A Study on Contribution of Female Education under Stipend Program in Bangladesh

Islamic History & Culture

The Female Secondary School Stipend Project in Bangladesh was established to increase the enrollment of girls in secondary schools, thereby delaying marriage and childbearing. This analysis examined the existing data using the social exclusion framework to clarify the primary exclusionary factors that have kept girls from education harassment, poverty, the primacy of marriage and childbirth and explored the extent to which the project has diminished such barriers. While causality is difficult to establish, data suggest that the stipend programme has contributed to the rise in enrollment of girls in secondary schools. Questions remain as to the impact of the stipend programmed on delaying marriage, empowerment of girls and women, and enhancing employment opportunities. A thorough assessment of the impact is required. The case study suggests that, if the programme design had focused on the quality and content of education and the broader economic and social context, more opportunities would have been created for social and economic participation of girls. Current status of female secondary education Most primary school age children in Bangladesh today attend school and the primary school (grades 1-5) enrollment rates have been risen dramatically with girls benefiting relatively more than boys. The gross enrolment rate at the primary level is close to 100 percent, a rise from 46 per cent in 1991 (the net enrolment rate is 85%) of which 47 percent is female. Female enrollment at the secondary level (grades 6-10) has also been increased quite considerably almost doubling between 1990 and 1997 to nearly 3 million girls representing 48 percent of total enrollment (WB 1999, pp 22) although gross enrollment at the secondary level is much lower at only 44.6 percent in 1999 (WB 2002, pp4). Despite the increase in girls' access to basic education, however, only two thirds of all girls enrolled at the primary level finish grade 5 and are eligible for secondary school and of them not all enter secondary school. (The figure of only 30 percent of primary school leavers entering secondary school is probably an underestimation because the transition rate from primary to secondary which is the number enrolled in grade 6 as a percent of the number completing grade 5 calculated from national educational statistics collected by BANBEIS was much higher even in 1994 and 1995, see fn 2). The low completion rate at the primary level is a major reason for the relatively low gross enrolment rate for girls in secondary school. Income constraints also restrict access to secondary school for girls' from poor households since costs are higher than at the primary level. Besides, access is restricted in remote and poorer areas which are underserved because they are less likely to attract good quality public teachers as well as offer little incentive to private providers. Finally, norms relating to early marriage and the increasing vulnerability and lack of security of adolescent girls are strong parental incentives for non-enrolment of girls into secondary school or if enrolled the non-completion of secondary school.

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