The Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh

Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education

Ministry of Education

Dhaka, Bangladesh

Program Monitoring Unit (PMU)

	TDP Draft
►	Environmental Assessment and Environmental Management Framework of Secondary Education Quality & Access Enhancement Project (Proposed)
►	The Nationwide Female Stipend Program : An Overview
►	Project and Bank Arrangements
►	Objectives of the Nationwide Female Stipend Program ( NFSP)
►	Eligibility Criteria for Getting Stipend
►	Stipend and Tuition Fee Rates
►	The Projects Under the Nation-wide Female Stipend Program at a Glance
►	Female Secondary School Assistance Project Phase : II (FSSAP-II)
►	Female Secondary Stipend Project (FSSP)
►	Secondary Education Sector Improvement Project (SESIP)
►	Female Secondary Education Stipend Project (FESP)
►	Higher Secondary Female Stipend Program (HSFSP)
►	Stipend Program for Metropolitan Cities
►	Pro-poor Targeting
►	Project wise District, Upazila & Institutions
►	Information on General & Madrasha education
►	Number of Girls and institutions
►	Number of Stipend Recipient Girls & Institutions
►	Stipend's information at Higher Secondary Level
►	Class wise total girls and stipend recipient grils
►	Year Wise Stipend Recipient Girls Increasing Rate
►	Results of Secondary School Certificate
►	SSC Result of Stipend Recipients Girls
►	HSC Result of Girls Student for all over Bangladesh
►	Dropout Information at Secondary Level
►	Project wise Disbursed Amount Information
►	Number of Male & Female Teacher at Secondary Level
►	Percentage of Female Teachers
►	Boys and Girls Ratio of Secondary Level
►	Summary Data of all Female Stipend Projects at Secondary Level
►	Other special activities under FSSAPII
►	Other special activities under SESIP
►	Head/Asstt. Head of the Institutions Training by FSP at the Secondary Level
►	Subject Teacher Training by FSP at the Secondary Level
►	Providing Twin latrine and Tube well at Secondary Level institution
►	Stake holder Training at Secondary Level

THE NATIONWIDE FEMALE STIPEND PROGRAM : AN OVERVIEW

♦

Education is the basic need for the socio-economic transformation and the advancement of a country. It is the prime ingredient of human resource development. The Constitution of Bangladesh obligates the Government to adopt effective measures for establishing a uniform, mass-oriented and universal system of education and extending free and compulsory education to all children to such a stage as may be determined by law. It also obligates the Government to relate education to the needs of the society and producing properly trained and motivated citizens to serve the needs. It also obligates the Government for removing illiteracy within such times as may be determined by law.

♦

Bearing in mind the Constitutional obligation, the Government of Bangladesh has been trying its best to achieve impressive results in education sector. Although it may be mentioned that the educational development in Bangladesh has not yet been adequately geared to meet its human needs. However, having with around 133.4 million people (2003), the adult literacy rate (15 + age) of the country is about 54.8% wherein the female literacy rate is 48.9% and male 60.3%. The gap of literacy rates between the urban and the rural areas is also very wide.

♦

The Government of Bangladesh has already undertaken various reform measures for the quantitative and qualitative development of primary, secondary and tertiary education and perhaps the greatest strength of the Government in this regard is the consistent high level national commitment and consensus on the priority of female education. The Government has realized that the benefits of education should be experienced and shared equitably by both women and men. In fact, sustainable development of a nation is absolutely impossible without the participation of women in the mainstream of development activities.

♦

However, the Government of Bangladesh with some short term and long term objectives laid special emphasis in the Fourth Five Year Plan (FFYP) (1990-95) to raise female literacy rate from 16% to 25% and thereby ensure enhanced participation of females in all spheres of national life.

The objectives of the FFYP are stated below:

■

Short term objectives

●

To increase the number of enrollment of girls in grades 6-10.

●

To assist them to pass their SSC examination so that they become qualified for employment as primary school teachers, agricultural extension agents health and family planning workers and NGO field workers etc; and

●

To hold them in studies and thereby refrain them from early marriage.

■

Long term objectives

●

To enhance the number of educated women capable of participating in economic and social development activities of the country;

●

To enhance the social status of the female in the community and thereby reduce the gender gap from every sphere of life;

●

To create a positive impact on population growth; and

●

to provide occupational skills training to school leaving girls interested in entering the labor market as self-employed workers, semi-skilled and skilled workers.

♦

To achieve these objectives, the Government launched a program from January 1990 that aimed at exempting girls living outside the metropolitan areas from paying tuition fees from grades 6-8. But this program was not sufficient for continuing their education upto 10. As a result it was necessary to launch a broad-based program for achieving the targets of FFYP. However, it is to be noted that , a pilot project for providing financial support to secondary female students of one Thana was taken-up in early eighties with the financial help of USAID. On close monitoring and evaluation of the program, it was revealed that the by providing financial support it was possible in bringing and retaining the girls at secondary level.

♦

The Nation wide Female Stipend Program was launched at secondary level from January 1994. In Bangladesh total population is about 145 million and half of the population is female. The literacy rate of the country is 65% of which female literacy rate is 48.7% only. The Female Secondary School Assistance Project (FSSAP) was the pioneer to introduce such program in 118 Uapzilas. The introduction of this program in 118 Upazilas by FSSAP created a nation-wide enthusiasm for girls education which inspired the Government to undertake a "Nation-wide Female Stipend Program" with the same aims, objectives and implementation strategies as FSSAP. The Government also decided to take up 3 more projects, namely Secondary Education Sector Improvement Project (SESIP) supported by ADB, Female Secondary Education Stipend Project (FESP) supported by NORAD and Female Secondary Stipend Project (FSSP) financed by GOB's own resources. The detailed coverage of upazilla and source of financing under NFSP is furnished below:

Project and Bank Arrangements

Project	Bank	Financer	Coverage
FSSAP-II	Agrani	IDA & GOB	119 Upazilas all over Bangladesh
FSSP	Agrani	GOB	62 Upazilas of Dhaka Division
	Janata	GOB	176 Upazilas of Rajshahi , Chittagong, Sylhet Division
	Rupali	GOB	64 Upazilas of Barishal , & Khulna Division
SESIP	Rupali	ADB & GOB	53 Upazilas all over the Bangladesh
HSFSP	Agrani	GOB	119 Upazilas of Dhaka Division
	Janata	GOB	249 Upazilas of Rajshahi , Chittagong, Sylhet Division
	Rupali	GOB	106 Upazilas of Khulna & Barishal Division.

♦ Objectives of the Nationwide Female Stipend Program ( NFSP)

During launching of the NFSP , the participation of female students in the secondary level was only 33 percent and out of which only 05 percent could pass the SSC examination. It is indeed to be noted that poverty, early marriage, socio-economic conditions and social prejudice etc. are the common impediments for low rate of female participation and passing SSC examination. To overcome the impediments the NFSP has been framed with the following objectives :

■

Short term objectives

●

To increase the number of girls’ enrollment in grades 6-10.

●

To assist the girls to pass SSC examination so that they can make themselves qualified for employment as primary school teachers, agriculture extension agents, health and family planning workers, NGO filed workers etc. and

●

To hold girls in studies and make them refrain from early marriage;

●

To aware the community for sending their daughters to the schools for obtaining education.

■

The long-term objectives are:

●

To enlarge the number of educated women capable of participating in the economic and social development of the country,

●

To increase the social status of the female in the community and reduce gender disparity;

●

To create a positive impact on population growth.

♦

Eligibility Criteria for Getting Stipend

Under NFSP, the female students at the secondary level are getting stipends under the following criteria:

●

They must attend at least 75% of the classes in an academic year;

●

They must obtain at least 45% marks on an average/GPA 2.5 in the annual examination;

●

They must unmarried until passing the SSC examination. Students violating any one of the above criteria will not be eligible for getting stipends and tuition fees.

♦

Stipend and Tuition Fee Rates

Under NFSP, the amount provided to the female students of grades 6-10 as stipend, subsidy to the institutions against tuition fees and other fees is stated below:

(Amount in Taka)

Class	Type of institution	First installment: Jan-June				Second installment: July-Dec.				Annual total	Monthly stipend	Monthly tuition
Class	Type of institution	Stipend	Tuition	Books	Total	Stipend	Tuition	Exam. Fees	Total	Annual total	Monthly stipend	Monthly tuition
6	Govt.	150	60	-	210	150	60	-	210	420	25	10
6	Non-Govt	150	90	-	240	150	90	-	240	480	25	15
7	Govt.	180	72	-	252	180	72	-	252	504	30	12
7	Non-Govt	180	90	-	270	180	90	-	270	540	30	15
8	Govt.	210	72	-	282	210	72	-	282	564	35	12
8	Non-Govt	210	90	-	300	210	90	-	300	600	35	15
9	Govt.	360	90	250	700	360	90	-	450	1150	60	15
9	Non-Govt	360	120	250	730	360	120	-	480	1210	60	20
10	Govt.	360	90	-	450	540	135	550	1225	1675	60	15
10	Non-Govt	360	120	-	480	540	180	550	1270	1750	60	20

♦

The Projects Under the Nation-wide Female Stipend Program at a Glance:

Being inspired by the success of the NFSP, the Government of Bangladesh has extended the duration of four stipend projects for five more years with own finance and financial assistance from donor agencies. The Government has laid special emphasis on improving the quality of secondary education along with increasing access and retention of girls through these projects designed in the new perspective. However the projects designed under NFSP are furnished below:

FSSAP-II

The name of the Project : Female Secondary School Assistance Project Phase : II (FSSAP-II)

Implementation Period : 1st Phase: Jan, 1994 to June, 2001; 2nd Phase: July, 2001 to June, 2008

The total project cost : Total = Tk. 83187.94 lakh

Financing of the Project : GOB = Tk. 14141.95 lakh ; IDA = Tk. 69045.99 lakh

Objectives of the Project

●

Improving the Quality of Secondary Education

Efficient teacher, good institution and supportive environment are essential for the qualitative development of secondary education. The concept of quality education is very much related to the development of female education as well as achievement of the high pass rate in the SSC examination. For this reason the project will provide assistance in management and supervision training for Head Teachers. It is also aimed at providing training to the subject wise Assistant Teachers.

●

Increasing Access and Retention of Girls

This component specially emphasizes to keep the trend of increasing of enrollment unabated and assists girls to pass the SSC examination

●

Strengthening Management, Accountability and Monitoring

The objective of this component is to strengthen management of the Female Secondary Education Assistance programs in Bangladesh. This is for improving the quality, minimizing irregularities and wastages and decreasing the effects of fragmentation of donor assistance.

FSSP

The name of the Project : Female Secondary Stipend Project (FSSP)

Implementation Period : 1st Phase : Jan, 1994 to June, 2005

2nd Phase: July, 2005 to Dec, 2008

The total project cost : Total = Tk. 46662.40 lakh

Financing of the Project : GOB

Objectives of the Project : The main objectives of the project are as follows:

●

To enhance and retain female students in the secondary stage and thereby promote female education;

●

To reduce population growth by motivating the stipend clientele group to refrain from marriage till the completion of secondary school certificate examination or the attainment of 18 years of age;

●

To increase the involvement of women in socio-economic development activities;

●

To increase the scope of women’s self employment opportunity and thereby meet the poverty alleviation goals;

●

To assist in improving the status of women in society; and

●

To strengthen the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education through implementation support and capacity building at Upazila level all over the country.

SESIP

The name of the Project : Secondary Education Sector Improvement Project (Revised)

Implementation Period : July 1999 – Dec. 2006

The total project cost : Tk. 59020.00 lakh

Financing of the Project : GOB = Tk. 14820.00 lakh ; ADB = Tk. 34200.00 lakh

Objectives of the Project

●

Strengthening MOE’s institutional capacity to plan, manage and execute the secondary education system and to improve the use of scarce resources by providing assistance to Policy support and strategic planning by

i)

Decentralization management

ii)

Developing performance-based management

iii)

Strengthening school management and supervision

●

To help build support systems for improved quality of secondary education by

i)

Strengthening the capacity for curriculum development

ii)

Privatize secondary textbooks production

iii)

Reform student assessment and public examination

iv)

Reform secondary teacher education

●

Expand equitable access to secondary education through

i)

Facilities development: new secondary schools or classrooms in underserved areas.

ii)

Establish a school improvement fund in underserved areas.

iii)

Female stipend support

FESP(NORAD)

The name of the Project : Female Secondary Education Stipend Project 3^rd Phase (NORAD)

Implementation Period : 1st Phase : January 1992 to Dec 1996.

2nd Phase : January 1997 to Dec 2003.

3rd Phase : January 2004 to Dec 2006.

The total project cost : Tk. 2099.63 lakh

Financing of the Project : Norwagian Agency for Development (NORAD)

Objectives of the Project : The main objectives of the project are as follows:

●

To provide stipends to Female Students to increase girls enrollment and retain them in the secondary education and thereby promote female education.

●

To improve the status of women in society and to reduce the existing disparity in between men and women;

●

To enlarge the number of educated women capable of participating in economic and social development of Bangladesh.

●

To reduce population growth by motivating the stipend clientele group to refrain from marriage till the completion of secondary school certificate examination or till the attainment of 18 years of age.

Higher Secondary Female Stipend Program (HSFSP)

The name of the Project : Higher Secondary Female Stipend Project 3^rd Phase (HSFSP-3)

Implementation Period : 1st Phase : January 2002 to Jun 2002.

2nd Phase : July 2002 to June 2005.

3rd Phase : July 2005 to June 2008.

The total project cost : Tk. 18485.99 lakh

Financing of the Project : GOB

Objectives of the Project :

●

To assist expansion of higher education for girls by increasing access of girls, ensuring the continuity of their participation and reducing the dropout rate at Higher Secondary level.

●

To encourage more girl students to study science at the H.S.C & Alim level.

●

To reducing the growth rate of population by ensuring compliance criteria of remaining unmarried of the stipend recipient girls up to H.S.C level.

●

To provide assistance for poverty alleviation program by enabling the stipend recipient girls to do better in self-employment with the skills they acquire at this level.

●

To achieve gender equality, women empowerment and the social status of girls in the community/country.

♦

Stipend Program for Metropolitan Cities:

With a view to assist the poor parents of the girl students of the Metropolitan Cities, the Government has decided to award stipends to the girls living in the metropolitan areas. In this regard, schools in the metropolitan cities have been surveyed and at present a project for this purpose is under preparation. Hopefully, the project for awarding stipend to the girl students of the metropolitan cities Dhaka, Chittagong, Rajshahi and Khulna will be included in the Revised ADP of the year 2005-06.

♦

Pro-poor Targeting:

The Government has recently taken some initiatives to commence a pro-poor stipend pilot program specially under WB financed project FSSAP-II. Accordingly, the progrm has developed a two-pronged strategy by : (i) expanding the outreach activities in the remote areas and thereby allowing greater access to disadvantaged girls; and (ii) introducing a self-targeting scheme in which the project institutions can participate voluntarily with increased stipend rates only to poor students, with different selection criteria. However, the Government is thinking to develop a integrated policy for making the NFSP pro-poor .and thereby increase the enrollment rate of poor students in secondary education while maintaining the gender balance. The Government has also taken some measures to review NFSP and thereby make it more poverty and quality oriented.

♦

The present Government of Bangladesh has realized that female education is one of the most important criteria for the overall development of the country and thereby meet the PRSP and MDGS goals. Accordingly, the Nation-wide Female Stipend Program has been launched and the program has brought about some radical changes in the society. After launching the program, a gradual increase of literacy rate, enrollment and retention rate of girls at the SSC and HSC levels with a decrease of gender disparity have been shown. This is possible as because the parents, the teachers, the students and the community as a whole have now realized that for the betterment of life there is no alternative to education. To materialize the realization fully, the Government of Bangladesh along with NFSP has initiated a large number of development programs for accelerating female education and thereby make the women more empowered. However, despite some challenges, the overall progress of NFSP is quite satisfactory.

Project wise District, Upazila & Institutions

Project wise District, Upazila & Institutions

	Year	Name of Project	District	Upazila	No. of Institute
	2001	FSSAP-II	61	119	5556
		FSSP	56	289	13206
		SESIP	17	53	2267
		FESP-II	6	19	811
		HSFSP	0	0	0
	2002	FSSAP-II	61	119	5853
		FSSP	56	289	13826
		SESIP	17	53	2367
		FESP-II	6	19	829
		HSFSP-II	64	453	4320
	2003	FSSAP-II	61	119	6110
		FSSP	56	289	14538
		SESIP	17	53	2526
		FESP-II	6	19	846
		HSFSP-II	64	453	4564
	2004	FSSAP-II	61	119	6384
		FSSP	56	289 (**)	15065
		SESIP	17	53	2527
		FESP-III	6	19	1343
		HSFSP-II	64	453	4623
	2005	FSSAP-II	61	119	6528
		FSSP-II	56	289	15350
		SESIP	17	53	2672
		FESP-III	6	19	886
		HSFSP-II	64	453	4623
	2006	FSSAP-II	61	119	6666
		FSSP-II	56	302	15649
		SESIP	17	53	2740
		HSFSP-III	64	474	5608

[ Source : Project Directors of FSSAP-II, FSSP, SESIP, FESP(NORAD) ]

** Stipend & Tuition money for Madrasha girl students under FESP (19 Upazila) are being disbursed by FSSP.

Information on General and Madrasha Education at Junior Secondary & Secondary Level.

Type of institution	Management	Year	Institution			Teacher			Enrollment


			Total	Female	% of Female	Both Male & Female	Female	% of Female	Both Male & Female	Female	% of Female
Junior Secondary Education	Non Govt.	2001	3245	856	26%	21,311	3430	16%	732298	439439	60%
		2002	3287	846	26%	21,587	3494	16%	741776	445124	60%
		2003	3982	1122	28%	28,347	5531	20%	942869	568927	60%
		2004	4157	1185	29%	27,007	5520	20%	858162	503312	59%
		2005	4322	1247	29%	36,122	7294	20%	910914	531164	58%
Secondary School	Govt.	2001	317	147	46%	6913	2410	35%	221215	101447	46%
		2002	317	147	46%	6954	2434	35%	222125	101964	46%
		2003	317	147	46%	7323	2498	34%	222740	104124	47%
		2004	317	147	46%	7168	2474	35%	222451	105627	47%
		2005	317	147	46%	7452	2340	31%	221887	106316	48%
	Non Govt.	2001	12604	2018	16%	155053	24356	16%	6933497	3655213	53%
		2002	12958	2068	16%	158408	25383	16%	7198233	3813690	53%
		2003	13087	2153	16%	170887	31551	18%	6960753	3649517	52%
		2004	13793	2286	17%	180498	39261	22%	6422634	3316171	52%
		2005	13861	2314	17%	194584	38656	20%	6265751	3230534	52%
Dhakil Madrasha	Non Govt.	2001	5391	701	13%	67026	3677	5%	1587361	791648	50%
		2002	5536	733	13%	70247	3954	6%	1619486	828854	51%
		2003	5995	847	14%	79881	5967	7%	1671356	884039	53%
		2004	6315	927	15%	86422	8277	10%	1521505	719725	47%
		2005	6685	1017	15%	98123	9908	10%	1597355	795956	50%

[Source: BANBEIS]

The above information has been furnished to focus female position with its enrollment in the institutions including the number of teachers in the Secondary and the Madrasha education in Bangladesh.In 2005 the percentage of girls’ junior secondary institutions was 29%. This figure was 29% in the previous year also. In the secondary education sector, the percentage of Govt. institutions for female was 46% during the period 2001 to 2005, whereas this percentage was only 17% in the Non Govt. institutions in 2005.This figure was 17% in the previous year.In case of

Dhakil Madrasha, the percentage was 15% only in 2005. The percentage of female teacher was 20% in the junior secondary school, 31% in Govt. school but only 20% in the Non Govt. schools. In case of Dhakil Madrasha, this figure was only 10% in 2005. In the enrollment scenario the percentage of female is noteworthy. 58% girl students are in the junior secondary schools, 48% are in the secondary Govt. schools, 52% in the Non Govt. schools, and 50% in the Dhakil Madrasha in 2005.

Number of Enrolled Girls and Institutions

Year	Project	No of Institutions			Class wise Number of Girls					Total Girls
Year	Project	Govt.-school	Non-Govt. School	Madrasa	VI	VII	VIII	IX	X	Total Girls
2001	FSSAP-II	35	3746	1775	297395	260996	239570	201128	151366	1150455
	FSSP	143	8494	4565	620543	548099	511356	397466	309348	2386812
	SESIP	27	1611	629	108439	96640	88469	70794	48541	412883
	FESP	6	805	0	44295	42407	40241	33561	24752	185256
Total:2001		211	14656	6969	1070672	948142	879636	702949	534007	4135406
2002	FSSAP-II	34	3914	1889	303821	279508	245073	220338	173465	1222205
	FSSP	144	8823	4859	630965	595913	523529	452299	347203	2549909
	SESIP	27	1681	659	107339	106218	92943	78225	59096	443821
	FESP	7	823	0	35235	37858	32997	28916	24055	159061
Total:2002		212	15241	7407	1077360	1019497	894542	779778	603819	4374996
2003	FSSAP-II	39	4058	2013	311921	267081	243816	224181	179839	1226838
	FSSP	151	9205	5182	417681	349888	322793	264376	112412	1467150
	SESIP	27	1776	723	103883	101789	94429	74730	57180	432011
	FESP	7	839	0	37675	37783	38679	33183	26896	174216
Total:2003		224	15878	7918	871160	756541	699717	596470	376327	3300215
2004	FSSAP-II	45	4188	2151	276040	247291	213007	198534	155402	1090274
	FSSP	156	9431	5478	464314	200012	181341	163961	91649	1101277
	SESIP	31	1824	775	119902	117118	109930	90412	65798	503160
	FESP	7	865	471	45955	33500	32336	32087	25491	169369
Total:2004		239	16308	8875	906211	597921	536614	484994	338340	2864080
2005	FSSAP-II	47	4284	2197	289985	235367	210661	198227	159810	1094050
	FSSP-II	164	9593	5593	591117	242578	185185	198485	143064	1360429
	SESIP	34	1848	790	107227	71108	59403	64491	44311	346540
	FESP	6	880		36526	9035	7757	7644	6342	67304
Total:2005		251	16605	8580	1024855	558088	463006	468847	353527	2868323
2006	FSSAP-II	46	4369	2251	282645	241915	192774	189233	150182	1056749
	FSSP-II	167	6737	5745	609295	753870	514655	481838	380688	2740346
	SESIP	34	1848	790	126309	104203	95170	85812	66357	477851
Total:2006		247	12954	8786	1018249	1099988	802599	756883	597227	4274946

[ Source : Project Directors of FSSAP-II, FSSP, SESIP, FESP(NORAD) ]

●

19 Upazilas of NORAD have been included in FSSP. So FSSP is now financing total 302 upazilas. The Madrasha of Upazilas under FESP are being awarded stipend through FSSP

●

Non- Government schools have been emerged in a large number during the years 2001-2006 in all the 4 Stipend Projects.

●

The number of Madrasha was increasing in a greater number under the Stipend Projects since 2001.

●

There was a steady trend in increasing girls’ enrollment from 2001-2002 but the rate of enrollment started declining in 2003 and 2004 due to the rigorous monitoring. But there are increases in SESIP, FSSAP-II and FSSP in 2006.

●

As a whole, the student in class VI is higher than any other classes. The major trend is that girl students are decreasing while being promoted to higher classes.

Number of Stipend Recipient Girls & Institutions

Year	Project	No of Institutions			Class wise Number of Girls					Total Girls
Year	Project	Govt.-school	Non-Govt. School	Madrasa	VI	VII	VIII	IX	X	Total Girls
2001	FSSAP-II	35	3746	1775	248875	213782	198097	174733	119325	954812
	FSSP	143	8494	4565	595284	533683	497907	397156	300067	2324097
	SESIP	27	1611	629	104557	91754	83493	67512	44251	391567
	FESP-II	6	805		44295	42407	40241	33561	24752	185256
Total:2001		211	14656	6969	993011	881626	819738	672962	488395	3855732
2002	FSSAP-II	34	3914	1889	256968	233875	202525	195490	141126	1029984
	FSSP	144	8823	4859	626985	569096	499970	452099	287220	2435370
	SESIP	27	1681	659	100084	96417	82989	70479	49989	399958
	FESP-II	7	823		35235	37858	32997	28916	24055	159061
Total:2002		212	15241	7407	1019272	937246	818481	746984	502390	4024373
2003	FSSAP-II	39	4058	2013	267315	212046	190707	195083	139929	1005080
	FSSP	151	9185	5170	316397	296802	274377	224454	106560	1218590
	SESIP	27	1776	723	82817	76993	70063	53964	32044	315881
	FESP-II	7	839	0	36258	35658	34609	28289	23866	158680
Total:2003