Primary Education

PRIMARY EDUCATION STRENGTHENING PROGRAM

Dropout from the primary school is still a barrier in attaining goals of education of Bangladesh as about 18.6 percent students of primary level are compelled to leave studies before completing grade five. The students dropping out of primary schools by and large belong to the marginal households. Primary Education Strengthening Program (PESP) of SDA-Cumilla was started to address the dropout problem of primary education. The dropout victims are commonly from the poor families as their guardians being mostly illiterate are not conscious enough to support their kids to continue studies.

PESP of SDA-Cumilla provides measures to help those kids by operating learning centers in the backward areas of the country. Under the program, 15,000 Learning Centers have been set up in the underdeveloped localities especially in rural areas across the country. For each Learning Centre, a Sikha-Sebika (mentor) is assigned who provides learning support to 25-30 students through holding a two-hour class/session every day over six days in a week. These classes are conducted at the convenient time of the students before or after of their school hours. Students are aided to organize once a week their daily lessons and homework assigned by the school teachers. In addition, in the learning centers students get involved in extracurricular activities like, singing, dancing, recitation, story-telling, comics, acting etc. that help to build their level of confidence.

A meeting is held every month at each Learning Centre with the participation of guardians, mentor and supervisor. It is necessary to mention that a supervisor has also been assigned to monitor the activities of 15 Learning Centers of PESP. Currently, this program provided teaching-learning service to around 4,00,000 students throughout the country.