Education Minister Dr. Dipu Moni on Thursday lauded the ‘successes’ of NGO Friendship in teaching remote children as ‘exemplary’.
Her appreciation followed a study that showed “significant success” in expanding the reach of education in the Jamuna-Brahmaputra river deltas (chars) in the north of Bangladesh.
The Dhaka University Institute of Education and Research conducted the study on ‘Friendship’s Effective Education Interventions’ for 150,000 people of the Jamuna& Brahmaputra River Chars.
Dipu Moni spoke about the overall cooperation in the expansion of education in remote areas.
Mia Seppo, UN Resident Coordinator, spoke about the role of UN in enabling education around the world, and in Bangladesh at the survey findings dissemination webinar.
Prof Dr. Md. Abdul Maleque, Director of the Institute of Education and Research, Dhaka University and Associate Professor Shah Shamim Ahmed of the same Institute shared the study results.
It showed a major change in educational status of 15 unions of six upazilas in Gaibandha and Kurigram. The life of about 150,000 residents in this remote area has gained momentum with women and adolescents of the chars have become “career-oriented and self-reliant” due to the education received from Friendship Schools.
Awareness regarding social issues has also increased a lot, especially in the prevention of child marriage and dowry.
The curriculum of Friendship Schools also includes a Code of Ethics, regarding good moral and ethical values and good, lawful citizenship.
The public examination results of the students are also ‘exemplary’, proving the methods used by Friendship ‘effective’.
The research report also makes some recommendations to expand this education in the char areas.
Prevention of child marriage must be given high importance to prevent students from dropping out of school.
The report advised the local administration and social leaders to work closely with Friendship, which is already working towards these goals.
In the case of secondary education, it is suggested to make remote learning more attractive to the students through information technology, especially in the context of the global pandemic.
The research report also called for further inclusion of the Code of Ethics and other social awareness programs (such as Clean Home, Clean School) and nodes of the curriculum in government-run schools.
Runa Khan, Founder & Executive Director of Friendship, “expressed her satisfaction over the expansion of primary and secondary education through her interventions in improving the quality of life and standards of living of the marginalized people of chars.”
