High dropout likely for COVID-19, flood

A sharp rise in dropout rates in education institutes is feared for the prolonged COVID-19 epidemic and flooding, according to government reports and studies conducted by different NGOs and organisations.

The reports and studies concluded dropout rate at schools, madrassahs, colleges and even universities will increase due to salary cut and job losses of parents and closure of dozens of kindergartens over the coronavirus outbreak.

Over 90,00,000 out of  4,50,00,000 primary to university students — for not having access — remained out of the education outreach programmes aired in Sangsad-TV and through the internet by the government and education institutes since March during the closure, government data shows.

Indifference would grip the students who remained out of the ambit of the outreach programmes after they start to return to the education institutes when normalcy sets in, educationists said, adding that the poverty-stricken parents also would engage their male children in income generation and marry off girls at an early age.

They said that the situation further deteriorated following the prolonged flood in 33 districts as the students and their families had seriously been affected by the flood and were now struggling for survival.

The directorate of primary education and directorate of secondary and higher education officials said that over 7,000 education institutes were affected by flood of which about 80 were ruined while a study launched in July by Needs Assessment Working Group, a platform for government and non-government humanitarian agencies operating in Bangladesh, shows that over 8,00,000 students lost their academic materials.

BRAC University professor emeritus Manzoor Ahmed said that the exact number of students who would dropout from the primary to the tertiary level due to the coronavirus epidemic and flood, would only be available after the resumption of normal academic activities.

‘But for sure,’ he said, ‘The dropout rate will increase as many parents lost their jobs and migrated from  big cities back to the villages after being hit hard financially by the coronavirus outbreak.’

The government claims that the present dropout rate at the primary level is 18 per cent and 34 per cent at the secondary level.

Dhaka University English professor Syed Manzoorul Islam said that the dropout rate at both levels would be bit higher than what the government claims, echoing what Manzoor Ahmed said.

‘After the COVID-19 outbreak and flood, it would cross 40 per cent at the primary level and over 50 per cent at the secondary level,’ said Manzoorul, who was engaged in different education programmes run by the government.  

Jalal Uddin from Gangachara upazila of Rangpur said that education activities of his three children were suspended after their village had been erased from the face of the earth due to river erosion.

‘The government primary school and a government high school located in the area have all been ruined and we are struggling to survive and don’t know whether the children would be lucky enough to go back to school,’ he lamented.    

Jamir Uddin, a Class IX student of Kadamtala High School in the capital, said that he took a job at a shop to help his family during the epidemic and was uncertain about returning to school.

Directorate of primary education’s stakeholder engagement plan under the Bangladesh COVID-19 School Sector Response Project summary predicts a sharp increase in dropout rate due to COVID-19’s severe impact on household income, especially for girls in poor/disadvantaged households.

‘The increase in school dropouts will lead to increased incidents of early marriage, adolescent fertility and child labour,’ it reads.

According to the Centre for Policy Dialogue, the country’s national poverty rate rose from 24.3 per cent in 2016 to 35 per cent in 2020 as a direct impact of the coronavirus epidemic.

DPE director general Md Fashiullh claimed that 60 per cent of the 1,40,00,000  government primary school students were under coverage of the education outreach programmes.  

‘Many of the remaining 70,00,000 primary students studying in madrassahs, kindergartens and non-government schools continued online-based classes. But, we don’t know exactly how many students had no access to education for COVID-19 and flood,’ he said. 

Over a 100 kindergartens stopped operation which made the academic life of an estimated 30,000 students uncertain and such closures occurred for not being able to pay house rents and salaries of the teachers, Bangladesh Kindergarten School and College Oikya Parishad chairman Iqbal Bahar Chowdhury said.

Parents of many English medium schools said that the school authorities denied access to their children to the online classes due to non-payment of tuition fees while English Medium School Association of Bangladesh Quazi Taif Sadat said that number of students who dropped out would be available in September. 

Moulnana Shibbir Ahmed, principal of Jamiya Islamia Darul Ulum Madrassah, said that Qaumi madrassahs were not conducting online classes and enrolment in the new academic year that began in July saw a considerable drop.

The enrolment at the new semester at the online classes operated by private universities also dropped since many students were not in a position to pay the tuition fees, association of Private Universities of Bangladesh president Sheikh Kabir Hossain told New Age on Saturday.

He said that the association asked all private universities to provide the number of enrolment that began in July.

University Grants Commission director Md Kamal Hossain said that four public universities operated full-fledged online classes and others introduced it partially. 

Dhaka University English professor Manzoorul Islam said that many students from the poor families were not attending online-based classes as they could not purchase expensive mobile data.

‘And those who were able to remain connected online, usually keep their video options off and never respond to classroom activities,’ he added.

Professor Manzoor said that the students who missed the face-to-face classes for five months would not achieve the competencies their respective levels demand and would struggle to adjust to the lessons in the next classes unless there are catch-up lessons when institutes reopen. 

DSHE director general Syed Md Golam Faruk, however, claimed that the students were taught effectively in the online classes and they would not face much problems in the next classes as 90 per cent students of schools and colleges were covered by the Sangsad TV programmes.

He said that all 1,80,00,000 secondary level students were expected to return to regular classes when institutes would reopen.

‘We will instruct the teachers to revise some of the important lessons of the immediate past classes,’ he said.

Sumaiya Setu, a Class VI, student of Baganbari High School said she never watched Sangsad TV programme and remained completely alienated from academic activities for the last five months.

‘My father who drives a CNG-run three-wheeler to earn a living is planning to shift to my grandfather’s house in Munshiganj,’ she said.

Rasheda K Choudhury, executive director of Campaign for Popular Education, demanded that the government should immediately launch a study for getting a clear picture of the scenario relating to dropout and take measures through different incentive programmes to bring all students back to the academic life.

Education secretary Mahbub Hossain and primary and mass education secretary Md Akram Al Hossain claimed that the government had taken special measures to continue academic activities and bringing back all students to classes.

They said that the government in an emergency basis would rebuild the ruined schools and repair the affected ones.

‘We did not stop any incentive programme, rather we chalking out new programmes for addressing the problem,’ Mahbub said.

Akram said that instructions had already been passed to officials and teachers to contact students of all primary schools after developing a recovery plan.

‘Instruction has already been passed to enrol students at the government primary schools from closed kindergartens,’ he said, adding that a recovery plan had already been adopted.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net