In Bangladesh, COVID-related school closures began on March 17, 2020, and have continued into 2021, affecting close to one million teachers and 38 million students. As UNICEF reported, almost 37 million children were at risk with their education in 2021. Bangladesh's persistent rise in school dropout rates has pushed the country back into a broad range of social issues, such as child labour, child marriage and drug abuse. The pandemic-induced protracted school closures have also contributed to an enormous increase in the country's school dropout rate.
With the aim to support this large number of OOSC for inclusive access to education and a better learning environment for better learning outcomes, South Asian Institute for Social transformation (SAIST) is conducting a joint study titled ‘Effectiveness and Scalability of Programs for Children who are Out of School and At Risk of Dropping Out in Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh’ in consortium with School of Arts, Kathmandu University in Nepal and Paro College of Education, Royal University of Bhutan with the support of GPE KIX and International Development Research Center (IDRC). South Asian Institute of Social Transformation (SAIST), Bangladesh will address the effectiveness of current government and non-government interventions in the slum adjacent govt. primary and secondary schools of Dhaka North and South City Corporation.
The general objective of the study is to enhance inclusive access and learning outcomes for Out-of-School Children and children at risk of dropping out of schools. The Specific objectives are-
1. To build knowledge about innovative practices and strategies to address barriers to inclusive access to education and better learning outcomes for out-of-school children and children at risk of dropping out including their scalability and scalable pathways.
2. To support the mobilization of the knowledge generated in and across education systems to inform policies and practices.
3. To build capacity of key stakeholders to generate, use and exchange knowledge and practices that promote inclusive access and improved learning outcomes for out-ofschool and at-risk children at scale
The timeline for the project is 31 Months (1st May, 2021 – 30th November, 2023)
Project Team Leader
- 1. Dr. U.S. Rokeya Akhter (Bangladesh)
- 2. Dr. Binayak Krishna Thapa (Nepal)
- 3. Dr. Karma Jigyel (Bhutan)
