“I don’t like to work. But what is the point of education if my stomach is empty at the end of the day?”
Lamia, who works at a bangle factory in Dhaka’s Lalbagh, asked the alarming question. She was a fourth-grade student at a government school in the capital before Bangladesh was hit by the Covid-19 pandemic. Now, she works for herself and her family so she can secure food with a Tk1,600 salary.
Lamia said that she used to enjoy school, but she was forced to start working after the pandemic as extreme poverty crippled her family.
“My father lost his job, and my mother started working as a house help in Dhaka. But that small amount of money wasn’t enough,” she said. She further asked: “How will I buy notes, pens, and other essentials for school, when my family cannot even afford food?"
Just like Lamia, eight-year-old Sayeed was also seen at the same factory. It has been six months since he moved to Dhaka with his family from Kishoreganj. Sayeed looked down when asked if he wanted to go back to school; his voice sounded heavy and sad.
After some time, Sayeed’s mother, who works at the same factory, came with his lunch.“If I had the luxury to send my son to school, do you think I would have sent him to work at this age?” she asked, adding the recent flood washed away their home in Kishoreganj.
“If everything goes well, I will send Sayeed to school again. But the increasing prices of daily commodities is making it difficult for us even buy food,” she added.
Lamia and Sayeed are not the only children who had to leave school for the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Educational Information and Statistics, there are 33,973,473 primary and secondary level students in Bangladesh.
Among them, the number of primary-level students stands at 21,551,691 at 1,330,002 institutions. And, around 124,210,782 students in 20,849 educational institutions at the secondary level. However, a survey by the Out of School Children Program under the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education shows after the pandemic a total of 12,96,634 students did not enroll in schools again. Among them, 497,889 children never got admission to school and 868,744 dropped out.
The survey, which was conducted in 331 upazilas of 61 districts of Bangladesh, also shows that 70% of children dropped out after passing first and second grades. Around 18% dropped out after finishing third, and 8% after fourth grade.
According to sources, under sub-component 2.5 of the Fourth Primary Education Development Program (PEDP4), children (dropouts and non-admissions) aged between eight and 14 will be given a second chance to get admitted to schools through some selected NGOs.
The program aims to enroll 1 million children in schools by 2023. More than 600,000 children have signed up and 100,000 of them in six districts have been given quality education, according to State Minister for Primary and Mass Education Zakir Hossain. Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education Secretary Abu Bakar Siddique said that they were implementing the program in a planned way.
However, an 11-year-old Hridoy says he has never heard of the program. He works as an assistant to a driver of a human hauler in Narayanganj and has no clue whether he would ever continue his studies.“After schools were closed due to the pandemic, my mother asked me to start working as we had no idea when the institutions would have reopened,” he said.
Meanwhile, another report by the DSHE said some 6,556,536 students were enrolled in 11,679 institutions when the pandemic hit Bangladesh in 2020.
Later in 2021, that number grew to 6,649,538 as some 93,000 students enrolled in the educational institutions. However, a total of 408,155 students did not participate in their annual examination, which is about 7.38% of the total number.The report noted that early marriages and child labour were the leading causes of why so many students dropped out. It also said that some 47,414 got married in 2021, while 77,706 students had to join work for survival.
Besides, 355,935.people were absent from the institutions.
Students' dreams shattered by floods
Before Bangladesh could recover from the ongoing pandemic, it was hit by one of the most devastating floods of all time. Millions of people from 17 districts of the north, north-Eastern, and south-eastern regions of the country were inundated.
The Secondary School Certificate (SSC), Higher Secondary School Certificate (HSC), and equivalent examinations were also postponed due to floods. Over 490 out of 500 schools and other educational institutions in Sylhet were forced to shut down as most places were inundated and roads became unusable.
During that time, many families in rural areas married off their school-going daughters due to food shortages and poverty. One of the flood victims from Sunamganj, 17-year-old Nurunnahar, can be considered an example of the situation. She said her whole life took a tragic turn in only two months. “During the pandemic, my family was not in need as we had farms full of crops. But after the flood hit our region, my family sent my younger brother and me to my aunt’s place in Narayanganj.”
Nurunnahar said her aunt later got her a job at a factory in Fatullah, and after working for two months she got married to her maternal cousin.“I wanted to study after I got married. I studied till eighth grade and scored the highest marks in class. But now I don’t even dream of it,” she said as she wiped her tears with her scarf.
According to data, over 500,000 students dropped out of educational institutions during the recent flash floods. Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Directorate Director (Monitoring and Evaluation Wing) Prof Mohammad Amir Hossain said a list of affected students in flooded areas was made.
Monitoring is going on currently, so it is possible to make educational institutions suitable for teaching again, he mentioned. Deputy Director of Primary Education Department (Planning and Development) Dr Md Nurul Amin said that Bangladesh is a disaster-prone country.
Mahmud Hossain Opu/Dhaka Tribune“Every year, natural calamities take place in our country. This year too, Sylhet, Sunamganj, and other districts were flooded and the educational institutions of those areas were damaged,” he said. Steps are being taken to repair and rebuild the institutions as necessary, he noted.
According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, on average 169,296 students drop out of school every year due to natural disasters. In five years, from 2015 to 2020, over 1,015,777 children had to put a stop to their education, and some 2,60,876 students dropped out only because of floods.
One main reason students leave schools is poor communication and transportation systems after natural disasters. On June 21, a four-storey building of Azimnagar Union High School of Manikganj's Harirampur Upazila, the only school of the three unions in Durgam Char of Padma, collapsed due to the strong current of the Padma River.
About 400 students were studying in that school before the pandemic and the demolition. Recently, the school temporarily reopened by establishing a tin-shed house in an empty space within a kilometer of that area.
But after the reopening, only 100-150 students attended classes, said Principal Aulad Hossain Biplop. Around 70 SSC candidates were studying here, but now only 48 are attending. He further mentioned that authorities had bought land for the school, but locals are not allowing them to start the construction.
He hoped students would return to the school after a new building was built. However, Rubel, an SSC candidate from the school said the opposite. He mentioned that he is not interested in continuing his studies as he got a job at a printing factory in Dhaka.
“I would have passed SSC by now, but the government has been postponing the exams for Covid-19 and flood. I have to look after my family as my father died,” he added.
Experts’ suggestions
Experts say natural disasters and financial struggles are the main reasons why so many students drop out of schools and colleges in Bangladesh. Prof Dr Md Ahiduzzaman of Dhaka University's Institute of Education and Research said face-to-face learning is important for students to gain interest in classes.
“I believe face-to-face learning should be brought back into our education system. But for that, Sylhet, Sunamganj, and other flood-hit district educational institutions must be repaired on an emergency basis,” he said.
Bangladesh must always be prepared so educational institutions can continue their operations throughout pandemics, epidemics, natural disasters, or even a hike in commodity prices.“If necessary, separate investments should be made in the education sectors,” he mentioned.
According to Prof Mizanur Rahman of DU’s Department of Marketing, the money allocated to the education sector is not properly spent. He said, according to the United Nations (UN) charter, it is said that Bangladesh will spend 6% of its GDP on education. “But we never even crossed 2%.”
The DU professor later mentioned that the money allocated for projects is not always fully used. “And the money allocated for development projects money is often returned.”
The money should be allocated to the education sector, he said. In addition, flood-prone areas with high dropout rates should begin monitoring students. If needed, authorities should go door to door and try to bring the students back to school. “Our education system also needs a change, so students are more interested in studying.”
What the authorities say
Dilip Kumar Banik, additional director general (PEDP4) of the Directorate of Primary Education, said that all schools are now open after Bangladesh overcame the effects of Covid-19 and floods. He noted that to compensate for lost time caused by the pandemic, Bangladesh Covid-19 Sector Response (CSSR) was set up.
“Besides, various projects have distributed learning materials to about 60,000 schools. Students from remote areas were given special attention,” the official said.
On top of that, educational institutions that were battered by floods or other natural calamities were given money for repair work. Students were also provided with new books from the government, he added.
Meanwhile, Prof Md Amir Hossain, director (Monitoring and Evaluation Wing) of the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE), said students were given assignments when they could not go to school due to the rise in Covid-19 cases.
“It was a very effective move. Despite this, a significant number of students dropped out of schools during that period,” he added.He also noted that they are constantly communicating with the school teachers and visiting institutions.
“We are trying to get students back to school through communication. Still, the fear of students dropping out remains. If the amount and number of stipends offered by schools can be increased, I believe many students can return to school,” he added.
[This report was prepared as part of a mentorship program for women journalists organized by DW Akademie]