now meet the criteria required for school nationalization, indicating further progress towards sustainability. And the government circular was amended to include HDC representatives in the district level school nationalization scrutiny committees, enabling the HDCs to lobby more strongly for the nationalization of the HDC-managed NGPS schools.

During this reporting period, the project also engaged with the development partners to earn their strong support for lobbying and advocacy initiatives. It brought together key donors in a dialogue with the government to address challenges. This included a letter prepared by EU Ambassador to the Prime Minister on the nationalization, another letter from Canadian High Commission to the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education (MoPME). The advocacy resulted in dialogues with the Prime Minister’s Office, and an opening for the Ministry of Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs (MoCHTA) to submit the proposal for the nationalization of the remaining HDC-managed 228 NGPS to the Prime Minister’s Office as of March 2014.

Strengthening Systems The project continues to support the capacity building in the education sector to strengthen the overall education system in the CHT. During the reporting period, the project saw further progress on coordination among HDCs, government education line department officials and stakeholders for better planning and management of the HDC-managed schools. The increase in school monitoring activities is a clear indication of the progress; 156 school visits were carried out by the District Primary Education Officers (DPEO) and Assistance/Upazila Education Officers (A/UEO) in 2013 in comparison to 95 in 2009, recording a 64% increase in monitoring activities by the local government and line department officials. Another indication of progress was the successful completion of school development programme (SDP) grants by School Management Committees (SMCs) of 300 schools in 2013. The project provided SMCs with grants to utilize for the betterment of schools. For instance, the grants were utilized for renovation of schools, installation of latrines, and/ or income generation activities to meet recurrent cost of schools. The process of the grants utilization by each school was transparent and accountable, as all schools publicly displayed information on grants amount and expenditure items. The successful execution of the school development programme implies increased capacity of the communities to manage schools. In 2014, all 315 schools including 15 newly selected schools in Naikhyonchari Upazila were provided with grants for implementation of school development plans, which are now under implementation. By looking at the key education indicators, the results are clear as well; the average students attendance rate of the supported schools reached 86% in 2014, which is 4.7% above the national rate (81.3%) and 15% above the overall CHT rate (70.9%) as of 2009 Multiple Indicators Cluster Survey (MICS) Report. The average class attendance of school teachers in the target schools has also increased from 91% in 2012 to 93.2% in 2013 and 95.4% in 2014. Strengthening systems means strengthening the capacity of education stakeholders in the CHT, such as MoCHTA, Regional Council, and HDCs to be able to develop and implement feasible and realistic strategic development plans. In 2013, the project supported HDCs to formulate a district based education strategy, reflecting education needs and context of each hill district. The strategies are at the last stages of finalization by the Education Strategy Formulation Commission and HDCs. Once finalized, implementation of locally adapted educational strategies will start to accelerate development changes in the CHT.

2 A total of 315 schools are being supported by the project, of which 228 are community-based non-government primary schools (NGPS) renovated or established by the project, while 23 are existing Government Primary Schools (GPS), 37 are registered Primary Schools (partially supported by the Government), 4 are kinder garden schools (not considered under the nationalization scheme). Currently 231 schools established by the project are being managed by the Hill District Councils including 4 kinder gardens.

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Increasing Access As a result of the project, now over 20,000 children including 9,519 girls living in under-served areas of the CHT are gaining access to schools every year. The enrollment rate is increasing yearly; 20,007 children enrolled in 2013, compared to 8,241 children in 2009. The net enrolment and gross enrolment rate in project school catchments areas of CHT reached 92% and 118% respectively. The very high gross enrollment rate indicates that children of age above primary school (above 10 years old) are also attending the primary schools. 82% of the HDC managed schools have now clean toilets as compared to 20% in 2009, and 100% of the HDC-managed schools have safe drinking water facilities as compared to 50% in 2009, all of which are important factors for facilitating good enrollment. Moreover, establishment of 185 separate toilets for girls at target schools as planned under the contingency reserve of the project has begun in May 2014. Similarly, in the new operational Upazila of Naikhyonchari, 15 schools have been selected for support and a physical verification of these schools has been completed. 23 teachers of the 15 schools including 8 females were also provided with 12 day-long basic training and orientation, and 211 SMC members including 18 females of the same schools received training on SMC roles.

Improving the literacy rate in the CHT has a significant implication on accessibility of CHT peoples to services and options for livelihoods. The Adult Literacy Programme introduced by the project opened an opportunity for a total of 859 adult learners (503 female learners) of eight ethnic communities including Bangalee in CHT to have basic literacy and life skill education. According to the preliminary assessment conducted by the project, 41% leaners obtained above 80 out of 100 marks; 21% leaners obtained 70-79; 15% obtained 60-69; 12% obtained 50-59; and 6.4% learners obtained below 40 which indicate a success of this pilot initiative. The project also continued its work with WFP on school feeding in 12 pilot schools. The result is promising; the enrollment rate in these pilot schools increased from 728 in 2012 to 810 in 2013, recording an 11% increase.

Quality Education The project continues to support the HDCs to promote quality primary education in the CHT. Salary support to teachers, increased number of monitoring visits by education line department officials (156 visits in 2013), regular provision of training for teachers, use of mother tongue and child-centered methodology in classrooms, and increased overall management capacity of HDC officials are the main contributors to ensuring quality education in the supported schools. The results are clear; above 95% students who were enrolled in grade-I in 2008 in HDCs managed schools successfully completed primary education in 2012, which is 15.4% above the national rate (79.8%) as of 2009 (MICS 2009). In 2013, the passing rate of the supported students in the Primary School Certificate Examination (PSC) reached 95% with 54% of them being girls. Moreover, 65% of the supported schools are continuing to practice child centered methodology introduced by the project. For example, 53% of the supported schools are practicing child-centered seating arrangements; and about 69% of them are using innovative teaching materials like picture posters, balls, dices, and sticks to provide children with learning stimuli. Skill training of teachers continued. 2 271 school teachers including 576 females (578 in 2014 as of 15 June and 1,693 in 2013) were provided with refresher training on General Pedagogy, English and Mathematics. 3 exposure visits to best performing schools outside of the CHT were organized for teachers and SMC members to increase their motivation for better management of the supported schools. Moreover, 3 education fairs organized by 3 HDCs brought together education stakeholders under one platform to discuss and share their experiences, concerns and recommendations and take the issues forward.

Multi-Language Education As a result of the project, children in the target schools have been able to access education in their mother tongue as agreed in the CHT Peace Accord. The project has supported the use of CHT local languages and culturally sensitive curricula to ensure that education is more relevant to children in the CHT. An appropriate and relevant curriculum is one of the most important elements of a successful mother tongue-based MLE. To this end, the project continued its support to the development and use of the MLE materials in the project supported schools. Firstly, development of pre-primary MLE materials for all 11 ethnic communities in the CHT were completed in 2013, of which 7 are being used in 132 project-supported MLE schools. The remaining 4 MLE materials will also be utilized once community schools have been established in the region where those 4 languages are spoken. Secondly, the project supported the HDCs to develop MLE supplementary reading materials for grade II & III students and listening materials on CHT folk stories for pre-primary students in 2013. These materials were distributed to all 132 MLE schools. The primary level MLE materials were designed to be supplementary to the existing curriculum in the supported schools in order to ensure its alignment with the national level curriculum. Further, the project is ensuring the

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availability of local teachers who speak the same mother tongue as the school children in these supported schools.

Evidence suggests that as a result of MLE, enrolment and attendance of the school children increased in the supported schools. According to the HDCs/Project MIS-2014, the drop-out rate of the students remained within 2% and the class repetition rate in the project schools reduced to 10% in 2014 compared to 11% in 2013 and 13% in 2010. The absenteeism of students is at the lowest level, with attendance rate marking around 94% in the MLE schools under the project support. The participation of local communities in school management is another important element which contributed to the successful MLE. Financial Delivery The project incurred a total eligible expenditure of EURO 2,002,026 during the reporting period. The cumulative expenditure stands at EURO 6,829,483 up to 15 June 2014. The forecast budget for the remaining period of the project is EURO 1,520,517.59.

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I. INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background

The Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), located in South Eastern Bangladesh, is divided into three hill districts: Khagrachhari, Rangamati and Bandarban. The total area of the CHT is 13,344 square kilometers3 and the estimated population is 1.58 million. The region is geographically distinct from the plains, made up of very steep, rugged hilly terrain and in many places, dense bamboo jungle. The rough terrain, remoteness of villages and various political issues associated with a protracted conflict have seriously impeded the socio-economic development of the region. The CHT is home to 11 minority ethnic groups (defined as ‘tribes’ as per the CHT Peace Accord), with each of them having their own distinctive language, culture, and tradition, and Bengalis – the majority ethnic group in Bangladesh. Basic education is an important sector which has been affected by the conflict. Due to closures, relocation of schools and displacement of elements of the population combined with personal and livelihood insecurity, the enrolment, literacy and completion of children of the minority ethinic population is much lower than the national averages. Substantial number of households still remain excluded from the educational process. The difficult terrain makes the journey to school much longer and potentially unsafe, especially for younger and female children. More than half of the children enrolled in primary school drop out of school in their first years in the CHT. In the Baseline Survey conducted by the CHTDF in 2008, 65% of respondents reported discontinuation of their children’s education before completion of the primary cycle, and 19% at transition to secondary. Schools often lack sufficient classrooms and basic facilities like suitable furniture, black boards and other teaching materials; and there are still a large number of schools in the CHT without a safe water supply and adequate sanitary latrines. As part of the expansion of the social services, the Chittagong Hill Tracts Development Facility (CHTDF) took decision to improve socio-economic development of the CHT through establishing, promoting and sustaining access to a quality primary education system in the CHT. It was expected that an improved quality of education would enhance the learning experience of children, lead to greater academic achievement and reduce drop-out rates. The quality and relevance of education was also enhanced by the use of mother tongue languages and culturally sensitive curricula. In this context, UNDP with the EU and Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) funding implemented the Education Phase-I as the sub-component of the CHTDF covering the pilot period January 2008 to March 2009 (extended through a ‘bridging period’ up to December 2009). The phase I indicated some success in demonstrating strengthening of existing systems such as School Management Committees (SMCs). It has also demonstrated how new systems can be established and can have potential for achieving positive prospects for sustainability. The present project titled ‘Strengthening Basic Education in the Chittagong Hill Tracts Phase-II’ which has grown out of phase-I started on 21 December 2009 with a total budget of 8.350 Million Euro (with 6.6 Million Euro being EU contribution). The implementation timeframe was originally designed for a period of 45months which was later extended to 63 months up to 20 February 2015 in order to ensure a national financing framework for the HDC managed schools supported by the project, following a change in the national policy concerning the financing framework. The main beneficiaries of the project are about 20,000 children who are provided with access to school and studying in improved classroom or school environment. The project is being implemented under the institutional partnership of the Ministry of Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs (MoCHTA), and works with different institutions such as the three Hill District Councils (HDCs) and Ministry of Primary and Mass Education (MoPME), Directorate of Primary Education (DPE), NGOs and representatives from local community based organizations.

3 Bangladesh Population and Housing Census, 2011

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1.2 Project Area

The Project area includes 13 Upazilas (one Upazila comprises of a number of unions) out of 25 in the three Hill Districts. In 2013, the intervention in Naikhyonchari Upazila of Bandarban district began following the EU approval on use of contingency reserve under the project. The project targets CHT remote communities that are most vulnerable and have limited access to primary education services. In Bandarban, the Upazilas are Thanchi, Ruma, Rowangachari, Alikadam, and Naikhyonchari; in Rangamati, the upazilas are Bilaichari, Jurachari, Baghaichari, and Rajasthali; and in Khagrachari, the upazilas are Panchari, Matiranga, Lakshmichari and Mahalachari (Figure 1). At union level, the project is operational in 51 unions (a number of villages constitute a union) out of total 118 unions of the three hill districts, reaching 43% geographical coverage.

1.3 Objectives

The overall objective of the project is to contribute to improving socio-economic development of the CHT in line with the principles of CHT Accord, and the purpose is to establish and promote access to a quality primary education system in the CHT. This purpose is set around targeted results related to advocacy, strengthening systems, increasing access, improving quality, and multilingual education, as below: Policy Driven Advocacy - Supporting government to fulfill its educational commitments in the CHT,

leading to more relevant education Strengthening Systems - Strengthening knowledge and capacity of regional and district education

system and so improving planning and management for effective service delivery. Increasing Access - Increasing numbers of teachers and quality of school buildings thus increasing

access to basic education Quality Education - Improving quality of education, enhancing children’s learning, reducing repetition

and drop-out rates. Multi Language Education - Using local CHT languages and culturally sensitive curricula, ensuring

education is more relevant, improving quality and reducing repetition and drop out rates.

1.4 Key Strategies

One of the project strategies is to strengthen community based schools and to link them to government systems, and to generally improve community involvement in school management. The project focused on strengthening community schools to: reach out to communities in hard to reach areas; augment government initiatives in underserved areas; support and encourage community initiatives; and develop a model of education system that are run by the community.

Figure 1: Project Area Map

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A priority of the project is to lobby effectively for policy change at all levels to support the strengthening of basic education provision in the CHT so the children can realize their basic rights to education. Efforts are aimed at establishing dialogue/linkages between the HDCs and the DPE/MOPME and for building linkage to the national support program for primary schooling in Bangladesh, namely the Primary Education Development Program (PEDP), which is currently in the phase III (PEDP-3). The implementation strategies include building up the capacity of the HDCs to effectively manage primary education in the CHT and be able to sustain results beyond the project. A parallel objective is to empower these institutions in conformity with the provision of the Peace Accord. Comprehensive capacity building program for the school teachers and the stakeholders has been carried out in the CHT. Strengthening support to schools for nationalization is one of the major project intervention strategies for sustainability. This will help schools to attain financial support from the government, thereby ensuring access to education for school children in the CHT in the long run.

II. KEY ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT AND RESULTS ACHIEVED

The education project continued to support the provision of basic primary education in 12 Upazilas (4 in Khagrachari and Rangamati and 4 in Bandarban). In addition, Naikhyonchari Upazila of Bandarban district was newly added as the operational Upazila under the project in 2013, making the total operational Upazilas to 13, following the EU approval on the use of contingency reserve of the project. The project opened access to education for over 20,000 children of the under-served areas yearly through support to 315 community-based schools in the region whereas many of these schools were non-functional or non-existent in the past. Currently, the 246 schools are operating under the direct management of the Hill District Councils (HDCs) as per the transferred jurisdiction of the education subject in the Peace Accord, and backed by the technical support of the project. At the community level, 300 School Management Committees (SMCs) and 300 Mother’s Groups (MGs) are mobilized and empowered to manage these schools through support to management of School Development Programme. Indeed, the community level participation contributed significantly to increasing the enrolment rate, and reducing the number of drop-outs in the region. The detailed figures are provided in this report.

The project also saw a considerable increase in number of filled teaching posts across the CHT. In 2013, 1% of the teaching posts in Rangamati were vacant (including both the government schools and project supported schools), while this was 25% according to the ADB review report on CHT in 2001. Similarly, in Bandarban, vacancy in teaching posts was 8.5% in 2013 compared to 35% in 2001. Irregular attendance and absenteeism of teachers are also at the lowest levels in the project supported schools. The key results and activities carried out during the reporting period under the 5 respective target components are highlighted below.

2.1 Component 1: Policy focused Advocacy and Support

The project continues to support the Government of Bangladesh to fulfill its educational commitments in the CHT as per the CHT Accord, adapting more relevant delivery models in the region. Since the change made by the Government from the school registration to nationalization process of non-government schools as of 2012, the project has been supporting the Hill District Councils (HDCs) and all other stakeholders in the communities to nationalize HDC-managed non-government primary schools (NGPS) in the CHT to address sustainability of the schools beyond the project’s lifespan. In 2013, the project directly engaged with the Prime Minister Office, Ministry of Primary and Mass Education (MoPME), Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) and Ministry of CHT Affairs (MoCHTA). Various forums such as inter-ministerial meetings, and Technical Advisory Committee meetings were utilized to bring up the nationalization issue as a matter of priority and resolve the practical challenges hindering the nationalization. It also worked with the development partners to earn their strong support for lobbying and advocacy activities including organizing a letter from EU Ambassador to the Prime Minister on the nationalization, another letter from Canadian High Commission to the MoPME, and letters from HDCs to MoPME. At the local level, the amendment of the government circular to accommodate HDC representatives in the district level scrutiny committees further accelerated the nationalization outcome for the supported schools, enabling the HDCs to lobby more strongly for the nationalization of the HDC-managed NGPS schools.

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As a result of these actions, a total of 42 supported schools were nationalized and put under the national financing scheme for the first time in 2013. Of the 42 schools, 5 are Non-Government Primary School (NGPS) established by the project, and the remaining are Registered Non-government Primary School (RNGPS) which were partially under the government support. Nationalization of the remaining 228 schools is also under way. Indeed, the project support opened an opportunity for the MoCHTA to directly submit 365 page documents required for the nationalization of the remaining HDC-managed 228 NGPS to the Prime Minister’s Office for their approval as of March 2014. This was in light of the delays faced in acquiring the approval of the MoPME on these documents despite the submission to the MoPME in October 2013. The success of the advocacy activities was reflected in the recent media coverage as a large number of national level newspapers covered the nationalization issue as their headlines. The coverage included the challenge in meeting the nationalization criteria set by the government, especially on the school land due to the complicated and lengthy land registration process in the CHT against the context where land registration/lease document is required for schools to be included in the nationalization process. As of today, 39 out of the 228 schools have received land leased documents from the government as a result of advocacy support provided by the project, while the remaining is under process. In 2013, the government’s approval was also obtained to de-reserve 13.20 acres of the deserved land for granting leases in favor of 44 supported NGPS, established in the reserved forest land of CHT. This implies that these schools in the reserved forest can now meet the land criterion required for school nationalization, indicating further progress towards sustainability. While the outcome for the 228 schools is still waiting to be seen, the major milestones were hence achieved toward the nationalization during this reporting period. All these activities will contribute toward education for all in the target areas of the Hill Tracts. With respect to the indicators in the logical framework, the project has achieved the following:

Objectively Verifiable Indicator Achievement so far

GOB formulating circulars/guidelines/ policies in relation to education needs in the CHT

Government approved the process of de-reserving 13.20 acres of land for granting leases in favor of 44 CHTDF supported NGPS established in the reserved forest land of CHT.

MoPME amended school registration policy, allowing flexibility of registration criteria for the non-government primary schools (NGPS) in the CHT. For example, number of students required to establish a primary school in the CHT was softened to 50 from 150. In addition MoPME in principal agreed to reduce the population required for establishing a school from 2000 to 666 in the CHT region.

MoPME made a circular on inclusion of HDC representative in the district and Upazila level scrutinizing committees which vet the nationalization of project CHTDF supported NGPS in the CHT.

MoCHTA submitted all required nationalization documents of the 228 NGPS to the MoPME.

MoCHTA submitted all required nationalization documents of the 228 NGPS to the Prime Minister’s Office.

Director General of Directorate of Primary Education (DPE), MoPME issued a letter to all concerned govt. stakeholders (all DPE officials in the CHT) requesting to provide necessary support to this project.

HDCs have targeted an increase in the resource allocation for the primary education sector in the CHT

Resource allocation for the primary education is limited. However, HDCs are in the process of finalizing district specific education strategy (draft has already done) in each district prior to identification of resource requirement as well as mobilizing required resources.

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Recommendations put forward by Technical Advisory Committee (TAC)-Education are implemented

As per the TAC recommendations to expedite registration of schools, 138 NGPS submitted applications to District Primary Education Officers (DPEOs) for primary permission.

As per the recommendation made by the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) 11 school hostels are being operated by HDCs and CHT Development Board, enabling children from remote villages to attend schools. Out of them, 5 hostels are running under HDC in Rangamati; 3 under Khagrachari HDC and rest 3 hostels under CHT Development Board in Bandarban. Moreover, construction works of 5 hostels (2 in Rangamati and 3 in Khagrachari) have been completed. The operation will start as soon as the funds have been secured.

Table -1: Schools with nationalization status

District No. of project-supported schools nationalized by GoB in 2013

No. of project- supported schools applied for nationalization

First phase

Second Phase

Total

Total

Bandarban 8 0 8

83

Khagrachari 24 4 28

59

Rangamati 5 1 6

86

All 37 5 42

228

Table-2: Land registration/granting leased status of 228 project schools

District Schools’ land registration/granting leased status

Already Registered

Under Process of registration/ granting leased

% of schools with registered land

Bandarban 8 75 9.6

Khagrachari 11 48 18.6

Rangamati 20 66 23.3

Total 39 189 17.1

The activities completed under this componet are given in more details below. Action points made in Inter-ministerial meeting on nationalization of project supported schools The Inter-ministerial meeting resulted in the following action points around the nationalization of schools, and the actions have been undertaken accordingly:

(i) The Ministry of CHT Affairs (MoCHTA), in discussion with the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF), will take necessary steps for land registration of 41 project supported schools established in reserved forest areas;

(ii) MoCHTA will send a letter to MoPME with a request to include HDCs representative in the “District School Scrutinizing Committee “for nationalization of HDCs managed schools as per the circular issues from MoPME dated 17 January 2013;

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(iii) The project will submit all the required nationalization documents of 228 schools in ministry’s prescribed format to the MoPME through MoCHTA;

(iv) Hill District Councils will communicate with the “Upazila School Scrutinizing Committee” so that the supported 228 NGPS are to be included in the nationalization school list; and

(v) Hill District Councils will communicate with the respective Deputy Commission (DC) for land registration except 44 schools those established in reserved forest areas.

Progress on Land Criterion for Nationalization in Technical Advisory Committee (TAC)

Discussion in the Education Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) on the nationalization criteria steered the progress towards nationalization of the project-supported NGPS. The nationalization criteria are set by MoPME including the land criterion, where schools must have 30 decimals of registered land or leased in favor of the school before 24th May 2012 to be considered for nationalization4. However, due to difficulty in meeting this land criterion for schools located in the CHT, the TAC agreed to form a joint committee headed by Deputy Secretary-Development of MOCHTA comprising representatives from MOCHTA, MOPME, DPE and CHTDF for scrutinizing the information of the schools case by case and preparing a status paper agreeing on the waiving points required for the supported schools towards nationalization. Based on the status paper, the MoCHTA with support from MoPME agreed to take the cases forward to the Prime Minister for a special waiver, hence to be included in the 3rd phase of the nationalization framework - where the 3rd phase is to address nationalization for a category of schools such as community schools and newly established schools. As of today, 39 out of 228 schools have received the land leased documents from the Government of Bangladesh, while the remaining is under process.

Roads to School Nationalization in Hill Tracts

Mr. Cha ong Marma long had a dream to provide education for all children in this remote area of Hill Tracts - Bangalhaliya union, Rajasthali Upazila of Rangamati district – a small village resided by 114 families. In 2000, with his determination, Mr. Cha built a school house and started his own community school with 4 teachers and 20-25 students, as supported by some influential members of the community. He became the founder and president of School Management Committee of the school.

In 2002, Mr. Cha along with teachers supporting his initiative bought additional piece of land in the name of the school and made a semi building with financial support from Rangamati Hill District Council. But due to difficulty in meeting the operational cost of the school, teachers from the local communities had to teach without salaries. Their attempt to get the school registered by the government to receive financial support failed due to not meeting the land criterion required for registration. The teachers lost motivation and the SMC eventually became inactive.

In 2008, the school was selected for support under this project. The project in partnership with Strategic Actions Society (SAS) - a local NGO, mobilized the SMC, community people and put the school committee back to function. Attendance of school teachers increased as they began receiving salaries. Both SMC and teachers were provided with training.

‘School activities began up running again’ – said Mr. Paysu U Marma, the present president of SMC.

The project support on nationalization also brought a tangible result. The project supported the school prepare the nationalization documents required to the Government. On 09 January, 2013, with the complete documents submitted to the Government, the school was selected for nationalization and thereafter was nationalized for the first time, hence realizing the full financial support from the government.

Today 59 students are studying in this school. The SMC members visit the school frequently to give advice on management of the school. The passing rate of students in this school in Primary School Certificate examination reached 100% both in 2012 and 2013. The spirit of the school founder Mr. Cha is passed onto other members of the school. Now SMC and teachers are striving to make their school the best school in the entire Upazila.

4 Other nationalization criteria include primary schools being fully fledged up to grade 5 and managed by

local communities.

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Daily Star newspaper: Front page on 18 March 2014

2.2 Component 2: Strengthening Systems

Given the challenges of remoteness and language barrier, the strong education system in the CHT requires strong management from the service provider side and community side as well as additional efforts on coordination among all stakeholders. The project continues to support the capacity building of the education stakeholders in the CHT including the communities (such as School Management Committees, Mothers’ Groups, and Parent Groups) to help materialize the provision of education services for all children in the CHT. During the reporting period, the project saw further progress on coordination among HDCs, government education line department officials and stakeholders for better planning and management of the HDC-managed schools. An increase in school monitoring activities is a clear indication of the progress; 156 school visits were carried out by the District Primary Education Officers (DPEO) and Assistance/Upazila Education Officers (A/UEO) in 2013 in comparison to 95 in 2009, recording a 64% increase in monitoring activities by the local government and line department officials. Another indication of progress was the successful completion of School Development Programme (SDP) grants by SMCs of 300 schools in 2013. The successful completion of SDP implies increased capacity at the community level to manage grants and school affairs. Indeed, the process of the grants utilization by each school was transparent and accountable, as all schools publicly displayed information on grants amount and expenditure items. The grants were utilized for instance on renovation of schools, installation of latrines, and/ or income generation activities to meet recurrent cost of schools and improve the school facilities to provide children with the optimal environment for education. In 2014, all 315 schools were provided with grants for implementation of school development plans, which are now well under implementation. By looking at the key education indicators, the results are steady and clear as well; the average students attendance rate of the supported schools reached 86% in 2014, which is above 4.7% of the national rate (81.3%) and 15% above the overall CHT rate (70.9%) as of 2009 Multiple Indicators Cluster Survey (MICS) Report. The average class attendance of school teachers in the target schools also increased from 91% in 2012 to 93.2% in 2013 and 95.4% in 2014.

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Strengthening systems means strengthening the capacity of education stakeholders in the CHT, such as MoCHTA, Regional Council, and HDCs to be able to develop and implement feasible and realistic strategic development plans. During this reporting period, the project supported HDCs to formulate a district based education strategy, reflecting educational needs and context of each hill district. The strategies are at the last stages of finalization by the Education Strategy Formulation Commission and HDCs. Once finalized, implementation of locally adapted educational strategies will start to accelerate development changes in the CHT.

With respect to the indicators in the logical framework, the project has achieved the following:


Teacher attendance at project schools increases by 10% per year

The average class attendance of school teachers in the project schools is 95.4% followed by Bandarban (95%), Khagrachari (94.%) and Rangamati (96%) in 2014, 93.2% in 2013 and 91.2% in 2012.

Accurate demographic and ethnic data updated annually is available for planning & monitoring by HDCs and/or UEOs

Accurate demographic and ethnic data has been made available on education indicators as a result of an increase in capacity of HDC and UEOs on M&E data collection and analysis process. Out of 20,195 students supported under the project, 9,519 (47%) are girls. Ethnic composition is: Chakma student 29.0%, Marma 17.0%, Tripura 16.4%, Mro 9.2%, Tanchangya 7.0%, Bangalee 16.8% and others 4.6 %.

DPEO and A/UEO do 5 school visits per quarter per Upazila in 2010, increasing to 8 per quarter by 2013

A total of 710 visits have been made to the supported schools by GoB line department officials (DPEO and A/UEO) since 2009. Year-wise break-down of no. of visits are- In 2009: 95 2010: 91 2011: 210 2012: 150, 2013: 156, and 2014 (as of 15 June): 14 (including 3 visits paid by HDC Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and Counselors)

100% of SMCs which received minimum 3 days training are functioning by applying their training knowledge

In 2014, 212 SMC members from the newly selected school in Naikhyonchari Upazila received training on SMC roles. In 2013, a total of 5,521 SMC members (32% of them are female) of all the 300 schools received refresher training on their roles and responsibilities.

In 2012, a total of 5,020 SMC members (28% of them are female) of all the 300 schools received refresher training on their roles and responsibilities, resulting in their active participation in school development.

Similarly in 2011, a total of 2,494 SMC members received training. As a result, SMCs engaged in a range of school activities including construction/renovation of school facilities, monitoring of enrolment and attendance (both for teachers and students) and the development of School Development Plans (SDPs).

A budget and School Development Plan (SDP) is publicly displayed, accurate and up to date, and understood by SMC, parents and Para members in 100% of project schools by end of 2010.

In 2014, all schools formulated school development plans (SDP) based on grants received from HDCs, which are now well under implementation. In 2013, 100% of planned SDPs were developed and implemented by SMCs in consultation with Mothers’ Groups (MGs), Parent Teachers Association (PTAs) and parents. All SMCs publically displayed the SDPs with budget at respective schools.

District-specific education plans/strategies developed by HDCs (at least one plan/strategy per HDC) (at least one plan/strategy per HDC)

As per TAC recommendation, a district-based education strategy has been drafted by the three Hill Districts and is being finalized by the Education Strategy Formulation Commission and the HDCs.

Stakeholders’ coordination meetings on HDCs organized 10 stakeholders’ coordination meetings in

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primary education held by HDCs (4/year/HDC), reflecting improved sharing of information/collaboration

2013 and another 10 in both 2012, and 2011, and 13 meetings in 2010. Alongside these coordination meetings, education stakeholders in the CHT such as education line department officials, NGOs and civil society took initiatives on coordination on Non-Formal Primary Education (NFPE).

The major activities undertaken under this component are described below. School Development Plan developed and implemented

During this reporting period, a total of 315 schools supported by the project developed school development plans (SDP) in consultation with SMC, MGs and Parent Groups members. As a result, all target schools through respective SMCs received SDP grants from HDCs. The grants are being utilized in accordance with the approved SDPs. All SDPs were displayed with its budget at respective schools. Progress review meeting were conducted by SMCs with the involvement of MGs and PTAs on a quarterly basis to review the implementation. The SDPs for example included infrastructure or renovation work, installation of latrines and water, and income generation activities to increase school revenue. The grant support not only enabled these schools to meet its immediate needs but also provided the opportunities for community people such as SMC and Mothers’ Group to manage (plan, implement, monitor, and assess the result of) a project.

Student and Teacher attendance increased Systems of schooling involve institutionalized teaching and learning. Education indicators such as student and teacher’s attendance are the basic indicators for understanding the level of success in achieving good education systems; these rates are high in schools where the education system is institutionalized. In the supported schools, the project saw a steady but clear increase in these rates compared to the baseline in 2009. The average student attendance rate, for example, reached 85% in 2013, recording a 4% increase of the national rate (81.3%) and 14% of the overall CHT rate (70.9%) as of 2009 (MICS5 Report, 2009). Student attendance in the project supported schools was almost the same across the three districts but was slightly higher for the primary school students (85.9%) than the pre-primary students (83.4%).

Table- 3: Students attendance in project schools by district and gender, 2013 (in %)

District Pre-Primary (in %) Primary (in %) All (in %)

Boy Girl All Boy Girl All Boy Girl All

Rangamati 83.6 83.7 83.4 86.3 85.5 85.8 85.0 84.6 84.6

Bandarban 84.4 82.2 83.9 85.9 82.7 83.8 85.2 82.5 83.9

Khagrachari 83.2 84.0 82.7 88.4 88.2 88.3 85.8 86.1 85.5

All 83.8 83.2 83.4 86.8 85.4 85.9 85.3 84.3 84.7

Figure-2: Students attendance rate in project schools (2013) and national

5 Multiple Indicators Cluster Survey, 2009

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SMC refresher training at Laxmichari Upazila, Khagrachari

MG refresher training at Jurachari Upazila, Bandarban

The teachers’ average attendance in the classroom in the supported schools was 93.2% followed by Bandarban (90.6%), Khagrachari (94.6%) and Rangamati (94.5%) in 2013, which was 91.2% followed by Bandarban (86.7%), Khagrachari (93.6%) and Rangamati (91.2%) in 2012.

Education strategies During this reporting period, the project supported HDCs to formulate a district based education strategy, reflecting educational needs and context of each hill district. The strategies focused on the service provision in the primary education sector of the Hill Tracts including the optimal forms of education system in the CHT taking into account its topography, required number of schools in each district to achieve education for all, harmonization and coordination among different local government institutions (HDCs and line department) to increase efficiency and effectiveness of the services, and the fund transfer modalities among these institutions to achieve the optimal service delivery models. The strategies are at the last stages of finalization by the Education Strategy Formulation Commission and HDCs. Once finalized, the strategies will be shared further with the national level stakeholders for consultation and consolidation, and brought to implementation.

Finance study The Finance Study of the education sector in the CHT started by commissioning a national research firm. This study looks into bottlenecks hindering the sufficient budget and timely expenditure of the resources allocated to the pre-primary and primary education sector in the CHT. For example the study will chalk out the ways to overcome the current budgetary resource gaps in the CHT education sector, and provide options and recommend the optimal modality for fund transfer among the national government and the CHT local government institutions such as Hill District Councils and the education line department. The optimal transfer model is intended to maximize the efficiency of the fund utilization by these local institutions, resulting in higher impact of the service provision. The study once finalized will be used as a tool to lobby for sufficient allocations of resources for the education sector in the CHT taking into account the peculiar context of the CHT. It will also help the government to plan and develop more realistic needs based allocations for the region.

HDCs capacity on Planning and M&E enhanced The data management capacity of HDC officials is increasing. During this reporting period, the project revised the M&E data collection tools/formats and data collection calendar to ensure more timely and quality data collection of education indicators. Accordingly the project provided HDCs and local NGOs with training on the revised data collection tools/formats and the modified Education Management Information System (EMIS). The training was supplemented with on-the-job training to ensure quality data collection process. Furthermore the project began providing the HDC officials with training on data analysis, with a view to increasing the sustainability of HDCs in managing the entire data management process (data collection, entry, consolidation, cleaning, analysis, and tabulation) beyond the project lifespan. Capacity development training for SMC and MG During this reporting period, a total of 5,733 SMC members (32% being female) of all the supported 300 schools received training on their roles and responsibilities. Moreover, 3,053 Mother Groups’ (MG) members were provided with refresher training. The training helped motivate the SMC and MG members to continue managing schools including monitoring of attendance of both teachers and students, ensuring availability of drinking water at schools, and implementation and monitoring of school development plans etc. Some schools have moved a step further to develop a sustainability plan for their schools, outside of the project initial support. The sustainability plan focuses on strategic utilization of returns generated from the annual grants.

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Project coordination at different levels Given the topography of the CHT, better planning, coordination, and participation of communities are crucial in ensuring quality education services. The coordination among the education stakeholders in the CHT such as HDC and line department, and communities (SMCs and MGs) will lead to improved management of remotely- located schools. With this view, the project continues to support the education coordination mechanisms in the CHT, notably the support to coordination meetings at different administrative levels. For example, stakeholder coordination meetings held in 3 districts involving 241 stakeholders (male-207, female-34) provided a forum to discuss and take action on policy level changes to ensure quality education services in the region. Monthly district coordination meetings with participation of district stakeholders such as HDCs and local NGOs provided solutions for practical challenges such as distribution of books and school materials. Similarly Upazila coordination meetings involving the Upazila level stakeholders such as education line department and Upazila officials ensured proper review and reporting at the Upazila level. Teachers’ coordination meetings were the coordination mechanism designed for the school level stakeholders to review academic progress and share and replicate best practices among the project-supported schools. All these coordination forums are contributing to maintaining the quality of education services in the project-supported schools and strengthening the overall education systems in the CHT. The quantitative information of these coordination forums are given below.

51 monthly coordination meetings were held with 1,054 participants (male-906, female-148).

108 monthly Upazila Program Coordination meetings were held across 12 Uapzilas with 1,204 participants (male-868, female-336).

Upazila Primary Education Committee meetings were held in 12 Upazilas with 207 (male-172, female-35) Upazila education committee members.

181 Teachers Coordination meetings were held with 1,903 participants (male-1,608, female-295).

2.3 Component 3: Access to Education

As a result of the project, now over 20,000 children including 9,519 girls living in under-served areas of the CHT are gaining access to schools every year. The enrollment rate is increasing yearly; 20,007 children enrolled in 2013, compared to 8,241 children in 2009. The net enrolment and gross enrolment rate in project school catchments areas of CHT reached 92% and 118% respectively. The very high gross enrollment rate indicates that children above the primary school age (above 10 years old) are also attending the primary schools. 82% of the HDC managed schools have now clean toilets as compared to 20% in 2009, and 100% of the HDC-managed schools have safe drinking water facilities as compared to 50% in 2009, all of which are important factors for facilitating good enrollment. Moreover, establishment of 185 separate toilets for girls at the target schools as planned under the contingency reserve of the project has begun as of May 2014 following the approval of grants by the Project Implementation Committee (PIC) and grants management committee of 3 HDCs. Similarly, a physical verification of 15 schools identified for support in Naikhyonchari Upazila has been completed and the school support has been initiated. Accordingly, 23 teachers including 8 females were provided with 12 day-long basic training. 212 SMC members received training on SMC roles and responsibilities.

Improving the literacy rate in the CHT has a significant implication on accessibility of CHT peoples to services and options for livelihoods. The Adult Literacy Programme introduced by the project in partnership with UNESCO opened an opportunity for a total of 859 adult learners (503 female learners) of eight ethnic communities including Bangalee in CHT to have basic literacy and life skill education. According to the preliminary assessment conducted by the project, 41% leaners obtained above 80 out of 100 marks; 21% leaners obtained 70-79; 15% obtained 60-69; 12% obtained 50-59; and 6.4% learners obtained below 40 which indicate a success of this pilot initiative. The project also continued its work with WFP on school feeding in 12 pilot schools to promote better access to education. The result is promising; the enrollment in these pilot schools increased from 728 in 2012 to 810 in 2013, recording an 11% increase.



Net enrolment rates in project school catchment areas increases to at least

Net enrolment rate reached over 92% in the target catchment areas. Student enrolment stands at 20,195 in

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Mro community learners at Kairee Para of Alikadam Upazila in Bandarban

National average (2008: 90.8%) 2014 and 20,007 in 2013, which is almost double the figure of 2009. The same in 2010 was 17,205.

Gross enrolment rates in project school catchment areas increases to at least National average (2008: 97.8%)

Gross enrolment rate reached 118% (Source-HDCs Education Child Survey data, 2014)

No. of new schools constructed (Target: 60)

120 school buildings were constructed (2009: 60 schools and 2010: 60 schools)

No. of school buildings renovated or extended (Target 272)

Cumulatively 396 facilities were renovated or extended (2009: 45 schools, 2010: 150 schools, 2011: 81 Schools, 2012: 105 Schools, and 2014: 15 schools in new intervention Upazila).

No. of project schools with clean toilets increases (100% of project schools have clean toilets by 2013)

82% project supported schools now have clean toilets facilities (2009: 60 schools, 2010: 120 schools, 2011: 247 schools 2012: 239 schools and 2013: 247 schools).

No. of project schools with safe drinking water facilities increases (to reach a target of 100% coverage by 2013)

100% project schools now have safe drinking water facilities (2009: 150 schools, 2010: 300 schools, 2011: 300 schools, and 2012: 300 schools).

The major activities undertaken under this component are described below.

Student enrollment The project continued to bridge the education access gap in the target Upazilas of the hill districts through support to trained and qualified local teachers, and improvement of school infrastructure including the latrines and water facilities. The key education indicators proves the effectiveness of the project; the net enrolment and gross enrolment rate in project school catchments areas of CHT reached 90% and 95% respectively. In 2014, 20,195 children including 9,519 girls living in under-served areas with previously no/less schooling facilities joined pre-primary and primary education in the 315 schools supported by the project. This is a significant increase from 8,241 children in 2009. Of the total 20,007 students in 2013, pre-primary and primary school children were 3,768 and 16,239 respectively.

Table-4: District-wise students in schools by sex, 2013

District

Pre-School Students (No.)

Primary School Students (No.)

Total student (No.)

Boys Girls Total Boys Girls Total Boys Girls Total

Rangamati 682 619 1,301 2,357 1,892 4,249 3,039 2,511 5,550

Bandarban 780 650 1,430 2,164 1,754 3,918 2,944 2,404 5,348

Khagrachari 538 499 1,037 4,113 3,959 8,072 4,651 4,458 9,109

Total 2,000 1,768 3,768 8,634 7,605 16,239 10,634 9,373 20,007 As % 53.1 46.9 100 53.2 46.8 100 53.2 46.8 100

Adult Literacy Program

The project in partnership with UNESCO supported HDCs to implement a pilot adult literacy course in 30 community learning centers established or renovated under the project across the 3 districts. This pilot initiative opened an opportunity for a total of 859 adult learners (male 356, female 503) of eight ethnic communities including Bangalee in the CHT to receive non formal basic literacy and life skill education. The Chetona -1 and 2 - the basic materials for non-formal education developed by the Bureau of Non Formal Education (BNFE), were tailored by the project to the context and language requirements of the region in order to make the learning sessions more effective for the CHT peoples. The UNESCO and BNFE provided technical support. As a result, a total of 30 facilitators from the local communities provided lessons in the 30 learning centers.

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Table-5: Marks obtained by adult learners, by district

Figure-3: No. of adult learners, by sex and district

Mother Groups members supporting for biscuit distribution

Figure-3: No. of adult learners, by sex and district

The project ensured the quality of the lessons by providing the facilitators with 7 day long foundation training and 2 day long refresher training on Chetona-1 and Chetona-2 primer materials. An exposure visit was also organized for the facilitators outside of CHT to provide them with hands-on skills in teaching and management of adult learning centres. Some of the good practices and learning from the visit were immediately fed into the lessons in the centers.

The assessment of adult learners just after completion of Chetona-1 primer shows good progress; 41% leaners obtained above 80 out of 100 marks, about 21% leaners obtained 70-79, 15% obtained 60-69, 12% obtained 50-59, while 6.4% learners obtained below 40.

Furthermore, considering the interest of the learners, the post literacy activity has been initiated to enhance the practical use of literacy among the leaners. Some of the advanced learners and teachers from the project-supported school are engaged as facilitators/teachers.

School Feeding Program

The project, in collaboration with WFP continued the implementation of the pilot school feeding programme through HDCs in 12 supported schools. The programme aims to improve enrollment, attendance and learning outcomes of the primary school children in the CHT. 5.6 MT of micronutrient fortified biscuits were provided for a total of 810 children, which is an 11% increase in coverage from the inception in December 2012. As a result, average attendance rate increased by 8% (from 71% in 2012 to 79% in 2013). SMC members are playing a key role in maintaining the biscuits and raising hygiene awareness among school children.

Marks obtained (out of 100)

Rangamati (%)

Khagrachari (%)

Bandarban (%)

CHT All (%)

Above 80 40.4 37.4 45.4 41.0

70-79 22.4 22.4 17.2 20.6

60-69 15.8 18.9 10.6 15.2

50-59 9.2 15.6 11.9 12.3

40-49 4.8 4.5 4.3 4.5

Below 40 7.5 1.1 10.6 6.4

107 155

94

356

187 147 169

503

294 302 263

859

Khagrachari Bandarban Rangamati All

Male Female Total

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Figure-4: Students enrollment status in project schools with school feeding program

Increasing Access to Education for All Kada Para Non-Government Primary School in Matiranga

“All of our family members are now in school including myself”. said smiling Nayan Tripura, a resident of Kada village (para) in Matiranga of Khagrachari Hill District and a father of 3 children. “My 3 children are going to Kada Para Non-Government Primary School. My wife and I are going to the adult literacy center regularly.”

The Kada village resided by Tripura ethnic group is located in an extremely remote area of Khagrachari Hill district, 8 km eastern part of the Gomti Union Parishad office where the only means to reach the village is by foot. Few children from this village attended the Government Primary school due to the distance from the village. Indeed, even for those who managed to attend initially could not continue for long and dropped out. The project supported the community members of this village to establish a non-government primary school in 2008. This was the first accessible school for the villagers. Many from the community contributed manual labor and locally available construction materials, like sand, bamboo to build the school. Until the establishment is complete, the SMC chairperson shared his own house to run the school.

Under the project, SMC members received training on school construction, roles and responsibilities of the SMC, and school management including recruitment and monitoring of teachers. Similarly, school teachers received initial and refresher training in addition to salary support.

The result is visible. A total number of students increased from 31 in2009 to 122 in 2013. The school has successfully implemented a school development plan. It also prepared a required document for nationalization of the school to be financed under the government scheme, and submitted to HDC, which was later submitted to the Prime Minister’s Office for approval.

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“All the school-aged children in our village are enrolled because of the establishment of this community school in the village. The school children are doing well in the examination. All the 15 children (8 boys and 7 girls) appeared in the primary school completion exam in 2012 and 2013 passed the exam. We are very happy.” said Mr. Golap Ranjan Karbari, the chairperson of the SMC. The pilot Adult Literacy Programme of this project has also started in the village, benefitting the parents of the school children.

“We will all be literate soon”, said Mr. Golap with determination in his eyes.

2.4 Component 4: Quality Education

The project continues to support the HDCs to promote quality primary education in the CHT. Salary support to teachers, increased number of monitoring visits by education line department officials (156 visits in 2013), regular provision of training for teachers, use of mother tongue and child-centered methodology in classrooms, and increased overall management capacity of HDC officials are the main contributors to increasing the quality of education in the supported schools. The results of the project are clear; above 95% students who were enrolled in grade-I in 2008 in HDCs-managed NGP schools successfully completed primary education in 2012, which is 15.4% above the national rate (79.8%) as of 2009 (MICS 2009). In 2013, the passing rate of students of supported schools in the Primary School Certificate Examination (PSC) reached 95% with 54% of them being girls. Moreover, 65% of the supported schools are continuing to practice child centered methodology introduced by the project. For example, 53% of the supported schools are practicing child-centered seating arrangements; and about 69% of them are using innovative teaching materials like picture posters, balls, dices, and sticks to provide learning stimuli.

Training for teachers continued. 2 271 school teachers including 576 females (578 in 2014 as of 15 June and 1,693 in 2013) were provided with refresher training on General Pedagogy, English and Mathematics. Further, 3 exposure visits to best performing schools outside of the CHT were organized for teachers and SMC members to increase their motivation for better management of the supported schools. 3 education fairs organized by 3 HDCs brought together education stakeholders under one platform to discuss and share their experiences, concerns and recommendations and take the issues forward.



Increase in the proportion of schools that utilize child-centered, activity-based teaching methods against agreed criteria (e.g., seating, group work, manipulative) (75% of intensively supported schools by 2013)

65% (195) of the total 300 project-supported schools are practicing at least some forms of child centered methodology. 69% of supported schools are using innovative teaching materials like picture poster, ball, dice, stick etc6.

Increase in the proportion of schools that arrange seating in a child centered way (to reach a target of 75% of intensively supported schools by 2013)

158 schools (53% of total 300 projects schools) are practicing child centered seating arrangements (like U shape, group seating and mix with group seating).

Project classrooms each year keep a student: teacher ratio within range of 20-30:1

Student: teacher ratio : 2009-21:1 2010-28:1 2011-34:1 2012-32:1 2013-25:1 2014-22:1

6 Household Survey 2013

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Project classrooms each year keep a student: classroom ratio within range of 20-30:1

Student: classroom ratio: 2012-23:1 2013-22:1 2014-22:1

Annual school contact hours move towards the UNESCO recommendation of 850+ in classes 3-5, and 680 hours in pre-primary, classes I and II.

Pre Primary and Class I-II: 650+ hours/ year; and Class III-V: 850+ hours/ year

10% more classes each year use teaching aids and/or supplementary reading materials

86.7% classes use teaching aids and/or supplementary reading materials.

69% of the project-supported schools use innovative teaching materials in classes7.

All project school teachers receive initial training for a minimum of 18 days

In 2014, a total of 23 teachers (male-15, female-8) from 15 schools of Naikhyonchari Upazila received 12 day-long basic training.

Teachers from the rest of 300 supported schools received initial training for a minimum of 18 days (121 received in 2012, 337 in 2010 and 382 received in 2009).

100% project classes each year have a trained teacher in charge

2010: 100% 2011: 100% 2012: 100% 2013: 100%

All teachers receive annual in-service (follow-up) training for a minimum of 10 days

As of 15 June 2014, a total of 578 school teachers (male-436 and female-142) received bi-monthly 2 day long refreshers training on teaching learning techniques through teaching-learning materials of leaflet 2, 3, 4 & 5.

2013: a total of 1,693 school teachers (male-1,259 and female-434) received bi-monthly 2 day long refreshers training on General Pedagogy, English and Mathematics.

2012: a total 1,454 teachers (male-1032 and female-422) received 2 day long refresher training.

2011: a total of 3,490 teachers (male -2,252 and female-1,238) received refreshers training.

2010: Refresher training organized for teachers of old working Upazilas, and

2009: of total 4 levels of teacher training developed in 2009, 293 teachers received teacher training level 2 and 276 received level 3 as refresher.

Project school head teachers have received minimum 4 days initial management and pedagogy training and follow up training within 12 months (Target: 300 project school head teachers)

All target head teachers were trained. The year wise breakdown is given below:

2009: 90 head teachers 2010:145 head teachers 2011: All head teachers

Primary School Completion Rate: Above 95% of students enrolled in 2008 in the Grade I of the project supported schools (Boy-95.5% and Girl-94.8%) successfully completed primary education in 2012 after 5 years of schooling. This is 15.4% above the national

7 Household Survey 2013

95.594.8

95.2

Boy Girl Both

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Children art competition at education fair in Bandarban

rate of 79.8% as of 2009 (MICS 2009). The Household Survey-2013 conducted by an external research institution attributed this result to the work of Mothers’ Groups who diligently followed up the progress and supported the school affairs for the benefits of their children. The project provided major capacity support to the Mothers’ Groups.

Students passing in Primary School Certificate Examination (PSC)

In 2013, a total of 1,110 students including 592 girls of the project-supported schools took PSC examination and 1,057 including 568 girls passed. This indicates 95% of the passing rate among the project supported schools. The same was 92% (of which 47% girls) in 2012 and 96% (of which 52%) in 2011.

Support to School Teachers During the reporting period, a total of 581 teachers (male-403, female-178) were provided with salary support as incentives. In addition to the salary support, teachers were provided with bi-monthly refresher training on General Pedagogy, English and Mathematics. The training reached 2017 school teachers (male-1,498 and female-519) in 2013. This was in addition to about 5,500 teachers trained during the prior periods. The project ensured that all eligible teachers receive training by supporting HDCs to roll out 6 day long Training of Trainers (ToT) refresher course on a bi-monthly basis. ToT was given to 137 HDC officials (male-117 and female-20) in 2013, who in turn provided training among teachers and SMCs in the respective districts.

Table-6: School teachers supported in 2013

District Upazilas

Covered (No.) Teachers Supported (No.)

Total Male Female

Rangamati 4 188 140 48

Bandarban 4 187 135 52

Khagrachari 4 206 128 78

Total 12 581 403 178

The refresher training on pedagogy is yielding tangible results; about 70% of the supported schools now use innovative teaching materials like picture poster, ball, dice, stick etc., and 53% of the supported schools are practicing child centered seating arrangements (U shape, group seating and mix with group seating).

Soft tools such as school monitoring visits and exposure visits for teachers were utilized to maintain the motivation of teachers in school and to avoid absenteeism. In 2013, 156 school visits were conducted by the education line department officials in 2013, and 3 exposure visits were made to best performing schools outside of the CHT for teachers and SMC members.

Education fairs organized The project supported HDCs to organize 3 education fairs to promote quality education in the CHT. The fairs brought different stakeholders together under one platform to discuss and share their experiences, concerns, and recommendations and take the issues forward. Leaflets, booklets, brochures, reports, posters, video, photographs and best practices etc

Figure-6: Students’ passed in the Primary School Certificate Examination, by years

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Newsletter published by local NGO

were shared for co-learning. The fairs were also utilized to recognize the best performing students, SMCs, Mothers Groups and PTA from each of the target Upazilas. 4,701 participants (male-2,749, female-1,952) joined the event.

Workshop on school management for SMC

During the reporting period, 3 HDCs organized 12 workshops for 742 School Management Committee members (male-625, female-117) on school management. The workshop provided opportunities for SMC members to enhance their management capacity, such as monitoring of teachers and students’ attendance rates, community mobilization tools, and grants management, and to take necessary steps for school nationalization.

Cross learning visit for SMC and MG

In 2013, 20 cross learning visits were organized for 241 key SMC and MG members including 73 female within the CHT to share best practices and lesson learned of their schools. These visits were another tool the project used to help motivate SMC and MG members.

Newsletter published for Awareness Raising

In 2013 quarterly newsletters were published in Bangla by 3 HDCs to disseminate information and raise awareness on education.

Jamachandra Para NGPS: Excels in PSC Examination

‘When I took up the responsibility of Headmistress in this school in 2009, I had no idea about how to teach students properly’, said Anita, the Headmistress of the Jamachandra para school.

The school is situated in the extremely remote hilly area in Rowangchari Upazia of the Bandarban Hill District. Most of the people in this area of Hill Tracts live by farming. The government schools are located too far to walk to, making the journey to school potentially unsafe. Their mother language different from what is taught in school also make it difficult for these children to stay focused in school. Consequently, the socioeconomic condition, language barrier, and physical remoteness make it almost impossible for children in these areas to enroll for regular government schooling.

The Jamachandra para community school started in 2009 with a group of 20 students around the village area. This was the first time that children in this area literally gained access to education. The project supported the communities to establish a community school and trained teachers.

‘As Headmistress, I received basic training for 18 days on teaching-learning techniques and the special training for head teachers for 6 additional days. I also attended bi-monthly refresher training regularly along with other teachers which helped improve quality of our teaching.’ Said Ms. Anita confidently.

5 years after the school establishment in 2013, all the 9 students of grade 5 from this school, appeared nervously in the Primary Education Completion Examination. Despite their appearance and worries, the result was impressive. All 9 passed the completion exam, and of the 9, two students - Debi Tanchangya and Modhulota Tanchangya, achieved an outstanding result of GPA-5. They are among the total of 3 who secured GPA-5 in all schools of the entire Upazila including the Government Primary Schools.

‘People here are all poor farmers. But they actively participated in the training and school management meetings to improve the learning environment for children. They sent their children

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to school regularly, being motivated by this schooling opportunity they are given with for the first time. So regardless of my efforts, the credit for this outstanding result goes to the community people’, Ms Anita said with a big smile.

The school is one of the 300 schools in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, supported by the project. As a result of these schools, nearly 20,000 children gain access to primary education every year, and above 95% of the grade 5 from these schools pass the Primary Education Completion Examination.

It’s probably the joint efforts of teachers and community people who made this result possible. Mr. Enonjoy Tanchangya, the Chairman of the School Management Committee seems to support this view.

‘All the School Management Committee members and the villagers are aware of their roles and responsibilities. All villagers meet every month at least for a day to discuss the progress and the problems of the school. Teachers are also making frequent visits to students’ homes and keep an eye on students who remained absent. These small efforts were paid off.’ Said Mr. Enonjoy Tanchangya,.

Students of Jamachandra Para NGPS who passed in PSC Examination, 2013

2.5 Component 5: Mother tongue-based Multi-Language Education (MLE)

As a result of the project, children in the target schools have been able to access education in their mother tongue as agreed in the CHT Peace Accord. The project promotes the use of CHT local languages (mother tongue-based MLE) and culturally sensitive curricula to ensure that education is more relevant to children in the CHT. An appropriate and relevant curriculum is one of the most important elements of a successful mother tongue-based MLE. To this end, the project continued its support to the development and use of the MLE materials in the project supported schools. Firstly, development of pre-primary MLE materials for all 11 ethnic communities in the CHT were completed in 2013, of which 7 are being used in 132 project-supported MLE schools. The remaining 4 MLE materials will also be utilized once community schools have been established in the region where those 4 languages are spoken. Secondly, the project supported the HDCs to develop MLE supplementary reading materials for grade II & III students and listening materials on CHT folk stories for pre-primary students in 2013. These materials were distributed to all 132 MLE schools. The materials were designed to be supplementary to the existing school curriculum of the National Curriculum & Textbook Board of Bangladesh in order to ensure its alignment with the national level curriculum. Evidence suggests that as a result of MLE, enrolment and attendance of the school children increased in the project supported schools. According to the HDCs/Project MIS-2014, the drop-out rate of the students remained within 2% and the class repetition rate in the project schools reduced to 10% in 2014 compared to 11% in 2013 and 13% in 2010. Absenteeism of students is at the lowest level, with attendance rate marking around 94% in the MLE schools under the project support. Further, the project is ensuring the

29

availability of local teachers at the 300 project-supported schools who speak the same mother tongue as the school children. The participation of local communities in school management (through SMC and MGs) is another important element which contributed to the successful MLE. With respect to the indicators in the logical framework, the project has achieved the following:


No. of schools in which teachers and pupils are actively using MLE (Target: at least 120 schools)

Teachers and pupils in 132 schools are actively using MLE in 2011. In 2013, 53% of the supported schools used multi-lingual education (MLE) materials (Source-Household Survey, 2013).

Decrease in student absenteeism in project schools in which MLE is used (drops at least 5% per year

Absenteeism is at the lowest level, attendance rate is around 94% in MLE schools under project support.

Decrease in repetition rates in project schools (drop by 5% per year)

The overall class repetition rate in the project-supported schools is 10% (11.2% for girls and 9.1% for boys) in 2014, compared with 11% (13% for girls and 10% for boys) in 2013 (Source-HDCs/Project MIS, 2014 and Household Survey, 2013).

Drop-out rates reduce by 5% per year The students’ drop-out rate in the project supported schools stands at 2.0% in 2014 (1.7% for boys and 2.4% for girls) compared with 3.4% (3.8% for boys and 3% for the girls) in 2013 and 1.2% (boys 1.4% and girls 1%) of national rate as of 2009 (Source-HDCs/Project MIS, 2014, Household Survey, 2013 and MICS-20098 for the national rate).

MLE materials developed from pre-primary to class III in languages of the CHT (MLE Material for PP-1 & PP-2 and Supplementary Materials for class I to class II)

Pre-primary materials for 11 ethnic communities developed and 7 are being utilized in the supported schools. Mother-tongue based supplementary materials alongside the National Curriculum & Textbook Board (NCTB) curriculum for grade 1–III were also developed.

MLE supplementary materials and reading material developed MLE supplementary materials (teaching aid) for grade II & III were developed by 3 HDCs and distributed to all 132 project MLE schools during the reporting period. The materials were developed considering the CHT context and language to supplement the materials of National Curriculum & Textbook Board of Bangladesh. MLE supplementary reading material on CHT folk stories was also developed for pre-primary children.

8 Multiple Indicators Cluster Survey, 2009

MLE supplementary reading materials for Grade II & III

MLE supplementary listening materials

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Sharing workshop on MLE approach HDCs organized 6 workshops at Upazila level to disseminate the MLE materials and share learning of MLE among the education stakeholders including GoB Education officials, teachers, local government institutions, language committee members, and SMCs.

s

III. Activities Not Done and Work Plan for 2014 - 2015

3.1 Activities not accomplished in 2013

SL Activities not done/completed

Reasons for Not Completing the Activities

Next action

Outcome: Establish and promote access to a quality primary education system in the CHT

Output 3.1 : HDCs, line department and SMCs education management system strengthened

Output 3.2: Increased access to basic education for the CHT population

1. Finalize the district education strategies

Due to continuous hartal (strikes) and road blockades, Education commission was unable to sit with the HDCs to finalize the draft district education strategies. The finalization is ongoing and will be completed by mid 2014.

No further action needed.

2. Organize exposure visit outside the CHT

Khagrachari HDC was unable to organize their planned exposure visit outside CHT due to political unrest in the country during 2013. Exposure visits were instead held in the first quarter of 2014.


Output 3.3 : Improved quality of education, including MLE and child centered methodology in the CHT

3. 2 days long bi-monthly teacher refreshers training

Due to the continued hartals (strikes), HDCs were unable to organize 4 batches of teachers’ refresher training as per the schedule in 2013. The trainings were held in early 2014.


3.2 Future Work Plan (16 June 2014 to 20 March 2015)

The detail work plan for the next period is given below.

SL. Activities Timeframe Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4

Outcome: Establish and promote access to a quality primary education system in the CHT Output-1 : HDCs, line department and SMCs education management system strengthened

1.1 Organize workshop/seminar/consultation/dialogue on education issues

X X

1.2 Organize dialogue meeting with local member of Parliament, chairman, member, chief executive officer, executive officer of HDC to increase resource allocation in favor of education

X

1.3 Organize national workshop/seminar/symposia on CHT Education strategy

X X X

1.4 Organize national level GoB staff visits to CHT X X X X

1.5 Arrange 5 day long training on academic supervision, inspection and mentoring for HDC education staff

X

1.6 Arrange training on planning and management for 3 HDCs including line departments

X

1.7 HDC and DPE outreach support and conduct Joint M&E activities (school X X X

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visits)

1.8 Provide teacher remuneration support (via HDCs on basis of survey) X X X

1.9 Organize education fair at district level to increase awareness and exchange experiences and learnings

X

Output 2: Increased access to basic education for the CHT population 2.1 Provide grants support to SMCs for classroom extension & renovation X X X 2.2 Extend the project working areas (Naikhongchari Upazila of Bandarban

district to be included in 2014) X X X

2.3 Provide grants support to SMCs of new working areas for school renovation, room extension and other necessary development in schools

X X X

2.4 Provide grants support to SMCs for ensuring separate toilet facilities for girls

X

2.5 Provide equipment & materials support to SMC and schools for child friendly schools

X

2.6 Provide School Feeding Support to HDCs (in collaboration with WFP) X X X 2.7 Organize technical coordination meetings (TAC meetings, Programme

Coordination.) X X X X

Output 3 : Improved quality of education, including MLE and child centered methodology in the CHT 3.1 Organize refresher training for school teachers X X X 3.2 Provide Training of Trainers (ToT) refreshers for HDCs staff X 3.3 Produce Education and Training Materials X X 3.4 Organize Teachers' Coordination Meetings X X X

3.5 Provide stipend support to teachers to complete SSC/ Higher Secondary School Certificate (HSC) level education from open university

X X X

3.6 Provide reward to the best student, teacher, MG, PTA and schools X 3.7 Organize exposure visits MLE intra CHT X X 3.8 Periodic M&E data collection X X X

3.9 Final Evaluation X X 3.10 Visibility activities X X X X

IV. VISIBILITY AND COMMUNICATIONS

During this reporting period, visibility of the project was ensured through events such as workshops, training, education fairs, day observations, and knowledge products such as MLE materials, CHTDF Annual Report, quarterly newsletter of CHTDF, diary, desk and wall calendars, billboards, and posters. All the visibility items and knowledge products include the EU logo and are attributed to EU funding support.

Banner produced for the Education Fair Billboard installed encouraging messages

and slogans related to education

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The project supported observation of International Mother Language Day, International Literacy Day and Child Rights Day both at Upazila and district levels. More than 14,000 people from various ethnic communities including Bangalee joined rallies in these events. 2500 caps and 1600 T-shirts with EU logo were distributed.

The project also ensures that local institutions such as HDCs follow the visibility rule. 15 billboards (12 billboards in 12 project Upazilas and 3 billboards in sadar/town areas of 3 hill districts) installed by HDCs with key education message were attributed to donor partnerships including EU. Further, quarterly newsletters, ‘CHT Development News’, were jointly published by MoCHTA and CHTDF regularly, focusing on project activities, results and lessons learned.

In 2013 as part of its knowledge products and visibility items, Chittagong Hill Tracts Development Facility (CHTDF) produced CHTDF Fact Sheet, 1500 copies of 2012 CHTDF Annual Report, 6300 copies of wall calendar and 2,200 copies of desk calendars. All these items refer to the support of EU. CHTDF website (www.chtdf.org) also provides regular project updates including best practices.

V. PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND PARTNERSHIPS

5.1 Project Management

The project is managed by UNDP through the CHTDF under the guidance of the National Steering Committee. The National Steering Committee (NSC) of the CHTDF meets on an annual basis with representatives from MoCHTA, CHT Regional Council, HDCs, Circle Chiefs, various GoB ministries including MoPME, EU and UNDP. Roles and responsibilities of National Steering Committee include reviewing the progress of the project, advising on major policy matters, providing strategic direction, and coordinating and supporting liaison with Dhaka based stakeholders.

The NSC is supported by an Education Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) on education related matters. The TAC convenes as necessary in Dhaka or in the CHT. Membership of the TAC includes MoPME, Education officials of DPE, HDCs, UNDP, UNICEF, and UNESCO.

5.2 Partnerships

Agreements with UN Agencies The project utilizes partnerships with UN agencies to tap their technical expertise in respective areas and achieve synergies and greater development results in the region. These included a partnership with WFP for school feeding programme in 12 HDC managed schools of CHT, benefiting over 800 school children, and with UNESCO on adult literacy programme for 859 adult beneficiaries in the CHT. Letters of Agreement (LoA) with HDCs The project has an on-going partnership with the three Hill District Councils (HDCs) from 2006 under Letters of Agreement (LoA) signed with each of the HDCs to support the implementation of the pilot community-based education program in the CHT. Over the last years, the project transferred staff and funds to HDCs and increased HDCs’ responsibilities to manage and deliver education services in the CHT as per the Peace Accord. Providing a salary grant to teachers, training and supervision etc. have been performed by the HDCs as regular responsibilities under the LoAs. NGO Contracts 3 local NGOs (one in each district) were engaged in providing technical support to SMCs/MGs/PTA/CMC (Centre Management Committee) including community mobilization activities and training for SMCs/MGs and development of teaching learning materials and training of trainers. The contracts with the local NGOs were completed in September 2013.

http://www.chtdf.org/

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5.3 Governance Committees

Four levels of coordination forums are ensuring policy work, field operations, stakeholder coordination, and school activities of the project. At the regional level, the Regional Coordination Team in Rangamati focuses on advocacy and policy activities. At the district level, the District Development Coordination Committee (DDCC) headed by the Chairperson of the HDCs plays a vital role in monitoring the field operations. They are responsible for the selection of the education project area, periodic project review and providing direction for future actions. At the Upazila level, the Upazila Development Coordination Committee (UzDCC) headed by the elected Upazila Chairman is responsible for facilitation of all concerned stakeholders in the Upazila, progress review, and oversight to the Union Development Coordination Committee (UDCC). At the lowest level, the Union Development Coordination Committee headed by Union Parishad Chairman is responsible for the selection of schools and project review. Since 2013, the CHT traditional leaders (headmen and karbaries) have been included in this committee for the first time as per the GoB circular.

VI. MONITORING AND EVALUATION

The project continued periodical data collection to ensure rigorous monitoring of the project progress. The data collection process relied on inputs from SMCs and local NGOs, while the verification of data was ensured at HDC and project levels through the work of HDC Monitoring Officers, Education Field Supervisors and the project staffs. The indicator tracking system is well in place to track each performance indicator of the project. Indeed, the project progress reports including project logical framework are being prepared based on the results and progress collected through the tracking system. In 2013 the project revised the M&E data collection tools/formats and data collection calendar in order to increase efficiency and quality of data collection process for the project. The Education Management Information System (EMIS) in MS Access too was modified based on the revised data collection formats. Accordingly, HDCs and local NGOs were trained on the revised process, and the data collection and analysis were done smoothly and in accordance with the 2013 Annual M&E Plan. To further increase ownership and sustainability, the project is also in process of enhancing the capacity of HDC staffs on data analysis (aside from data entry, cleaning, and consolidation). An M&E workshop held in April 2014 was part of this initiative. Once the capacity has been fully built, HDC staffs will be able to take full charge of the M&E process. Apart from the periodic data collection process, CHTDF conducted a comprehensive Household Survey in three districts of CHT in 2013 by engaging an independent research institution. The Survey sampled more than 2500 households from 13 Upazila in 3 districts. The survey results, as cited in this progress report, inform the good progress and impact of the project.

VII. LESSONS LEARNT, CHALLENGES, ACTION TAKEN AND SUSTAINABILITY

7.1 Lessons Learnt, Challenges and Action Taken

In 2013, the project faced challenge in the smooth implementation of planned activities across the board. This was due to the fragile political situation prevailed in all over Bangladesh as the year 2013 coincided with the 10th parliamentary election. Continued hartals (general stikes) were experienced across Bangladesh which hampered smooth implementation. Implementation plans were frequently revised to accommodate new changes. For example, planned workshops, training and discussions were rescheduled to weekends. The downsizing of the support structure within the Chittagong Hill Tracts Development Facility (CHTDF) was also felt as challenge across the organization, since majority of staffs needed to take on new responsibilities as a result of reduction in human resources. The below provides some specific challenges and lessons that are experienced under the 5 components. Component 1: Policy Focused Advocacy and Support A sudden change in the national policy as of January 2013 from school registration to nationalization stood as challenge as this implied a major change in the administrative process of ensuring government financing framework for the project-supported schools. In order to ensure sustainability of the schools beyond

34

lifespan of the project, the project responded by seeking EU’s approval on project extension, which was approved in September 2013. This extension enabled the project to work on documents needed to apply for nationalization of the project-supported schools in light of the policy change. The extension also enabled the project to continue and maximize impact of the ongoing interventions. The nationalization process was found not easy however. Various milestones were set to materialize the nationalization of all supported schools under the project. These included supporting schools, HDCs and MoCHTA to prepare documents necessary for nationalization, and having dialogues at the national level to soften the nationalization criteria of the CHT schools, and find ways for fast-tracking. For example, the project intensely engaged with the Prime Minister Office and Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) to enable the 44 project-supported schools under the reserved forest in the CHT to attain eligibility for nationalization. Component 2: Strengthening Systems Given the challenges of remoteness and language barrier, the strong education system in the CHT requires strong management from all stakeholders including communities. In this context, the project’s approach to actively involve the local community bodies, like School Management Committees (SMC), Mothers’ Group (MG) and Parent Teachers’ Association (PTA) was found extremely effective in ensuring the strong monitoring systems of the schools. The project mobilized the communities to manage school affairs such as monitoring student and teachers’ attendance, managing school grants, and sharing best practices and lessons learnt. It was found that in most cases, mobilization and empowerment of communities was the most effective way to attain and sustain good results from schools. At the district level, the limited capacity of HDCs in managing the education affairs has been a challenge. The project provided technical and mental support to ensure that HDC officials understand and execute their roles in the education subject as mandated by the CHT Accord and HDC Act. Similarly, at the national level, the project faced lack of understanding among education stakeholders regarding the CHT context. A series of dialogues and consultations helped increase level of understanding and awareness among the stakeholders.

The project had worked with local NGOs to support the HDC-managed schools in the CHT since its inception. And the contracts with the NGOs were completed as of September 2013. The discontinuation of services from the local NGOs coupled with downsizing of the CHTDF brought challenges in monitoring activities of the project while keeping the delivery package the same. To overcome this challenge, the project organized consultation meetings at every school, and conducted SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, and Threat) analysis involving SMCs, MGs, PTAs, local NGOs and HDC representatives. The analysis identified the existing gaps in the management of schools at all levels and recommended alternative options for management in light of discontinuation of NGO services. The possible measures included utilization of other existing platforms such as teacher coordination meetings to receive systematic updates on schools affairs. The revised data collection process introduced under the project is also contributing to efficient monitoring activities. Component 3: Access to Education

In 2013, the project explored avenues to increase literacy among adult learners given the very low literary rate in the Hill districts. Good lessons were learnt from this pilot adult literacy programme. Firstly, it was learned that timing of lessons determined the attendance of adult learners since most of them worked on full time. Secondly, the project should have a backstopping plan for teachers’ drop out including setting up a waiting list for an available pool of teachers in case of drop out. Thirdly, tailoring the learners’ materials to the CHT context was found very effective, as learners could familiarize themselves in the subject even if the learning language (Bangla) stood as a barrier. The project anticipates that the materials developed by the project can be replicated in the future to widen the coverage of adult literacy programme in the CHT.

Another pilot initiative towards increasing access to education was school feeding programme. The pilot initiative clearly recorded an increase in the enrollment rate when the feeding programme is in place at schools. Since the pilot initiative under the project covered a very limited number of schools (one school from each Upazila in the 12 target Upazila), and in response to the very positive results of the pilot programme, the scale-up should be planned to cover a larger number of supported schools. Component 4: Quality The project’s main challenge under this component has been to ensure qualified teachers at the project-supported schools while recruiting from the local communities. Indeed, the project had to soften the

35

criteria for recruitment of teachers in some cases in order to ensure local recruitment considering school children’s mother tongue and cultural implications. This resulted in recruiting some teachers with less academic background than the required qualification, and that their performance had to be compromised. To address this, the project introduced a stipend system for those teachers with less academic background, allowing them to receive certificate courses from an Open University. The system enabled the project to work more flexibly on teachers’ criteria while enabling their local recruitment. Another way for the project to ensure qualified teachers in the supported school is the training materials for teachers. In 2013, subject-based training leaflets were developed under the project with the technical support of the National Academy for Primary Education (NAPE). The project ensured the training materials were in line with those of the Primary Training Institute (PTI) which is of the government standard. In order to ensure good results on the Primary School Certificate (PSC) Examinations, the project supported school children of remote communities who face lack of exam preparation facilities in their villages. The project provided them with coaching classes. And special arrangements were made for them to stay overnight in the communities where the examination centers are located. These tailor made support have resulted in the high PSC examination passing rate among the students of the project-supported schools.

Component 5: Multi Language Education (MLE) In the CHT, most indigenous/ tribal children are disadvantaged by an education system that does not recognize their language or culture. As a result, even if they have the opportunity to enter into schools, they have difficulty in learning in a language they do not know. In this context the project’s strategy to follow mother tongue-based MLE in pre-primary schools has proved relevant and effective, since it recognizes the importance of children beginning their education in their mother tongue. As for the primary schools, the project instead of using the tailor made MLE materials, developed mother-tongue based supplementary materials which help students follow the textbooks in Bangla used in the schools under the National Curriculum & Textbook Board (NCTB) curriculum. The evidence from the project shows that supplementary materials in mother tongue are contributing to an increase in the enrolment and attendance of school children of the supported schools.

7.2 Sustainability

During this reporting, the project saw major progress on sustainability. Firstly, as a result of intense advocacy efforts, a total of 42 project supported schools have been nationalized and put under the government financing framework for the first time. This means that operations of these schools will continue beyond the project lifespan. Moreover, several milestones towards nationalization have been reached including relaxing criteria for nationalization of schools in the CHT and getting the land registration documents ready for those schools on leased land or reserved forests of the CHT in order for them to be included in the nationalization process. Building on these steps, finally, as of March 2013, the nationalization documents for 228 project-supported schools have been submitted to the Prime Minister’s Office for approval. Once the approval has been given, the project will be able to achieve sustainability of all supported schools. The advocacy activities will continue during the remaining period to make this happen.

The formulation of the district-based education strategy by the HDCs is another way to look at sustainability of the education sector in the CHT beyond the project lifespan. In 2013, the project supported HDCs to formulate a district based education strategy, reflecting educational needs and context of each hill district. The strategies also look into how well the local government institutions such as the HDCs and line department can work together while the implementation of the Peace Accord remains limited and consequently there are confusions on the roles and authorities among these institutions. Work on harmonization and coordination among the local government institutions will not only increase efficiency and effectiveness of the services to achieve the optimal service delivery models in the region but also address the sustainability issues, by looking at the financial mechanisms to enable this harmonization.

Involving community people in the project is yet another way to increase sustainability of results achieved The project has mobilized and empowered community groups such as SMCs, MGs, and PTAs to ensure better management of schools at the community level. These mobilization and capacity development efforts have not only resulted in keeping key members of SMCs and MGs engaged in grants-based school activities such as construction and renovation of school facilities but also empowered 47 SMCs and MGs to initiate/launch self-income generating activities and saving practices for school development. Some schools went further to develop their own sustainability plans which aim to address their financial sustainability.

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7.3 Way Forward

During the remaining period, the project will continue its capacity support to HDCs and School Management Committees. More focus will be given on sustainability to ensure project results beyond the project timespan.

Emphasis will be given on the following areas during the remaining period:

Continue advocating for nationalization of the project supported HDC-managed schools. Full implementation of project activities in Naikhongchari Upazila of Bandarban Moved forward on establishment of hygienic latrine facilities for girls. Continue strengthening the capacity of CHT institutions for better management of education

service delivery. Continue strengthening the capacity of School Management Committees. Advancement in teaching-learning supervision by the HDCs.

VIII. STATUS OF EXPENDITURE (INTERIM REPORT)

The project incurred a total eligible expenditure of EURO 2,002,026 during the reporting period. The cumulative expenditure stands at EURO 6,829,483 up to 15 June 2014. The forecast budget for the remaining period of the project is EURO 1,520,517.59.

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Justification for the negative expenditure shown on the report is provided below. Budget line 5.2.1 MTR:

The reduction in expenditure (Euro 7,419) was made to adjust the expenditure reported in the previous report. In the previous report, EURO 39,534, was reported as expenditure related to the Midterm Evaluation cost while the actual cost incurred was EURO, 32,115. The required adjustment was made hence on this report.

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1

Annex-1: Project Area Coverage (households, population and students by Upazila)

District Upazila Union

(No.) HHs (No.)

Population School (No.)

Students (No.) 2010 2011 2012 2013

Bandarban

Thanchi 4 3,379 16,992 25 1,196 1,524 2,059 1,196 Rowangchari 4 4,828 22,629 25 884 1082 906 723 Ruma 4 5,495 26,589 25 815 1158 830 863 Alikadam 2 7,027 35,264 25 1,935 1,814 1,248 2,566

Sub-total 4 14 20,729 101,474 100 4,830 5,578 5,043 5,348

Rangamati

Bilaichari 3 4,864 24,154 25 1,634 1,726 1,612 1,617 Jurachari 4 5,064 22,277 25 896 1025 1,637 1,060 Baghaichari 1 2,584 13,503 25 1,336 1,571 1,035 1,756 Rajasthali 3 4,832 22,611 25 1,053 1,070 1,163 1,117

Sub Total 4 11 17,344 82,545 100 4,919 5,392 5,447 5550

Khagrachari

Panchari 4 13,489 64,510 25 1,432 1,792 1615 1790 Matiranga 7 22,272 106,322 25 2,589 3,275 2828 2525 Mahalachari 5 9,046 44,086 26 1,879 2,231 2489 3162 Lakshmichari 3 4,440 21,745 24 1,556 1,641 1666 1632

Sub-total 4 19 49,247 236,663 100 7,456 8,939 8,598 9109 Total 12 44 87,320 420,682 300 17,205 19,909 19,088 20,007

Annex -2: Year wise Increase of Primary Education Accessibilities and Students

District Intervention Year School

Constructed / Renovated (No.)

One Room Extension of

Schools

Total Student

(No.)

Boys (No.)

Girls (No.)

Bandarban

2010 70 0 4,830 2,518 2,312

2011 100 20 5,578 3,090 2,488

2012 07 16 5,043 2702 2341

2013 - - 5,348 2,944 2,404

Rangamati

2010 70 0 4,919 2,719 2,200

2011 100 20 5,392 2,968 2,424

2012 15 26 5,447 2,981 2,446

2013 - - 5,550 3,039 2,511

Khagrachari

2010 70 0 7,456 3,858 3,598

2011 100 20 8,939 4,565 4,374

2012 04 37 5,447 2,981 2,466

2013 - - 9,109 4,651 4,458

Total

2010 210 0 17,205 9,095 8,110

2011 300 60 19,909 10,623 9,286

2012 26 78 19,088 10,072 9,016

2013 - - 20,007 10,634 9,373

Increase from base year 2010 (No.)

- - 2,802 1,539 1,263

Increase from base year 2010 (%)

- - 16 % 17% 16%

Annex -3: Number of Students Passed in Primary Examination Certificate (Year-wise)

Districts Upazilas 2011 2012 2013

Student attended (No.)

Student passed (No.)





Total Boy Girl Total Boy Girl Total Boy Girl Total Boy Girl Total Boy Girl Total Boy Girl

Bandarban

Thanchi 30 12 18 30 12 18 36 22 14 34 21 13 48 21 27 43 20 23

Rowangchari 45 20 25 45 20 25 8 4 4 7 4 3 25 17 8 25 17 8

Ruma 14 5 9 13 4 9 16 12 4 13 11 2 19 9 10 14 8 6

Alikadam - - - - - - 2 1 1 1 0 1 8 4 4 10 3 7

Sub-total 4 89 37 52 88 36 52 62 39 23 55 37 18 100 51 49 89 48 41 Rangamati

Bilaichari 1 0 1 1 0 1 116 70 46 112 67 45 101 40 61 98 39 59

Jurachari 28 7 21 28 7 21 36 28 8 31 25 6 28 7 21 28 7 21

Baghaichari 87 32 55 87 32 55 101 68 33 101 68 33 87 32 55 87 32 55

Rajasthali 69 33 36 67 31 36 79 36 43 76 36 40 69 32 37 67 31 36

Sub Total 4 185 72 113 183 70 113 332 202 130 320 196 124 285 111 174 280 109 171

Khagrachari

Panchari 115 60 55 114 60 54 136 70 66 90 47 43 115 54 61 114 53 61

Matiranga 294 149 145 277 132 145 309 132 177 286 123 163 294 156 138 277 145 132

Mahalachari 194 99 95 180 88 92 222 113 109 209 108 101 191 101 93 180 92 88

Lakshmichari 122 78 44 117 75 42 319 171 148 303 162 141 122 45 77 117 42 75

Sub-total 4 725 386 339 688 355 333 986 486 500 888 440 448 725 356 369 688 332 356

Total 12 999 495 504 959 461 498 1,380 727 653 1263 673 590 1,110 518 592 1,057 489 568

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Annex-4: LoA Achievements in the HDCs in 2013 by District

Rangamati Bandarban Khagrachari

Developed draft district education strategies Developed draft district education strategies Developed draft district education strategies

Provided grants to 100 SMCs to implement School Development Plan (SDP)



Provided salary support to all teachers Provided salary support to all teachers Provided salary support to all teachers

Provided 2 days refresher training for 188 teachers Provided 2 days refresher training for 187 teachers

Provided 2 days refresher training for 206 teachers

Organized education fair in the district and provided reward for best student, teacher, SMC, MG, PTA & schools of each Upazila in the district.



Developed MLE supplementary reading materials for grade II & III, and PP listening materials on CHT folk stories, led by Rangamati HDC

Developed MLE supplementary reading materials for grade II & III, and PP listening materials on CHT folk stories, led by RHDC

Developed MLE supplementary reading materials for grade II & III, and PP listening materials on CHT folk stories, led by RHDC

Provided stipend support for the teachers to complete SSC and HSC under Open University who have not completed earlier either SSC or HSC in order to meet the educational qualification for school nationalization.

Provided stipend support for the teachers to complete SCC and HSC under Open University who have not completed earlier either SSC or HSC in order to meet the educational qualification for school nationalization.

Provided stipend support for the teachers to complete SCC and HSC under Open University who have not completed earlier either SSC or HSC in order to meet the educational qualification for school nationalization.

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Annex- 5: Progress on Communication and Visibility Plan

The overall communication objective, as stated in the Communication and Visibility Plan of the project, is as follows:

Design and implement effective strategies for communication and visibility of EU funded CHTDF Education programme. Local, regional and national level advocacy, keeping main focus on sustainable development of achieving improved profile of quality Education aligned with Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP), PEDP II, PROG3 and International (EFA and MDG) education targets in the CHT specifically targeting primary, secondary and tertiary level stakeholders.

In line with the above objective, specific activities targeting stakeholders at various levels were planned, and implemented, as shown in the table below. EU visibility guideline was followed, and EU and UNDP logos were placed appropriately on relevant knowledge and visibility products (some samples of which are shown further below).

Communication and Visibility Activities Quantity Planned

Indicators of Achievement

Achievement so far Outcome/ Remarks

Primary Level

Specific objective: Raise awareness and understanding on the education component activities and the donor and UNDP’s initiatives for increasing access & quality of education. Simultaneously empower [local communities] to realize their rights to a quality education in line with national and international strategies.

Printing Annual Planner for classrooms/schools with photos and messages in Indigenous Language

600 per year

# of schools that have annual planner on the wall within January

Like earlier years, in 2013 three HDCs printed 1,200 annual planners and distributed to all project schools.

In 2012, HDCs printed and distributed 1,200 annual planners to project schools.

480 project schools received annual planners and used annual planner that supported in systematic planning of school activities.

Producing Teaching Learning Materials (TLM), e.g. Big Books, Alphabet and Number Charts.

Logos prominently displayed in all teaching learning materials and workshop banners.

Adequate numbers of TLM i.e., Big books, alphabet and number charts were printed and distributed in all schools for pre-primary classes along with teachers’ guide

581 teachers are equipped with the teachers’ guide and 5,065 gained access to joyful learning materials.

Producing Banners, Posters, etc observing School inauguration ceremony, Literacy day, National Day, Mother Tongue Day, etc

300 # of (min 1 banner per event) Banners of different events displayed at key locations (i.e ceremonies rallies etc) with EU & UNDP

In 2013, on the observations of International literacy day and Child Rights day, 14 banners were produced and a total of 2500 caps and 1600 T-shirts were distributed among the participants.

27,600 participants of around 42% (11,670) women including teachers, students, govt. officials, civil society representatives had exposed to the EU support for promoting access to education in CHT.

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logos. In 2012, on the observations of International literacy day and Child Rights day 3500 caps and 1200 T-shirts were distributed among the participants and a total of 5230 participants participated in the rally among them 1638 were female. In 2012, around 95 banners were used for meeting, workshops, and rallies at Upazila and district

In 2009-2011, 333 banners were used for meeting, workshops, and rallies at upazila and district level during the reporting period.

Installing Road Signs/Bill boards supporting education objectives at strategic point in each District

(# of rd signs) Road Signs and 3 Bill Boards installed in the three districts with key messages of the programme and logos on it.

In 2013, all the HDCs installed 15 Bill Boards, 3 at district level and 12 at Upazila level for creating greater visibility impacts. In 2012, 15 Bill Boards were installed at 3 district and 12 Upazilas of CHT.

Till 2011, all the three HDCs installed 3 billboards in strategically important locations.

Awareness raised on importance of quality education including HDCs’ education service role and the support of EU for development of education in the CHT.

Secondary and Tertiary Levels:

Specific objective at secondary level: increase understanding and acceptance of CHTDF intervention, raise awareness on education issues in the CHTand build awareness and capacity in different sectors. Efforts are given for emphasizing the roles of Donor and UNDP Bangladesh in this process.

Specific objective at tertiary level: to share learning with broader audience towards increased access, awareness and understanding of the CHT context, to increase visibility and understanding of our component activities and to build wider support base for development of quality education in the CHT.

Education intervention events and issues highlighted in Standard CHTDF materials, e.g.

CHTDF website: www.chtdf.org Reports Annual Diary

At least 5 photos with education focus updated in photo database of CHTDF website once in two

CHTDF’s website, annual report, annual diary etc. highlighted the education issues and Quarterly Newsletters regularly covered news, photos, case studies etc. on

Thousands of secondary and tertiary level stakeholders i.e., policymakers, media professionals, development practitioners, traditional leaders of CHT, researchers had opportunities to

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Thursday letter, events like Cultural diversity Festival,

CHTLCG

months.

education issues. Photos uploaded on the CHTDF website under the Education section (photo gallery) of the site together with narrative text. Annual Diary of CHTDF also provides information about Education interventions.

learn about education issues in CHT.

Opportunities directly identified within project design:

Occasional Leaflets, and brochures produced for Education component;

All training & learning materials; Workshop banners.

Logos prominently displayed in all teaching learning materials and workshop banners.

# of Leaflets & brochures distributed to donors, CHTDF partners and GoB, with key program messages and logos and statement of funding support.

Adequate materials for training/ workshops/ meetings produced and distributed to participants and 347 banners were displayed in those events organized at different levels.

Leaflet and brochure were published in 2009 and distributed in different important meetings with policymakers, donors and guests of celebration of international literacy day-2010 and another leaflet and brochure is ready and will be published by December.

EU’s logo was visible in every events organized. A total of 22, 370 participants of around 47% women including teachers, govt. officials, public representatives, Language Committee members, NGOs, civil society representatives understanding on education issues enhanced.

Stakeholders particularly the duty bearers reminded on their commitment and responsibilities as agreed in Peace Accord and other agreements putting references of those documents to the brochure/ information materials.

Providing education information in information/ briefing packs for national level media, relevant ministries, donors & other national level stakeholders with EU visibility.

Education information provided in TAC meeting through presentation and folders with EU logo containing information materials

Policymakers, donors’ representatives and education experts are aware of CHTDF education issues that enabled DPE taking affirmative actions.

Press releases/Press visits: Providing exposure pack

High level visitors from EU delegation, ambassadors and UNDP high officials made

High level visitors from EU delegation, ambassadors and UNDP high officials accompanied by media professionals received information pack/ and presentation on CHT issues while education issue was addressed.

Photo database: regular contribution from the education cluster on activities

Photo data base maintained and selective number of photos shared

High quality and standard materials produced with relevant photographs

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through website, annual report, annual diary, calendar and other relevant publications i.e., Thursday Letter issues etc.

that enabled wide range of stakeholders sensitized on the uniqueness and diversity of CHT

VIDEO documentary on Advocacy. Messages and Logo of EU and UNDP displayed at the initial and end stage of the documentary produced on education interventions.

Logos of EU and UNDP placed on the CD and on the cover of the CD of the documentary.

DVD developed (consisting of 4 theme) that carries message to raise public awareness.

Accurately displayed EU and UNDP logos and recognized the contribution on raising awareness on education.

Policymakers and education professionals are sensitized and gave commitment to address the issues of relevance and quality education.

Community people particularly SMC, MG and PTAs considering affirmative action regarding promotion of hygiene and sanitation practices to promote quality education.

All Teaching Learning Materials (TLM) Logos prominently displayed in all teaching learning materials and workshop banners.

Adequate numbers of TLM i.e., Big books, alphabet and number charts were printed and distributed in all schools for pre-primary classes along with teachers’ guide where EU logo were placed and make visible following the visibility guideline.

More than 20, 0000 pupils had opportunities to enjoy joyful learning materials and 595 teachers are equipped with the teachers’ guide that ease child-centred teaching methods in practice and enabled quality education.

Visibility of EU supports persuading different actors that enhanced access to and quality of education in CHT.

Organize Upa Zilla Children’s Art exhibition / competition etc.

12 Upa Zilla At least 1 art exhibitions /competition conducted per year during 2010-2013. All materials displayed in a corner stall.

In 2013, 3 Art competitions were organized in 3 education fairs of 3 hill districts. At National level, art competitions were also organized in association with Bangladesh Shishu Academy in connection with the Cultural Diversity Festival.

Children’s Hand Writing

Over thousand of children reflect their thinking on ‘People and Culture in Hilly Areas’ that paves the way of wider sensitization of common people on diversity issues.

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Competition organized for pre-primary level pupils where over 5000 children took part

Organize MTR & final evaluation dissemination workshop for key stakeholders and duty bearers

2 Reports One MTR to be conducted in 2011 and final evaluation in 2013. WS reports distributed to key stakeholders.

The Mid-Term Evaluation (MTR) was held in October-Nov 2012, evaluation findings were shared with key stakeholders.

The evaluation findings and recommendations contributed to implementing the project activities smoothly.

Providing information/briefing packs for national level media, relevant ministries, donors & other national level stakeholders with EU visibility.

1 time producing & printing bags in 2011

Information/briefing packs with education related information provided at exposure visits to the press, relevant ministries, donors & other national level stakeholders with EU logo.

CHTDF produced 10,000 Factsheets that included Education related information and provided to different stakeholders.

Stakeholders became aware about education project activities for increasing access to quality education in the CHT as per the CHT Accord.

Local events in the CHT to increase awareness on quality education and MLE

3 Education fairs organized in 2013 with a view to promote quality education in the CHT.

3 Art competitions were organized in 3 education fairs of 3 hill districts in 2013. At National level, art competitions were also organized in association with Bangladesh Shishu/Children Academy in connection with the Cultural Diversity Festival.

6 learning sharing workshop on MLE approach were held in three hill districts in order to disseminate the MLE approach across the CHT.

The fairs brought different stakeholders under a platform to discuss and share their experiences, concerns and recommendations for promoting and increasing access to quality education in the CHT. Through MLE learning sharing workshops, different stakeholders came to know about MLE teaching learning materials, its usage and practices in the practical fields, and realized that MLE is really an important tool of the teaching approach in line with inclusive education that can be supplemented in the implementation of national curriculum.

United Nations Development Programme – Bangladesh

Documents

Transcript of United Nations Development Programme – Bangladesh