Farhad for entertainment in education system to check school dropouts

State Minister for Public Administration Farhad Hossain today stressed on introducing entertainment in education system to prevent school dropouts amid the fear of a rise in dropouts at the secondary level to 45 percent from the current rate of 38 percent in the wake of coronavirus pandemic.

"The students should be entertained with the method of teaching to curb the increasing rate of dropouts …as experts fear that the dropout rate is likely to increase even more, if the pandemic continues for a longer period," he said while inaugurating free text book distribution programme virtually among the primary students here.

According to the latest report of Bangladesh Bureau of Educational Information and Statistics the country's current dropout rate stands at 38 percent at the secondary level and it is likely to increase if the schools reopen after the Covid-19 pandemic.

The report reveals that school dropout is negatively related to economic development in Bangladesh.

The latest study also explores that chronic poverty, parent's unwillingness, financial problem, school's poor infrastructure, biased social practice, lack of quality education, geographic isolation, unequal access to education, and security problems for girls are major causes of school dropout in Bangladesh.

The study suggests that free education program, reducing paid coaching culture, lessening cost of private school, raising awareness of parents by teacher-parents relationship, improving school's infrastructure, ensuring equal access to education, providing quality training for teachers, provision of all related facilities should be ensured at the policy level by government's policymakers.

In many times, the school environment and behavior of the teachers discourage the students to return to the schools, said the state minister, adding: "So, we have to make the education system entertaining for the students."

Farhad, however, advised the teachers not to discourage the students who are usually lagging behind in study and have less attention in education creating negative impact on their minds.

Elaborating government initiatives, the state minister said the present government has given importance to developing the education sector. The Awami League government led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is distributing free textbooks every year among crores of students despite the current coronavirus pandemic.

Even the government has published the textbooks in separate formats specially for the small ethnic community and the visually impaired children, he told virtual book distribution programme.

Chaired by Meherpur Deputy Commissioner Dr Mohammad Mansur Alam Khan, the programme was also addressed, among others, by Additional Secretary of the Primary and Mass Education Ministry M Tajul Islam and Meherpur district Primary Education Officer M Fazley Rahman.

Later, the state minister inaugurated the textbooks distribution among the secondary level students in the district.