Recent discussions have shed light on Bangladesh's staggering dropout rates, revealing that the number of out-of-school children and adolescents surpasses 2.5 crore.
These revelations emerged during a collaborative event with GPE on Thursday at hotel in the capital, where a discussion paper titled 'Challenge of Education for Out-of-School Children and Adolescents: Finding Solutions' was presented. Emeritus Professor Dr Syed Manzoorul Islam chaired the event, Educationist and social activist Rasheda K. Choudhury also present at this event.
According to Abdur Rauf, the programme manager of the Campaign for Popular Education (CAMPE), despite Bangladesh's strides in education, recent reports from the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) show that an overwhelming 2.57 million children and adolescents aged 5 to 24 remain out of education.
Rauf highlighted that while 59 percent of individuals between 5 and 24 years old are enrolled in educational institutions, a concerning 41 percent, totaling 25.7 million, are deprived of education, surpassing the populations of many countries.
Government statistics from 2022 reveal alarming dropout rates of approximately 14 percent in primary and 36 percent in secondary education. To address this, the government has implemented various projects, including the Second Chance Education Programme, aiming to provide education to 1 million dropout children.
Nurjahan Khatun, Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education, emphasised the need for sustainable solutions, advocating for mainstreaming non-formal education initiatives into long-term plans like PEDP-5.
Distinguished speakers at the event included Md. Abul Kalam Azad, the Director General of the Non-formal Education Bureau, who called for a comprehensive strategy to address dropout rates and emphasised ongoing challenges.
Emeritus Professor Syed Manjurul Islam emphasised poverty and accessibility issues as the primary causes of dropout rates in his concluding remarks.
