Browsing by Author "Sultan, Sania"

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A visit to a flood shelter in Dhaka City
(BRAC Research and Evaluation Division (RED), 1998) Karim, Fazlul; Sultan, Sania; Chowdhury, Mushtaque
Effectiveness of teachers training in BRAC schools
(BRAC Research and Evaluation Division (RED), 1999-03) Sultan, Sania; Khan, Md. Kaisar Ali; Imam, Syeda Rumnaz
The study attempted to evaluate the newly designed training module for teachers who are teaching English in class three, four, and five of BRAC NFPE schools. With the knowledge of BRAC graduates' relative weakness in English when they join the Government Formal Schools, the Materials Development Unit (MDU) has made a concerted effort in addressing this issue concerning English teaching. Also, MDU's goal entailed a plan to break away from the top down model of training, traditionally followed. The study aimed to see how much of these goals have been met, what are the problems involved, and how to address those. A teachers guide has been developed based on the Class III Textbook, which delineates six steps in teaching English. The guide provides step by step instruction in teaching English. The study was undertaken at the initial stage of the training process. MDU has been selecting and training a group of Master Trainers. The Master Trainers then have been training the field staff, and finally the field staff have been providing the same to the teachers through the monthly refreshers. Since the training schedule involved several stages, the most important issue was to find out how much of the dissemination has been happening in a standardized way, and the impact of training on the trainees, particularly the teachers, who are the gatekeepers of successful implementation. The impact of training can be generally located in two domains, i.e., cognitive and affective. Training helps to improve the knowledge base of a subject, and also the trainees do have an emotional response towards the training. The study attempted to explore both the domains. By using a variety of instruments like opinion questionnaires, group discussions, observations, and tests, the researchers tried to derive the impact of this training on all concerned, particularly the teachers, who are the final recipients and gatekeepers of successful implementation.
Performance and effectiveness of School Management Committees (SMC) of BRAC schools
(BRAC Research and Evaluation Division (RED), 1998) Sultan, Sania
The study examined the School Management Committees of NFPE schools. With the knowledge of supposed ineffectiveness of the committees, the goal was to find out what practices could be reinstated, or what could be done differently in order to have proper and effective management committees in all BRAC schools. By conducting focus Group Discussions with eight Management Committees from two NFPE areas, the study determined a few areas of concern, such as committee formation, participation, orientation, monitoring, supervision and so forth. The study suggests that an orientation must be provided to all the members when the committee is formed, about their duties, responsibilities, and obligations. Such an orientation session may involve greater community participation, so that the school community and parents become aware of the existence of the committee and it's responsibilities. The process of committee formation has to be made more participatory so that the community is more involved. The attendance of committee members at monthly parents meetings must be ascertained at the end of each year and frequently absent members could be requested to tum his/ her responsibilities to another motivated and aspiring parent or guardian for smooth running of the SMC activities. Proper monitoring of management committee ·activities must be carried out throughout the year, so that accountability is ensured.