More boys shun primary schools than girls despite Bangladesh’s efforts to curb dropouts
The number of female students is higher in primary schools, but the dropout rate is higher for male students, according to the Directorate of Primary Education and Bangladesh Bureau of Educational Information and Statistics.
Government stipends awarded to female students have prevented them from dropping out, said Rasheda K Choudhury, executive director of Campaign for Popular Education, or CAMPE.
Primary and Mass Education Secretary Akram-Al-Hossain, however, said the real rate of dropout is much lower, thanks to different initiatives taken by the government.
At least 2.8 million students were admitted to the first grade in primary schools in 2019. Among them, 1.43 million were boys and 1.37 million were girls.
In 2005, 47.2 percent of primary students dropped out. The dropout rate narrowed to 39.8 percent in 2010 with more boys abandoning schools than girls.
According to the latest survey of the Directorate of Primary Education, 17.9 percent of primary students dropped out in 2019. The dropout rate for boys was 3.5 percentage points higher than girls
Earlier only the girls in the government primary schools used to receive government stipends. Since 2015, boys have also been receiving it. At least 14 million primary students are now receiving government stipends.
Since January last year, a pre-primary student has been receiving Tk 75 a month and first to fifth graders Tk 150. For students from grade six to eight, the monthly stipend amount is Tk 200.
It will take some time to reap the benefits of boys receiving stipends, Rasheda Choudhury told
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