A three years project (2019-2021) “Excluded Peoples Rights in Bangladesh (EPR)” supported by Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF), the fund is originated from UKaid through Department for International Development (DFID).

Project Goal: The overall goal of the project is to contribute towards ensuring education and health rights of excluded children through strengthening community participation.

Outcome 1 : Enhanced efficiency and effectiveness in govt. primary school focusing on accessibility of marginalized and excluded children;
Outcome 2: Local duty bearers for primary health care and primary education are more accountable and responsive towards delivering quality education and health services;
Outcome 3 : The local community are engaged and play watchdog role to ensure accountable education and health system.

Major Problems to be addresses:
1). Teacher Absenteeism, high dropout rate, poor educational services;
2). Doctor and nurse absenteeism, shortage of equipment, poor access of excluded peoples and poor services in health centers
Background, Problem analysis and Rationales:
Currently the world is facing a serious learning crisis. A new World Bank dataset illustrates the bleak outlook: in developing countries. It is found that less than 50 percent of students are achieving proficiency in basic skills, compared to 86 percent in developed countries. Despite great gains in enrollment and an ambitious goal (SDG4), education quality worldwide is failing children, affecting their empowerment, employability, future earnings, health, and society’s overall growth potential. The recent World Development Report 2018 identifies three policy actions that can lead to real change: 1) assessing learning, to make it a serious goal; 2) acting on evidence, to make schools work for learners; and 3) aligning actors, to make the system work for learning. Approaches towards implementing these recommendations are both technical and systemic, as well as political in nature. The Global Education Monitoring Report (2017/18) also underlines that everyone has a role to play in improving education.

Government of Bangladesh has made remarkable progress in human development, poverty reduction and economic growth. GNI per capita has grown from around US$780 in 2010 to US$1,330 in 2016, (The World Bank, 20216) and thus allowed the country to cross the LDC to become a developing and lower middle-income country. The economy of Bangladesh has been predicted to have grown at 6.8% over 2016-17 period which was restricted over a decade at 6.0% on an average. Poverty has been reduced to 24.3% with increased income at all level. While striving towards attaining the EFA and MDGs, Bangladesh achieved significant in gaining gender parity and also in increasing enrolment up to 98% particularly in primary education. Primary education is the foundation of all learning. A large primary education sector is managed by Bangladesh government covering 126,615 formal and non-formal primary level educational institutions. Given the huge dependence of poor households on government services, primary education provision for all is highly subsidized and financed by the government as committed in the Article 17 of Bangladesh Constitution. Among different types of public and private primary institutions 50% are directly delivered and managed by the government (APSC 2016).

Bangladesh is committed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. The government also believe that without reasonable improvement of health and education the other goals could not be achieved and even the achievement will not be sustainable. Government has recently approved 4th Health Sector Program (2017-2021) of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW), will put the country on track to attaining the targets by 2030. The Health, Population and Nutrition Sector Development Program (HPNSDP) played an important role in achieving better health indicators. Health policies and reforms in Bangladesh primarily aim at providing basic healthcare to all. It is to be recalled here that, health has been acknowledged as a right in the National Health Policy 2011. The policy aims to strengthen primary health and emergency care for all, and expand availability of client-centred, equity-focused and high-quality healthcare services. It advocates for equitable access to health outcomes care by gender, disability and poverty to achieve better health for all. In order to bring primary healthcare services to the doorsteps of people, 10,723 community clinics (CCs) at a ratio of one CC for every 6,000 populations were established during 1998-2001. In 2009, the CC initiatives were revitalized by the government. It has been reported that, at present there are 13,500 CCs in the rural areas, and another 4,500 CCs will be set up soon.

Despite these quantitative progress in health indicators, the quality of healthcare in both public and private health services is not satisfactory. Resource constraints, lack of professionalism, poor management and inadequate policy initiatives are the major reasons. Besides, several emerging issues are posing challenges in the health sector of Bangladesh. For example, the burden of non-communicable disease has been on the rise. There are inequities as regards accessing health services which is reflected through differential health outcomes for different groups of people based on their economic condition, geographical location and gender. This is evident in case of early childhood mortality, neonatal mortality, infant mortality, under-five mortality, vaccination coverage, child nutritional status and utilization of antenatal care by women (WHO, 2015; Rahman et al., 2017).

The poor are also exposed to a number of diseases caused by living conditions and lifestyles, and this is true for both rural and urban areas. Due to exposure to new infections, lack of access to safe and clean environments, and poor-quality healthcare, they are exposed to various health risks. Climate-induced health risks affect the poor most. Primary health coverage in urban areas, particularly among slums and street dwellers, remain a challenge. Doctor shortage and absenteeism is another challenges to provide quality health services.

Rational of the Proposed Project
Despite impressive development achievements, significant challenges still persist for the country. Inequality is visible as per BBS 2016 report showing some 10 per cent of the poor owns only one per cent of total income. Generally poor socio-economic situation impacts on education to certain extent and increases inequality. Wider inequalities in society also has adverse impact on the school system and partly determine patterns of education inequality. Particularly in primary education, dropout rate is 19.2 % (boys 22.3% and girls 16.1%) in 2016 while the repetition rate stands 6.1% (boys 6.4% and girls 5.8%) in all grades. Though the rate of students’ absenteeism is gradually declining, it is still 12.5 % where boys are 12.8% and girls 12.3%. Regular absenteeism leads those students to eventually drop out. 65.3% students facing physical punishment in schools and 64.3% guardians accepted the. Though Government declared the expansion of primary education up to grade viii from grade V, no concrete initiative has been taken to realize this gigantic task. As per the NSA data, student proficiency rate is less than 30%.

Decision making process is highly centralized in Ministry of Education and Ministry of Primary and Mass Education. It is also likely that poor governance has a disproportionate effect on the poor and is important in explaining levels of education inequality. Therefore, sector governance and government education policy in particular, are likely to have important consequences for educational access and quality. Lack of accountability and good governance in education are the most important factors behind failure in quality service delivery. For ensuring transparency, responsiveness and accountability in education, the key concern is to respond to the gap that exists between citizens and institutions. So, there is a need to simultaneously strengthen the accountability and responsiveness of educational institutions and policies through changes in institutional practice and a focus on the enabling structures for good governance. When accountability works, citizens especially the marginalized groups are able to claim demands on institutions and ensure that those demands are met. This can enable them to realize their rights, and gain access to resources and services.

Though the government has established number health centers both in rural and urban areas but the service is not adequate. Most of the cases the excluded peoples not access or limited access in the health centers and the health centers could not provide enough services due to shortage of doctors, medical equipment, shortages of medicine and rigorous doctor absenteeism.

Relevance of the project:
Campaign for Popular Education (CAMPE) is an advocacy, research and campaign network promoting quality education, retention and completion of primary & secondary education cycle of both boys and girls. It has gradually grown into a well-known credible coalition of about 1000 education NGOs, researchers, education rights’ campaigners and teacher associations sharing similar vision and mission.

As part of promoting good governance in education, CAMPE has been closely working with teachers, SMC members, UP Standing Committee, local education officials, community people and focusing on effectiveness of SLIP, SAC, PTA etc. CAMPE has also experience on the use of social accountability tools i.e. citizens’ report card, community score card, citizen charter, social audit, interface meeting etc. through implementation of different initiatives. These tools helped to collect feedback of the parents on the quality of and access to services available in government primary schools. The journey has been satisfying and encouraging.

Currently with the adoption of SDGs particularly Goal 4 for education there is urgent need for CAMPE to continue its watchdog role and to undertake further interventions in order to achieve the goal through promoting transparency and accountability of relevant duty bearers. Hence, CAMPE feels the need for strengthening and expanding this initiative keeping in mind the experience and lesson learnt. CAMPE also experience to work with local government officials, local government bodies and local services provider authorities.

Organizational relevant experience and learning and they will be fed into the project
1. CAMPE has long experience to work on promoting voice and accountability for quality education through facilitating `Community Education Watch Groups’ at the local level. The Groups were formed to strengthen accountability mechanism and to promote `Enrolment, Retention and Completion’ of primary education with quality. During the last few years, CAMPE facilitated 32 CEWG in 32 unions of 8 districts. The initiative created a space for community engagement and raising voice for quality education and provided CAMPE with enough experience of working on issues like education governance, accountability and transparency of stakeholders. The CWG process address the excluded peoples considering sex, PWD, ethnic minority, people live in hard to reach areas and on board them in local development process through raising their voice demanding accountable governance.
2. CAMPE also has vast experience for addressing the excluded people rights since 1991. CAMPE has designed and implement number of projects on inclusive education focusing education of children with disability, education of ethnic minority children with their own language, education of hard to reach area’s children etc.
3. So, CAMPE will apply its proven result oriented approach “Community Watch Group” in EPR project, which will address the excluded peoples in project areas and ensure their rights and access in education and health system through promoting accountable governance.

Implementation strategies to be followed:
Strategy-1: The activities will be carried out in three level – a) grassroots level, b) subnational level and c) national level. CWG will carry out the the grassroots level activities, partner organizations will carry out the project activities and interaction at sub national level and CAMPE will take the issues at the national level and advocating with policy makers, relevant ministries, directorates, development partners.

Strategy-2: It will work through partnership with 2 selected partner organizations on the basis of their capacity, legal identity, previous experience and interest. Total 6,195 students and 45,971 excluded peoples will be reached through the project. Project locations have been selected based on criteria of poor literacy rate, poor socio-economic situation, ethnic minority centered areas and former enclaves.

Strategy-3: CWG will play a key role for community engagement process to accountable the duty bearer and generate data. CAMPE will use these data for national level advocacy to bring about policy changes and thereby establish voice and accountability. The PNGOs will be a bridging point for data transformation from grassroots to national and also disseminate at subnational level.

Sustainability plan and Exit Strategy
In first year, the project investment will be merely to CEWG group formation, their capacity building, relation development between CEWG and public institution and last year the CEWG will work indecently as a community institution. The project expects the awareness and capacity building of the local actors. In last year the project will give more emphasis on exit plan and prepare the community and local partner organization to run it independently with minimum cost managed by local resource. At national level CAMPE and MJF will jointly advocating to the government and development partners to replicate the methods to other government primary school through their government programs.

Exit Strategy:
CAMPE will transfer the knowledge, experience and expertise gained through the project to the local partners, CWG, government and other CSO groups for their future work. After the project, CAMPE will continue regular follow up through its partner organization and try to assist them for managing resource and their capacity building.

Project Duration: January 2019 to August 2022

Auditor’s Report

Project Completion Report

Background

Drowning is a major public health problem in the world. Every year the world is losing approximately 372,000 lives (42 every hour) for drowning which is almost two thirds attributed to malnutrition and over half of malaria. But still it is neglected issue in the public health system though drowning is the third leading cause of death globally. Of all drowning deaths, more than 96% occur in low and middle-income countries where individuals are exposed to water during daily life. The rate of fatal drowning in low and middle – income countries is six times higher than in high-income countries. However, drowning is not yet recognized by the policy makers as a major cause of child mortality in most countries. Most of drownings are occur during daylight hours, with an astounding 68% happening between 9:00 am and 1:00 pm, when parents are busy with their responsibilities (Saving of Lives from Drowning study, JH-IIRU, 2014). 

Bangladesh is a low-lying, riverine country located in the subtropical region of South Asia and bordering with the Bay of Bengal. Its tropical monsoon climate is characterized by heavy rainfall and melting snow in the Himalayan territory, leading to large rivers, such as the Ganga, Brahmaputra and Meghna. The country has a landmass of 147,570 square kilometers and is one of the most densely inhabited countries in the world with a population of 163.7 (Bangladesh Economic Review 2019) million. Daily life in Bangladesh exposes people to water bodies, such as ponds, ditches, rivers and canals, which are used for daily household needs, including agriculture, fishing and transportation. As a result, drowning effects all ages of the Bangladeshi population. Drowning is the leading cause for child mortality in Bangladesh and claims around 50 children per day death. Ponds and ditches are in abundance in both rural and urban areas which is also responsible for the deaths by drowning of children. 

Though drowning is a serious public health challenges in Bangladesh but the country has not any comprehensive policy or law for its prevention. Some policies and laws like ECCD Policy 2013, Day Care Act, drowning prevention Strategy, NEP 2010 has partially addressed the issue but it is not enough for prevention. Besides, the community level awareness is still very poor and they practice number of traditional myths which are also danger for public health. 

Campaign for Popular Education (CAMPE) is an advocacy and campaign network promoting early childhood care and development and quality education of both boys and girls.  It has gradually grown into a well-known credible coalition of more than 900 NGOs, researchers, campaigners and teacher associations sharing similar vision and mission. CAMPE has vast experience to contribute different policy formulation process including NEP 2010, NSDP 2011, ECCD 2013, and Non-Formal Education Act 2014 and CAMPE’s interventions are acknowledged by the government. CAMPE has been playing a significant role for promoting Early Childhood Development (ECD) through evidence-based advocacy, networking, capacity building, publication and dissemination of materials. CAMPE introduced the ECD issue in early 90s through policy dialogues, seminars, memorandum sending, open appeal and mass mobilization. CAMPE developed a partnership with Bangladesh Shishu Academy and piloting to establish ECD centers. 

Drowning is one of the crucial parts of early childhood care and development area. Drowning is the single largest killer of children (aged one to five years) in Bangladesh and it claims the lives of 30 children (aged under five) every day. According to a research finding of IDRC and CIPRB, “the age is a major risk factor for drowning. The highest rates of fatal drowning are 01- 4 year, when children start to walk and venture away from supervision.” CAMPE believe that, formulation of a comprehensive policy and its effective implementation may help to save the lives. In connection with this, CAMPE has designed and implementing a project for the community level awareness building and influencing the policy makers to formulate a comprehensive policy for drowning prevention. 

The project will implement both in national and sub-national (district) level. In sub-national level, it will raise the community awareness for drowning prevention and amplify their voice in favor of comprehensive policies/law. Local administration, law enforcement agencies, local government, journalists, CSOs, teachers, students and community people will engage in sub-national level campaign. In national level, the project will create a space and influence the policy makers for policy enactment in favor of drowning prevention. Both print and electronic media, journalists, teacher associations, government officials, policy makers, CSOs and other relevant stakeholders will engage in the national level process. 

Purpose and Objectives 

The overall purpose of the project is to create a favorable environment for getting approval of submitted DPP titled on Integrated Community Based Centre for Childcare and Protection, Women Enlightenment and Swim-Safe Facilities. In this connection, the specific objectives of the project will be twofold:    

Objective – 1: Engage in a comprehensive advocacy campaign for the approval, implementation, and scaling up of a Development Project Proforma (DPP) titled Integrated Community Based Centre for Childcare and Protection, Women Enlightenment and Swim-Safe Facilities, which has been submitted to MoWCA; and 

Objective – 2: Generate public demand to reduce child mortality due to drowning with countrywide outreach. 

Outreach

The project will implement both in national and sub-national (district) level with covering 8 administrative districts. Local administration, law enforcement agencies, local government, journalists, CSOs, teachers, students and community people will engage in sub-national which will create a space in national level for influencing the policy makers for DPP approval. The project will work closely with print and electronic medias, journalists, government officials, policy makers, CSOs and other relevant stakeholders and relevant ministries i.e. MoPME, MoE, MoWCA, MoSW, MoLJ&PA among others. 

Expected Result

The propose approach and interventions are expected to bring some results at outputs and outcomes level. The expected outputs are

1. Policy makers made commitment in favor of drowning prevention;
2. ### of media personnel engaged and aware on drowning prevention;
3. Actions taken by the local administration for drowning prevention in 16 districts; and
4. Nation-wide voice raised for a comprehensive policy/law for drowning prevention and effective implementation of existing ECCD policy. 

Outcomes 

The expected outcomes of the project are:

1. ### of people engaged, sensitized and voice raised to protect their children from drowning and
2. Tangible progress visible for influencing the policy makers to approve submitted Development Project Proforma (DPP).
3. The project will reach 1,000 people directly while more than 15 million will inform and aware indirectly through media programs. 

Auditor’s Report

Education Out Loud (EoL)
Advocacy & Social Accountability (ASA) Project
Implementation period: January 2022 to December 2023
Total budget of the Project: BDT 25,703,950

The overreacting goal of CAMPE’s Education Outloud-Advocacy for Social Accountability project is to strengthen national civil society engagement in gender responsive education planning, policy development and monitoring to improve quality with equity in Bangladesh.

The plan has been developed based on the key principles set by the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) under the Operational Component 1 (OC1) of the Education Outloud project, which would contribute for promoting a holistic view and mitigating various problems of fragmentation in education planning, implementation and governance mechanisms.

Based on the achievements and lessons learned from 2020-2021 Advocacy & Social Accountability (ASA), Project and given that the world has drastically changed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, school closure, distance learning, CAMPE continued its advocacy during the emergency.

In order to attain the ultimate outcome, the project will emphasise on human rights, gender equality, cultural diversity, global citizenship, values and ethics, sustainability, livelihoods; formula-based financing which can help to understand issues relating to enhance capacities of the National Education Coalition for effective CSO engagement. It will ensure that education policies in support of the most marginalized are articulated and heard to make the state functionaries more accountable and responsive to the most marginalised at the national and sub-national. It will also build on the gains of civil society engagements in education policy reforms with the government as well as strengthen the abilities of its wide constituency of education advocates and movements.

This project intervention will create good governance and a friendly learning environment through community engagement. The participation of a diverse range of civil society groups is vital to prevent ‘elite capture’ of policy spaces, ensure that there is healthy debate and deliberation, and to ensure that civic space is inclusive even of those traditionally lacking in institutional power.

The project will contribute to enhance networking with people, civil society and other organized groups working for the right to education. It will also contribute to generate evidence, provide alternative analysis and counter narratives and perform a watchdog role towards ensuring effective engagement with the education sector plan, LEG, policymakers, legislators and other platforms to influence decisions and ensure a pro-poor and inclusive education policy environment in the ever-changing contexts.

One of the key objectives of the project is to lobby for increased education financing for curriculum, teaching-learning process and ensuring agreed minimum proficiency and GCED so that the most marginalised have improved access to education and have a better school to work transition that will help in attaining a prosperous and secure future.

The Project aims to work towards realizing the right to education through education sector plan and policies that will help the most marginalized get access to quality education that will develop their full potential. It is also hoped that the education will be geared towards developing the young generation’s knowledge, skills and abilities for technology as well as critical thinking skills. Finally, the Project aims to develop the agency of people to hold their government to account for the right to education.

CAMPE intends to extend support to the Government of Bangladesh, particularly at the school level, to strengthen the back-to-school initiative and support recovering the learning loss through multiple interventions that will impact civil society participation in the effort to improve the national education system in schools and thereby help the government to achieve SDG 4 targets by 2030.

The project aims to be sustainable beyond the project period as community ownership would be strongly rooted in its interventions so that education and employment opportunities for marginalized girls and women are a continuum.

The overall objective of the Project is to strengthen national civil society engagement in gender responsive education planning, policy development and monitoring to improve quality with equity in Bangladesh. The specific Objectives of the project are to:
1) CAMPE become more inclusive national education coalition by increased participation of CSOs and marginalized groups at national and sub-national level;
2) Enhanced CAMPEs capacities for increased CSOs engagement in policy dialogues;
3) Enhanced civil society capacities for increased participation and strategic influence in the formal education policy focused on quality with equity, education financing, gender and human rights education;
4) Established learning collaborative for institutional strengthening and improved effectiveness of advocacy initiatives for right to education;
5) Improved monitoring and accountability mechanisms of education sub-sectors to ensure adopting of transformative policies and programmes that accelerate access, learning outcomes, gender equality, and human rights education focused on leaving no one behind.

The objectives of the project will contribute to raising awareness on right to education and promote accountability of education service providers and policy makers at local and national levels. It will generate evidence, provide alternative analysis and counter narratives and perform watchdog role to ensure effective engagement with the education sector plan, LEG, policymakers, legislators and other platform for influencing the decision making and ensuring pro-poor and inclusive policy environment. The interventions will also contribute to increased education financing, curriculum revision, teaching learning process and ensuring agreed minimum proficiency so that the most marginalized, particularly girls and women’s, persons with disability, ethnic communities and other excludes groups, migrants and displaced population have improved access to education and have a better school to work transition.

CAMPE will also facilitate voices of the community and civil society actors to be heard at various levels in order to ensure effective program implementation and delivery, particularly to localise the GPE strategic objectives and make the state functionary more responsive. It is expected that the project will achive in the following outcomes:
• Increased participation of CSO and marginalized groups in CAMPE-led advocacy initiatives;
• Enhanced knowledge of CAMPE, constituency members and supportive stakeholders for influencing policy and practice change discourse;
• Increased civil society capacities to influence in formal education policy in the light of SDG4 and right to education;
• Improved engagement with learning collaborative for documentation of lessons learned and institutional strengthening;
• Strengthened CSO-led monitoring and accountability of education related duty bearers focused on adversity factors.

Auditor’s Report

Supported by OXFAM 

In Bangladesh, particularly in rural area, women and girls are more vulnerable and unemployed in comparison its male counterpart regardless of educational attainment because of acute poverty, dowry, divorce, family debts, gender violence against women etc. As a result, every year a significant number of women and girls migrate from rural area to urban area particularly in Dhaka city for hunting a suitable job as well as better livelihood. But in reality, very few options are available for them to provide themselves and their family. In course of time, most of them turn to domestic workers. 

A key challenge of domestic workers in Bangladesh is their exclusion from the legal protections provided by the Labour Act.  As a result, they face significant barriers in finding decent work, are vulnerable to routine exploitation and abuse, lack fair and healthy work conditions, have no access to social protection and are among the lowest paid labourers in the country. Women domestic workers represent 17% of the total labour force over the age of fifteen and, instead of guaranteeing the ability of girls and women to work as domestic workers with dignity and free of violence, governments have systematically denied them key labour protections extended to other workers.

It could be mentioned here that more than 10.5 million people are employed as domestic workers in Bangladesh, out of which approximately 90% are women, and these women experience various forms of violence and insecurity. As documented by news portals and human rights organizations, domestic workers are routinely subjected to violence. As per the report of Ain o Salish Kenda (ASK), only in the first six months of 2019, there have been 15 reported cases of violence against domestic workers, of which 8 were cases of rape. According to Securing Rights partner, the Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies (BILS), at least 277 domestic workers have died due to violence on the part of their employers from 2008 to 2013. In addition,

â–ª         47% have experienced physical abuse and face the threat of being expelled from work;

â–ª         63% are forced to do work/jobs beyond their physical abilities;

â–ª         17% have experienced sexual harassment;

â–ª         40% perceive their workplace as insecure; and

â–ª         68% of women domestic workers report being frustrated with their current circumstances.

In order to improve the situation of domestic workers through ensuring their rights entitlement and developing an institutional mechanism for providing decent work to domestic workers, OXFAM-Bangladesh designed an integrated project Securing Rights of women Domestic workers in Bangladesh.

Oxfam in Bangladesh initiated a project titled “Securing Rights of Women Domestic Workers in Bangladesh (SRDW)”. The SRDW project aims to improve the well-being of women domestic workers by enabling them to access their rights to engage in “decent work” as defined by the International Labour Organization (ILO). Funded by Global Affairs Canada, this four-year project (2019-2022) will work with 16,000 women domestic workers

The project is aligned with Oxfam’s guiding principles of women’s economic empowerment (WEE) and grounded in the feminist principles through which Oxfam Canada facilitates its development assistance.

Project Goal:

Increased well-being of women domestic workers (DW) in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Project Objectives:

• Strengthened agency of women domestic workers to claim and defend their rights in relation to decent employment
• Improved social norms on DW rights, including increased recognition of DW as formal profession, promoted by policymakers, government and employers and the wider society

Project Area:

Dhaka City

Project Duration:

March 2019- March 2023 

Engagement of CAMPE:

The project is designed in a integrated manner, where 6 organizations e.g. CAMPE, BILS, UCEP, Nari Maitree, Red Orange and Hellotask has been implementing this project. In these endeavor, CAMPE is responsible to carry-out following major activities:

• Develop gender-sensitive competency-based standards for domestic workers;
• Design, testing and adoption of standards;
• Develop training package and materials (DWG: Rights and life Skills; DWN: Organizational Development);
• Development of education/training modules on life-skills, participation and leadership, rights & SGBV;
• Provide technical/financial assistance provided to build the capacity of support service providers;
• Lobby and arrange inter-ministerial and multi-stakeholder meetings related to policy implementation;
• Form Regional level consultative forum to conduct regional research on domestic workers and protected workers’ rights
• Organize awareness-raising events on domestic workers’ rights during key days) 

Expected Outcome/Results of the Project

• Strengthened agency of women domestic workers to claim and defend their rights in relation to decent employment and
• Improved social norms on DW rights, including increased recognition of DW as formal profession, promoted by policymakers, government and employers and the wider society.

Auditor’s Report

Education Watch Study 2022

Background

The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic has been devastating for the world and for Bangladesh. The negative impact on the wellbeing of people, economy and education has been deep and far reaching. The pandemic is not over yet and how it will ever and totally is not clear. In fact, a declining trend of infection is going on in Bangladesh.

Schools were remained closed due to the pandemic for more than 500 consecutive days, the longest in the world. During this long period, a substantial number of children had either minimal to no contact with the educators, did not have access to any classroom teaching-learning process, or were forced to drop out for various socio-economic reasons. Because of the loss of a whole school year, students have been promoted to the next grade without achieving their grade-level competencies. Achieving grade-level competencies and learning outcomes has been a challenge for them despite a promising rate of school enrollment.

Considering the negative impact of COVID -19 on education, the CSO Platform of researchers, practitioners and activists in the education sector, the Education Watch Group, has conducted a series of studies in the name of Education Watch 2020, Education Watch 2021, under Campaign for Popular Education (CAMPE) auspices. The studies examined the early status and characteristics of the pandemic impact on education and attempted to anticipate the medium and longer-term consequences. The first study was conducted in December 2020 (EW-2020), focusing on the immediate education response to COVID-19. The findings were shared with the government and other stakeholders. The findings and recommendations, supported by other studies, influenced government measures regarding school re-opening in stages. The second study (EW-2021) was conducted in December 2021 to review the effects of Covid-19 on the well-being of students, teachers, and families, classroom situations and challenges in partially re-opened schools. The sample of both studies were students, parents, teachers and school officials.

Schools have now reopened and have been following the regular routine. The good progress made in vaccinating post-primary age children makes it possible to re-start schools in relative safety, though measures for health and safety still have to be maintained. The critical question is about the quantum of the learning losses caused by the long school closure. Is there a need to assess the students’ learning level and readiness, and what should be done to help them recover the losses through remedial action before ‘normal’ instruction can begin? In other words, should the focus now be on a time-bound learning recovery and remedial plan?

Based on the necessity, a third EW-2022 has been planned for probing the issues deeper by fieldwork in a sample of schools. The study will follow the previous studies and focus on updating the status and looking ahead to recovery, renewal and enhancing resilience in the system.

Purpose and Objectives
– To examine the learning losses and how the losses may be recovered without aggravating further pre-existing disparities;
– How may the “new normal” mark the beginning of initiatives to overcome the weaknesses of the existing system, rather than going back to business-as-usual;
– To evaluate the technological innovation taken by the government during the long school closure and blended learning approach.

More specifically:
1. A rapid grade-wise sample assessment will be undertaken in core competencies of Bangla, English, Maths and Science at the secondary level to gauge the extent of learning losses and the gaps that need to be covered before starting routine syllabus-based instruction.
2. What remedial and recovery plan, such as rapid assessment and remedial measures, has been considered, and steps taken to implement these will be examined.
3. What plans and activities have been considered to support and assist teachers and schools in implementing recovery and remedial plans?

Major Activities
As this project is to conduct a research, it will follow the mixed method of research comprising both qualitative and quantitative techniques.
1. General meetings of Education Watch Group
2. Technical expert group meeting
3. Tools and instrument development
4. Data collection
5. Analysis and report generation
6. Division-level workshop
7. Draft report sharing
8. Report finalization and publication
9. Launching event

Outreach
The project will cover 8 districts from eight divisions and 20 Upazilas (three Upazilas from each district), three city corporations and 72 clusters considering urban, semi-urban and rural areas purposefully, considering geographical and development diversity. The approximate sample size would be 3,654 respondents. Primary, secondary and TVET students, teachers and parents, public officials, medical personnel, and civil society members will be engaged in interviews, KII and FGDs.

Besides, the project will reach policymakers, government officials concerned with the administration and management of the education system, academics concerned about the education system, NGOs/CSOs associated with education, the development partners – national and international development organizations and UN organizations.
.
Total budget
BDT 95,61,045

Supported by
Delegation of the European Union to Bangladesh

Time Line
1 April to 31 December 2022

Focal Person (Project)

Dr. Md. Mostafizur Rahaman
Deputy Director, CAMPE
Email: mostafiz@campebd.org
Cell: +880 1711487942

Championing Play Project

15^th July 2023 – 15^th October 2023

About the project:

To support children aged 0-6 years old, especially during COVID-19 pandemic by providing opportunities to play and have more interaction with adults through playful learning materials. Championing Play Project aims to contribute to the early development of 0-6 year’s children of Saghata Upazila in Gaibandha District through establishing a stimulating, responsive and protective environment.

Save the Children and Campaign for Popular Education (CAMPE) are jointly implementing a program titled Championing Play. The program supports the physical and mental development of children through quality play-based activities for children aged 0-6 years. One of the responsibilities of Campaign for Popular Education (CAMPE) is to implement advocacy initiatives to spread the achievements and results of this program at the national level, as well as to inspect the progress of learning through play activities in selected 25 private schools in the Dhaka urban area.

CAMPE has also implemented specific activities at the national level to strengthen the learning-through-play approach.

Project Completion Report

Advocacy for the School Feeding in Bangladesh 

Under the leadership of the World Food Programme (WFP), the Campaign for Popular Education (CAMPE) has taken the initiative to implement Advocacy for School Feeding in Bangladesh. CAMPE conducted a Stakeholder Mapping Exercise for this initiative to understand better the gaps, challenges, and opportunities for pursuing nationwide school feeding programmes, including home-grown school meals. The exercise tried to discover the different dimensions of school feeding/meals, current and potential interventions, and stakeholders, including institutions, groups, and individuals who contribute to moving the school meal agenda forward, considering the National School Meal Policy 2019. 

In line with the approved policy, the ministry prepared a proposal to provide school meals to all children by 2023. The national committee recognizes the importance and relevance of the school feeding program but finds it highly optimistic. The committee asked the ministry to revise the proposed project to make it more realistic and sustainable.

 Given this guidance, the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education (MoPME) has extended the school feeding project up to June 23022, while making necessary revisions to the new proposal. To ensure that the new government project task adequately considers nutrition requirements and scaling up the project coverage calls for Increased advocacy among various stakeholders to bring consciousness. The involvement of high-level decision-makers, academia, research institutes, influential non-government decision-makers, civil society, and mass media must collectively advocate for a school-feeding agenda. Therefore, WFP proposes involving NGOs to assist in the advocacy efforts to create the enabling environment necessary to move the school feeding agenda forward. 

Anticipated Coverage

–        Across Bangladesh

–        Potential primary and secondary stakeholders in Dhaka and divisional cities and districts will cover the program. Local-level member organizations of CAMPE will be involved in organising events outside Dhaka as and when required. 

Specific Objectives

• To effectively move the school feeding agenda forward, WFP seeks an NGO to undertake advocacy activities to ensure the engagement of relevant high-level decision-makers and stakeholders in Bangladesh.
• Advocacy efforts should focus on building awareness for school meals and removing food and nutrition gaps the most vulnerable schoolchildren face.
• The advocacy message should be aligned with the approved policy and the latest available data on the importance of school feedings as part of a comprehensive reopening framework for schools considering the COVID-19 school closure.
• The NGO will engage in advocacy activities designed to educate, motivate, and inspire stakeholders. 

Expected Outputs

OUTLINE OF ADVOCACY SUPPORT TO WFP

The primary audience for school feeding advocacy comprises relevant Government officials, including high-level decision-makers, civil society, influential non-government decision-makers, and philanthropists. 

The NGO will undertake the following activities.

• Conduct a mapping exercise to understand better gaps, Challenges, and opportunities that school meals.
• Identify the key audience for advocating school feeding. Who are we trying to reach, and why?
• Consult with staff and management across WFP and external partners to better understand the needs. Capacities and perceptions that are critical to school feedings.
• Support the outreach to key stakeholders by WFP to further the school feeding agenda. 

KEY DELIVERABLES

• A plan, including the timeline. For proposed school feeding advocacy activities.
• Mapping of high-level school feeding stakeholders and ways to engage them.
• Organise consultations, workshops, and Discussions for Advocacy outreach on the school feeding agenda, including revision and approval of the new DPP of the primary school feeding project.
• Produce workshop and high-level meeting reports for WFP with actionable next steps and recommendations.
• Host media events. i.e. roundtable discussions or webinars. to engage relevant high-level stakeholders in consultation with WFP.
• WFP must approve all deliverables. 

Bangladesh has one of the largest primary education systems in the world, with 20.55 million learners (51.21% girls) providing education through 114,539 primary-level educational institutions, of which the government runs 65565. The government provides free and compulsory primary education up to grade five, free textbooks for all and school feeding in selected areas. Notable progress has been made in the education sector, including achieving gender parity in access to primary education. However, we must go a long way regarding nutrition and food security. 

WFP data shows that School feeding programmes increase enrolment by an average of 9 per cent. In addition, for every 100,000 school meals, 1,700 jobs were created. Studies have also shown that for every US$ 1 invested in school meals, US$ 9 is yielded in economic returns. In Bangladesh, both the biscuit-based school feeding programme and the cooked meal programme improved school enrolment by 14.2 percent and reduced the probability of dropouts by 7.5 percent. The prevalence of anaemia in schools with feeding programmes was less than half that of schools without (10.9 percent versus 21.9 percent, respectively). 

The food support to students through schools in Bangladesh, known as the School Feeding Program (SFP), traces its origins back to the early 1970s, aiming to improve attendance and academic performance by providing meals to school children. The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) played a crucial role, collaborating with the government since the 1970s to support and expand the program. Over time, numerous organizations, including UNICEF, FAO, and local non-governmental organizations, joined forces to enhance the program’s quality and extend its reach. A government-administered food-for-education program was launched in 1993 to help improve school enrolment and attendance for poverty-stricken families. The first fortification started with the vitamin and mineral-enriched biscuits for children under the School Feeding Program in 2001, supported by WFP. The Bangladesh Primary Education Development Program (PEDP) emerged as a significant platform for integrating school feeding into broader education development strategies, becoming an integral part of national policies and plans. Community-based organisations, local NGOs, and initiatives like Hunger Free World and BRAC have significantly contributed to addressing hunger and improving nutrition through school meal programs, reflecting a collective commitment to nourishing children and promoting education across Bangladesh. 

In the previous phase, the “School Feeding” project successfully supported over 2.9 million students in 15,470 government primary schools across 104 upazilas spanning 35 districts. The government of Bangladesh now intends to expand the initiative, aiming to encompass approximately 150 Upazilas within the school feeding program, benefiting around 5 million learners in government primary schools.

Project Completion Report

Education Watch Study 2023
1. BACKGROUND
The impact of school closures on learning has been devastating, and the education system has been severely affected due to the pandemic. UNESCO reports that schools in 188 countries have been closed, affecting 89.5 percent of all learners, or 1.5 billion students worldwide. Even before COVID-19, the world was grappling with a learning crisis. Over half of ten-year-olds in low-and middle-income countries could not read or understand a simple story (World Bank). This figure could now reach 70 percent due to lengthy school closures and a need for more effective remote learning opportunities.

In Bangladesh, schools remained closed due to the pandemic for more than 500 consecutive days, the longest in the world. During this long period, many children had minimal to no contact with the educators, did not have access to any classroom teaching-learning process, or were forced to drop out for various socio-economic reasons. Because of the loss of a whole school year, students have been promoted to the next grade and have yet to achieve their grade-level competencies. Achieving grade-level competencies and learning outcomes has been challenging despite a promising school enrollment rate.

The impact is likely devastating with already low learning outcomes, high dropout rates and low resilience to shock. The most vulnerable children and those unable to access remote learning were at increased risk of never returning to the classroom and even being forced into child marriage or child labour. A report showed that the long-standing closure ceased normal educational activities in the case of more than 90% of enrolled learners. School closures in Bangladesh from March 2020 to September 2021 and again in February 2022 have disrupted the education of around 37 million children. They have also exacerbated worrying gaps in basic literacy and numeracy skills before the pandemic began (UNICEF, 2021). The students affected by COVID-19 also included children from ethnic communities. A UNICEF 2021 report mentioned that about ‘56 per cent of students were not taking part in online lessons or Sangsad TV, which was ‘more evident among the students of ethnic minorities (75 per cent).’

In-person schooling has been resumed from March 2022 in Bangladesh following the regular routine. The good progress made in vaccinating post-primary age children makes it possible to restart schools in relative safety, though measures for health and safety still have to be maintained. A gradual attendance rate was expected upon the reopening of the class. But a newspaper report showed a rather sorry picture with the statistics on the first three weeks of the resumption of in-person classes as attendance has continued to fall almost every day and stood at 55% by September 2022. Another report revealed 62,104 secondary school students and 14,50,719 primary school-level students dropped out in the same period, according to the data from the Bangladesh Bureau of Educational Information and Statistics (BANBEIS) and the Directorate of Primary Education. According to the educationists, the increasing absenteeism from classes following the reopening of schools nationwide seeks immediate counteractive measures from the authorities.

A newspaper presented referring to the UNESCO 2021/2 Global Education Monitoring Report, that “the average expenditure on education increased by a staggering 80% in real terms.” The same report added, “Around 7% of families in Bangladesh have to borrow to send their children to school.” Another media report exposed that households in Bangladesh cover almost two-thirds of the total cost of education.

So, it is necessary to look at the issues of student attendance, irregularity, and dropout, as well as their causes, including the increased pocket expenditure on education. It should also look at the present teacher–student situation while coping with teaching and learning after a long gap in education and learning loss.

Considering the situation, CAMPE, the secretariat of Education Watch, has collaborated with the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) under the Covid-19 Learning, Evidence and Research Program for Bangladesh (CLEAR) with the support of FCDO to conduct another study under Education Watch to be known as Education Watch Study 2023.

2. OBJECTIVE
(1). Sample-based mapping of the students enrolled in 2020 at grades III, V, VI, and VIII and their present attendance status;
(2). Discuss plans and activities to support teachers and schools as part of the recovery and remedial plan, including the preparation and progress made towards a ‘blended’ approach and teacher-student situation while coping with teaching and learning after a long gap.
(3). Explore the scenario of the out-of-pocket expenditure on primary and secondary education.
(4). Assess the learning loss and gap status of primary and secondary students using secondary data focusing on Bangla and Maths at the primary level and Bangla, English, Maths and Science at the secondary level.

3. METHODOLOGY
The study will bring onboard experts with diverse expertise in education and relevant areas who can contribute to delivering the outputs. The team will include technical experts in the education sector, including those dealing with COVID-19 and education in emergency issues.

The study will follow the mixed method of research comprising both qualitative and quantitative techniques. The nationwide sampling will cover geographical diversity (rural and urban, including char, haor, tea garden, hilly area, low-lying areas, and urban slums) and ethnicity. The approximate sample size would be 6,125 respondents. Data will be collected through a structured questionnaire survey complemented by FGDs, KIIs, stakeholder workshops, case studies and field-level observation. The respondents will be primary and secondary-level students, teachers, parents, government officials, and members of civil society.

Geographical Location and Segments
Data will be collected from selected districts and Upazilas covering all country divisions. The respective districts are: Dhaka, Chattogram, Narayanganj, Rajshahi, Jashore, Meherpur, Kishoreganj, Netrokona, Gaibandha, Kurigram, Moulavibazar, Hobiganj, Naogaon, Rajshahi, Mymensingh, Barisal and Bhola.

4. EXPECTED OUTPUTs
(1). A comprehensive research report (English) is comprised of a rigorous analysis of data, relevant findings, and recommendations regarding policy, action priorities, and advocacy.
(2). A popular version will be prepared in English and Bangla based on the extended overview with some graphical presentation. Both electronic and printed reports (main report and popular version) will be available for wider dissemination.
(3). Policy briefs and working papers will be produced based on compiling existing data on learning loss status and recovery plan.

5. ETHICS and SAFEGUARDING
The study ensures the security of the participants with no-harm principles. It respects the diversity of the participants. Regarding safeguarding information, the research team will practice standard data and information protection protocols and use them only for the research and project. Respondents will be appropriately informed of their consent to participation, and confidentiality of respondents’ personal information will be ensured.

Considering the potential concerns related to data protection and security of research participants, CAMPE will ensure the research ethics and follow its internal and legal ethical standards under data protection practice. It will also approach the Institute of Health Economics (IHE) under the University of Dhaka for ethical review approval.

6. STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
The report will be launched at public events in the presence of policymakers, followed by advocacy work with the reports through the CAMPE network and media and communication strategy. It will establish a stakeholder relationship from micro to macro. The key strategy of this relationship would be evidence generation, knowledge sharing, and networking.

CAMPE will engage the relevant stakeholders, i.e. relevant government officials, the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Primary and Mass Education, Directorate of Primary Education, Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education, Bureau of Non-formal Education and representatives of Teacher Associations, CSOs, representatives from media, researchers, academics and others including Education Watch Group Member, technical expert group member, advisory group members etc.

7. Project Duration
15 December 2022 – 14 December 2023.

8. Total Budget
GBP: 99,999

9. Focal Person
Dr. Mostafizur Rahaman
Deputy Director
Cell: +8801711487942
Email: mostafiz@campebd.org