Research Reports (1999): Social Studies, Vol – XXIII
Browse
10 results
Search Results
Item Level and trend of basic education of children in Bangladesh: 1993-1998(BRAC Research and Evaluation Division (RED), 1999-11) Nath, Samir Ranjan; Chowdhury, A Mushtaque R.Using data generated through two nationally representative sample surveys, this article explores the trends in the level of basic education of Bangladeshi children. The instrument used for the purpose was based on the Declaration of the WorId Conference on Education for All (WCEF A, Jomtien 1990). The findings reveal that the level of 'basic education' increased very slowly, 26.7 percent in 1993 to 29.6 percent in 1998, less than one percentage point per year. Statistically significant improvement was observed in 'life skills knowledge' and 'writing skills', but not in 'reading' or 'numeracy'. Girls progressed in 'reading', 'writing' and 'life skills' while the boys in 'writing' and 'life skills'. Over the period, the level improved for rural children but decreased for urban children. Bangladesh stands much behind to what was targeted at Jomtien Conference in 1990; it will have to wait until 2093 AD to reach the WCEFA goal. The country has made good progress in increasing the access to primary education but a massive drive is necessary to improve the quality of education.Item HOPE not COMPLACENCY: state of primary education in Bangladesh 1999(BRAC Research and Evaluation Division (RED), 1999-08) Chowdhury, A Mushtaque R.; Choudhury, Rasheda K.; Nath, Samir RanjanItem Effectiveness of teachers training in BRAC schools(BRAC Research and Evaluation Division (RED), 1999-03) Sultan, Sania; Khan, Md. Kaisar Ali; Imam, Syeda RumnazThe 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.Item Impact of the BRAC Education Programme on the adolescents(BRAC Research and Evaluation Division (RED), 1999-08) Hossain, Md. Altaf; Kalam, Md. AbulSocial institutions and services are seldom as good as they could be and even arrangement that worked well sometimes fail under changing social conditions. Some form of evaluation for improvement is therefore necessary. The ultimate goal of the Non Formal Primary Education (NFPE) programme is to help achieve BRAC's two broad objectives of poverty alleviation and empowerment of the poor. On this reckoning BRAC's education programme is very much closer to social programme, and impact evaluation of the programme is intended therefore to measure the magnitude and the extent to which the programme causes changes in the desired direction in the target population. Moreover, the world. which the NFPE programme is preparing young people to enter, is undergoing continuous and rapid change. Therefore. this type of impact evaluation is essential to understand programme's internal strength in improving learners' ability to adapt with the changing socioeconomic milieu and to measure their anticipated development in the light of the goal set by the programme.Item Community participation in improving Non-formal Primary Education in Bangladesh: a BRAC experience(BRAC Research and Evaluation Division (RED), 1999-12) Hossain, Md. AltafItem An appraisal of the BRACs NFPE Programme in respect to coverage of terminal competencies specified by the government of Bangladesh(BRAC Research and Evaluation Division (RED), 1999-04) Ghosh, Sanat K.The study aimed to make an appraisal of the three-year Non-Formal Primary Education (NFPE) programme of BRAC in respect to the terminal competencies identified by the government of Bangladesh for the Formal Primary Education (FPE) cycle. The two-way content analysis was conducted in respect to three sources of materials - (i) Text Materials (TM), (ii) Curriculum Transaction Materials (CTM) and (iii) Evaluation Materials (EM) by three types of competencies - (i) Psycho-motor, (ii) Cognitive and (iii) Affective. The coverage was qualified in terms of well covered (WC) , trurly covered (FC) , or not covered (NC). Subject-based learning objectives ( continua) were also compared between the three-year NFPE and the FPE cycle up to third grade. Findings indicated that on an average, the three-year NFPE programme was covering fairly well in respect to the TM and CTM sources. But there is a scope to improve the evaluation materials. In respect to the subject-based learning objectives only five objectives were not covered but at the same time it was covering about 60 additional leaning objectives . The whole NFPE programme was found unique in its character particularly in terms of material development and curriculum transaction.Item Determining performance indicators and developing tools for evaluating BRAC Gonokendra Pathagar (Library)(BRAC Research and Evaluation Division (RED), 1999-07) Khan, Md. Kaisar AliThis study aimed at determining major performance indicators as well as developing tools for evaluating BRAC's Gonokendra Pathagars (community-based libraries). Twelve performance indicators have been determined. A format has also been developed as a data collection tool where all the selected indicators have been accommodated. The format includes two additional formats that can be used to fill up some columns of the main data collection format. Besides, a supplementary tool (a set of score tables) has been developed which can be used in putting scores against the data that will be collected from the pathgars. This paper demonstrates an implementation procedure of the tools using some real data, which were gathered from different type of pathagars. These evaluation tools may be used by the programme itself for regular monitoring and evaluating BRAC pathagars.Item Assessing the level of cognitive knowledge in English of the staff and teachers of Non-Formal Primary Education Programme of BRAC(BRAC Research and Evaluation Division (RED), 1999-12) Khan, Md. Kaisar AliThis paper aimed at identifying job-related background factors of the staff and the teachers of BRAC education programme, determining their level of cognitive knowledge in English and finding relationship between the job-related factors and subject knowledge. BRAC recently has extended its curriculum from three years to four years to cover full five-year cycle of primary education. The main objective of the expansion is to mainstream the BRAC graduates with formal education system. BRAC has introduced the English textbook of class m in its schools, and has develop a teachers guide based on the it. BRAC also started a training programme based on the teachers guide for the teachers as well as supervising staff to develop their teaching and supervisory skills on the new teaching system. The data for this paper were taken from the study of Higher Education Link project for more elaborate analysis, where 13 Programme Organizers, 5 Junior Programme Organizers, and 111 teachers of three NFPE teams were given a test on English. The test instrument was developed on the basis of the textbook and contained 100 marks. The findings show that on average, the Programme Organizers obtained 64.0, the Junior Programme Organiser 76.4 and the teachers 39.0 scores respectively. The job related factors, year of schooling, number of lessons covered by training sessions and job experience of the respondents were positively correlated with the subject knowledge. Although the achievement levels of the respondents were not satisfactory, they have further scope in learning and practicing English in the classroom while they will be supervising and/or teaching.Item An analysis of the situation of community schools in Bangladesh(BRAC Research and Evaluation Division (RED), 1999-12) Kalam, Md. Abul; Hadi, AbdullahelContributing towards a strengthening of the government's Universal Primary Education Programme- Education For All- by the year 2000, has been one of the important aims of BRAC education programme. To materialize this aim BRAC has been providing Non- Formal Primary Education to the 'out of school' and 'out of reach' students, for more than a decade. Apart from this, BRAC education programme started, though in a small scale. its own formal primary schools very recently. In course of operating its education programme, BRAC has established a relationship with the education departments of the government. specially Directorate of Non-formal Education (DNFE). The community school programme is the most recent addition to such collaborative programmes. The government officially handed over 67 non-functioning community schools to BRAC by the end of 1998, of which 33 have already been started by BRAC. This study attempted to assess the situation of these non-functioning community schools. The objectives of the study were 10: i) assess current and previous condition of community schools; ii) know more about the quality of teachers; iii) prepare a learners' profile; iv) document the causes of non-functioning of the community schools; and v) obtain information for future evaluation.Item An analysis of issues and problems of BRAC's Gonokendra Pathagar(BRAC Research and Evaluation Division (RED), 1999-12) Khan, Md. Kaisar Ali; Akter, ShaheenThis study aimed at gaining a comprehensive understanding of issues and problems that effect the normal operation of BRAC Gonokendra Pathagar (community based library). Information was collected from six pathagars through in-depth interviews. It was found that community perception towards BRAC Gonokendra Pathagars was positive. The community participated actively in establishing the pathagars that remained active until BRAC contribution was given. The trend of pathagar use gradually increased in the 1 st year of establishment, but declined from the second year. The trend of borrowing books in majority pathagars was found to decline while school examinations became closer and during the long vacations. Predominance of female users was found much higher in the Female type pathagars, but it was lower in the General and Small type pathagars. Almost all the users had interest in newspaper. Reading materials were required in accordance with the level and types of the users, and most users required to have more reference books and religious books. Access of all types of users should be ensured to maximize the utilization of the pathagars. Reading materials should be made available according to their needs and interests. As the normal functioning of the pathagars depends on active committees, careful attention should be given in selecting the committee members to make the pathagar programme more effective and sustainable.