2.46 lakh dropout children enrolled in pry schools
Bss, Dhaka
A total of 2.46 lakh children who were beyond the primary school coverage came under the primary school enrollment during the last two years.According to World Bank sources, apart from the re-enrolment, 8,000 learning centres have been established for these underprivileged children. The project titled 'Reaching Out of School Children (ROSC)' took the initiatives under the government's 'Education of All' programme. Started in June 2004, the project is being implemented at a cost of Tk 367 crore with joint financial assistance of the WB and the Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation (SDC). The main objective of the project is to reduce the number of out of school children through improve access, quality and efficient services in primary school, sources said. 'Bangladesh has taken great strides in primary enrolment and there are still many primary age children out of school reaching out through learning centres,' the sources added. After successful completion of the project, it will cover 5 lakh dropout school children in these learning centres. The centres will provide facilities to the children who belong to the poorest segment of the society and who do not have access to primary education. The significant achievements of the project in two years include establishment of 44 Shishu Kalyan Trust Schools, setting up a Comprehensive Management of Information System (CMIS) to improve existing monitoring mechanisms and 11 education resource providers for imparting training to the teachers of leaning centres. Recently, the World Bank and the Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation concluded a joint supervision mission and expressed satisfaction over the overall progress of the projects. Besides, the mission appreciated the rapid enhancement of the number of learning centres from 727 in 2005 to 8,000 in 2006.
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