Bangladesh Profile Fact

Bangladesh is one of the world's most densely populated countries, with its people crammed into a delta of rivers that empties into the Bay of Bengal.

Poverty is deep and widespread; almost half of the population live on less than one dollar a day. However, Bangladesh has reduced population growth and improved health and education.
The major employer is agriculture, but it is unable to meet the demand for jobs. So, many Bangladeshis - in common with citizens from other countries in the region - seek work abroad, sometimes illegally.
The country is trying to diversify its economy, with industrial development a priority. Overseas investors have pumped money into manufacturing and the energy sector.

 

Much of Bangladesh is low-lying and vulnerable to flooding

Onshore and offshore gas reserves hold out some chance of future prosperity. There has been a debate about whether the reserves should be kept for domestic use or exported. International companies are involved in the gas sector.
Formerly East Pakistan, Bangladesh came into being only in 1971, when the two parts of Pakistan split after a bitter war which drew in neighbouring India.
Bangladesh spent 15 years under military rule and, although democracy was restored in 1990, the political scene remains volatile.
Analysts say antagonism between the main parties - the Awami League and Bangladesh Nationalist Party - reflects personal animosity between leaders rather than substantial ideological differences.
Political tensions have spilled over into violence; hundreds of people have been killed in recent years. Attacks have targeted opposition rallies and public gatherings. Senior opposition figures have also been targeted.
Concern has grown about religious extremism in the usually moderate and tolerant country. The government has outlawed two fringe Islamic organisations.
Bangladesh has been criticised for its human rights record, with particular concern about assaults on women and allegations that police use torture against those in custody.
The low-lying country is vulnerable to flooding and cyclones and it stands to be badly affected by predicted rises in sea levels.

The capital Dhaka is situated on the Ganges Delta and ferries are an important form of transport 

 

• Full name: People's Republic of Bangladesh
• Population: 150.4 million (UN, 2011)
• Capital and largest city: Dhaka
• Area: 143,998 sq km (55,598 sq miles)
• Major language: Bengali
• Major religions: Islam, Hinduism
• Life expectancy: 69 years (men), 70 years (women) (UN)
• Monetary unit: 1 taka = 100 paisa
• Main exports: Garments, fish, jute goods, leather products
• GNI per capita: US $770 (World Bank, 2011)
• Internet domain: .bd
• International dialling code: +880

Pilgrims arrive near Dhaka for the Biswa Ijtema, the world's second biggest Muslim gathering after the Hajj

Copyright: BBC
 

Education System in Bangladesh

The educational system in Bangladesh is three-tiered and highly subsidized. The government of Bangladesh operates many schools in the primary, secondary, and higher secondary levels. It also subsidizes parts of the funding for many private schools. In the tertiary education sector, the government also funds more than 15 state universities through the University Grants Commission. Bangladesh conforms fully to the Education For All (EFA) objectives, the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) and international declarations. Article 17 of the Bangladesh Constitution provides that all children between the ages of six and eighteen years receive secondary education free of charge.

The three main educational systems in Bangladesh, ordered by decreasing student numbers, are:

• General Education System
• Madrasah Education System
• Technical - Vocational Education System

Other systems include a Professional Education System.
Each of these three main systems is divided into five levels:

• Primary Level (years 1 to 5)
• Junior Level (years 6 to 8)
• Secondary Level (years 9 to 10)
• Higher Secondary Level (years 11 and 12)
• Tertiary Level

Tertiary education in Bangladesh takes place at 34 government and 54 private universities. Students can choose to further their studies in engineering, technology, agriculture and medicine at a variety of universities and colleges.
At all levels of schooling, students can choose to receive their education in English or Bangla. Private schools tend to make use of English-based study media while government-sponsored schools use Bangla.

Cadets in class room

Cadet colleges are important in the education system of Bangladesh. A cadet college is a room and board collegiate administered by the Bangladesh. Military discipline is compulsory at all cadet colleges. Faujdarhat cadet college was the first cadet college in Bangladesh, established in 1958 over an area of 185 acres (0.75 km²) of land at Faujdarhat in the district of Chittagong. At present there are 12 cadet colleges in Bangladesh.

The Madrasah Education System focuses on religious education, teaching all the basics of education in a religious environment. Religious studies are taught in Arabic and the students in some areas also serve the local area masjids. Students also study are required by law to complete all of the courses from the General Education System. Many privately licensed Madrasas take in homeless children and provide them with food, shelter and education, e.g. Jamia Tawakkulia Renga Madrasah in Sylhet.

The Technical and Vocational Education System provides courses related to various applied and practical areas of science, technology and engineering, or focuses on a specific specialized area. Course duration ranges from one month to four years.

In Madrasah Education System, after passing 'Alim' (12th Grade), student can enroll in for 3years long study, for obtaining a 'Fazil' level (14th Grade)as well as they can go for further general education like earning all over the universities degree, And after passing successfully they can further enroll into another 2 years long study system to obtain a 'Kamil' level (16th Grade) degree.

In the Technical Education System, after obtaining Diploma-in-Engineering degree (four years long curriculum), students can further pursue their educational carrier for obtaining a Bachelor degree from Engineering & Technology Universities, and normally it takes two and half or three years long courses for students with a Diploma-in-Engineering degree, to obtain a Bachelor degree, but often in some cases these students take more than three years to complete their bachelor degree(undergraduate degree) (16th Grade) in Engineering. Then they can enroll into post-graduate studies.

The overall responsibility of management of primary education lies with the Primary and Mass Education Division (PMED), set up as a separate division with the status of a Ministry in 1992. While the PMED is involved in formulation of policies, the responsibility of implementation rests with the Directorate of Primary Education (DPE) headed by a Director General.
The Directorate of Primary Education (DPE) and its subordinate offices in the district and upazila are solely responsible for management and supervision of primary education. Their responsibilities include recruitment, posting, and transfer of teachers and other staff; arranging in-service training of teachers; distribution of free textbooks; and supervision of schools. The responsibility of school construction, repair and supply of school furniture lies with the Facilities Department (FD) and Local Government Engineering Department (LGED).

The National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) are responsible for the development of curriculum and production of textbooks. While the Ministry of Education (MOE) is responsible for formulation of policies, the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE) under the Ministry of Education is responsible for implementing the same at secondary and higher education levels. The NCTB is responsible for developing curriculum and publishing standard textbooks.

The primary and secondary levels of education are controlled by the seven General Education Boards, each covering a region. The boards' headquarters are located in Barisal, Comilla Chittagong, Dhaka, Dinajpur Jessore, Rajshahi and Sylhet . In addition, the Madrasah Education Board covers religious education in government-registered Madrasahs, and the Technical Education Board controls technical and vocational training in the secondary level.

Eight region-based Boards of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) are responsible for conducting the three public examinations, Junior School Certificate (JSC), Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and Higher Secondary School Certificate (HSC), in addition to granting recognition to non-government secondary schools.
At the school level, in the case of non-government secondary schools, School Management Committees (SMC), and at the intermediate college level, in the case of non-government colleges, Governing Bodies (GB), formed as per government directives, are responsible for mobilizing resources, approving budgets, controlling expenditures, and appointing and disciplining staff. While teachers of non-government secondary schools are recruited by concerned SMCs observing relevant government rules, teachers of government secondary schools are recruited centrally by the DSHE through a competitive examination.
In government secondary schools, there is not an SMC. The headmaster is solely responsible for running the school and is supervised by the deputy director of the respective zone. Parent Teachers Associations (PTAs), however, exist to ensure a better teaching and learning environment.

 A vast number of schools in Bangladesh are English Medium schools. English Medium schools are mainly private schools where all the courses are taught in English except one Bengali Language subject at ordinary level (O Level). These schools in Bangladesh follow the General Certificate of Education (GCE) syllabus where students are prepared for taking their Ordinary Level (O Level) and Advanced Level (A Level) examinations. The General Certificate of Education system is one of the most internationally recognized qualifications, based from the United Kingdom. The Ordinary and Advanced Level examinations are English equivalent to the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and Higher Secondary School Certificate (HSC) examinations respectively. Most students sit for these exams from the registered schools in Bangladesh who follow the GCE syllabus. Those who do not attend a school that follows the GCE syllabus may also sit for their Ordinary and Advanced Level examinations from British Council. These examinations are conducted under the supervision of British Council in Bangladesh.The GCE examination conducted by the British Council takes place twice a year. Currently there are two boards operating from Bangladesh for Ordinary and Advanced Level Examinations, which are Edexcel and University of Cambridge International Examinations.

There exists a substantial number of NGO-run non-formal schools, catering mainly to the drop-outs of the government and non-government primary schools. Very few NGOs, however, impart education for the full five-year primary education cycle. Because of this, on completion of their two-to three-year non-formal primary education in NGO-run schools, students normally re-enter into government/non-government primary schools at higher classes.
There are Non-Governmental Schools (NGO) and Non-Formal Education Centers (NFE) and many of these are funded by the government. The largest NFE program is the much reputed BRAC program. However, all NFE graduates do not continue on to secondary school.
NGO-run schools differ from other non-government private schools. While the private schools operate like private enterprises often guided by commercial interests, NGO schools operate mainly in areas not served either by the government or private schools, essentially to meet the educational needs of vulnerable groups in the society. They usually follow an informal approach to suit the special needs of children from these vulnerable groups. But nowadays, some NGO schools are operating into places where there are both private and government schools.

Similarly, in NGO-run schools there does not exist any SMC. The style of management differs depending upon differences in policies pursued by different NGOs. Some are centrally managed within a highly bureaucratic set-up, while others enjoy considerable autonomy.
Different NGOs pursue different policies regarding recruitment of teachers. Some prepare a panel of prospective teachers on the basis of a rigorous test and recruit teachers from this panel. Other NGOs recruit teachers rather informally from locally available interested persons.

Current government projects to promote the education of children in Bangladesh include compulsory primary education for all, free education for girls up to grade 10, stipends for female students, a nationwide integrated education system and a food-for-education literacy movement. A large section of the country’s national budget is set aside to help put these programs into action and to promote education and make it more accessible. Recent years have seen these efforts pay off and the Bangladesh education system is strides ahead of what it was only a few short years ago.

Concerns

The educational system of Bangladesh faces several problems. In the past, Bangladesh education was primarily a British modeled upper class affair with all courses given in English and very little being done for the common people. The Bangladesh education board has taken steps to leave such practices in the past and is looking forward to education as a way to provide a poverty-stricken nation with a brighter future. Bangladesh has one of the lowest literacy rates in South Asia. One study found a 15.5% primary school teacher absence rate.
The low performance in primary education is also matter of concern. School drop-out rates and grade repetition rates are high. Poor school attendance and low contact time in school are factors contributing to low level of learning achievement. Further, the system lacks a sound Human Resource Development and deployment system and this has demoralized the primary education sector personnel, including teachers, and contributes to poor performance. Poverty is a big threat to primary education.
In Bangladesh, the population is very high. The number seats available in colleges is less than the number of students who wants to enroll and the number of seats available in universities is also less than the number of students who passed higher secondary level and wants to join in a university. Besides, the cost of education is increasing day by day, as a result many students are unable to afford it.

It is very important to overcome ignorance and mindset of the current generation regarding the climate change issues facing the nation. Certain knowledge needs to be instilled in the youth through better standardized education in a country already struggling with illiteracy and with providing basic education to the masses. Main focus should be placed on collegiate and university level curriculum as promoted by the Stockholm Conference of 1972 as the Environmental Education (EE) through the United Nations. UNESCO and UNEP joint International Environmental Education Program (IEEP) was established three years later to lead the process.

In 1992, the Rio Summit adopted Agenda 21 as a blueprint of action for achieving sustainable development. The thirty-sixth chapter of the same agenda is devoted to the promotion of education, public awareness and training. This educational component ranges from structured formal education to occasional, informal vocational training and courses. Focus is constantly changing from analysis to synthesis so it is vital for everyone to understand the implications of global climate change and how their decisions and actions affect their surroundings. However, Bangladesh is having serious problems in implementation.
Although various universities have opened Environmental Science Departments since the 1990s, they have been there by name only. UNDP supported a holistic and comprehensive environmental science program as the Sustainable Environmental Management Program at various school levels. The main barrier was the lack of awareness among parents, which as a result affect the awareness levels of students. At times, even the teachers were not affiliated with general know-how. Most of the programs are not a standard curriculum nor are they up to the mark with the required levels. Another major road block is the lack of support from the government and the absence of senior, experienced environmental professionals, educators and other personnel.
Copyright of this article goes to Wikipedia.

Poverty in Bangladesh

Bangladesh is one of the world's most densely populated countries with 150 million people, 49 percent of whom live below the national poverty line. In addition, child malnutrition rate rates of 48 percent, in condition that is tied to the low social status of women in Bangladeshi society. 

General overview of the Bangladesh economy-

In Bangladesh, there are many problems like, poor infrastructure, political instability, corruption,and insufficient power supplies etc,'''' but the Bangladesh economy has grown 5-6% per year since 1996. However, Bangladesh still remains a poor, overpopulated, and inefficiently-governed nation with about 45% of the Bangladeshis being employed in the agriculture sector.

Rural and urban poverty-

Bangladesh is one of the world’s poorest countries. Bangladesh has to depend on international help. Since the 1990s, there has been a declining trend of poverty by 1% each year, with the help of international assistance. According to World Bank in 2005, 40% of the population was still be below the national poverty line.

The population in Bangladesh is predominantly rural, with almost 80% of the population living in the rural areas. Many of them live in remote areas that lack services such as education, health clinics and adequate roads, particularly road links to markets. A low estimate of 20% of the rural poor is in chronic poverty. They suffer from persistent food insecurity, own no land and assets, are often uneducated and may also suffer serious illnesses or disabilities. Another 29% of the rural population is considered moderately poor. Though they may own a small plot of land and some livestock and generally have enough to eat, their diets lack nutritional values. As a result of health problems or natural disasters, they are at risk of sliding deeper into poverty. Women are among the poorest of the rural poor, especially when they are the sole heads of their households. They suffer discrimination, have few earning opportunities and their nutritional intake is often inadequate.

In the urban areas, there is about 37% of the urban population living below national poverty line^. For those living in urban areas, especially the capital Dhaka, and major industrial cities such as Chittagong, Khulna, and Rajshahi, they enjoy a better standard of living, with electricity, gas, and clean water supplies. Despite this, there is still a significant proportion of Bangladeshis living in slums that fall apart during the monsoon season and have no regular electricity, limited access to health care and to clean drinking water.

Causes of rural and urban poverty-

One of the main causes of rural poverty is due the country’s geographical and demographic characteristics. A large proportion of the country is low-lying, and thus is at a high risk to flooding. Many of the rural poor live in areas that are prone to extreme annual flooding which cause huge damage to their crops, homes and livelihoods. In order to rebuild their homes, they often have to resort to moneylenders, and that causes them to fall deeper into poverty. In addition, these natural disasters also cause outbreaks of cholera and other waterborne and diarrheal diseases such as dengue and malaria which will affect them physically and lower their productivity levels.

Another cause of rural poverty is due to the fast growing population rate. It places huge pressure on the environment, causing problems such as erosion and flooding, which in turn leads to low agricultural productivity.

The causes of urban poverty are due to the limited employment opportunities, degraded environment, and bad housing and sanitation. The urban poor hold jobs that are labor demanding, thus affecting their health conditions. Therefore, the urban poor are in a difficult situation to escape poverty.

Environmental problems and poverty-

With 80% of the country situated on the flood plains of the Ganges, Brahmaputra, Meghna and those of several other minor rivers, the country is prone to severe flooding.

While some flooding is beneficial to agriculture, high levels of flooding have been found to be a retardant on agricultural growth. On average, 16% of household income per year is lost due to flooding, with roughly 89% of the loss in property and assets. Of these, households engaged in farming and fishing suffer a greater loss relative to income.

A positive relationship exists between flood risk and poverty as measured by household income, with people living under the poverty threshold facing a higher risk of flooding, as measured by their proximity to rivers and flood depth. Property prices also tend to be lower the higher the risk of flooding, making it more likely that someone who lives in a flood-prone area is poor and vice versa, as they might not be able to afford safer accommodation. Also, they tend to depend solely or largely on crop cultivation and fisheries for their livelihood and thus are harder hit by floods relative to their income.

Important to the finances of farmers operating small farms is their self-sufficiency in rice and floods adversely affect this factor, destroying harvests and arable land. Farmers hit are often forced to undertake distressed land selling and in doing so, risk being pushed into or deeper into poverty. In areas hard hit by floods, especially disaster floods such as the 1988 flood, several researchers have found that many of the affected households have resorted to selling off assets such as land and livestock to mitigate losses.

Also, in an area hard-hit by poverty and prone to floods, it was found that many of the poor were unwilling to pay for flood protection. The main reason cited had been lack of financial resources although it was found that many of these people are willing to substitute non-financial means of payment such as labour, harvest or part of their land

The above is problematic as it creates a vicious cycle for the poor of Bangladesh. Because the poor may not be able to afford safer housing, they have to live near the river which raises their risk of flooding. This would result in greater damage suffered from the floods, driving the poor into selling assets and pushing them further into poverty. They would be further deprived of sufficient resources needed to prevent extensive damage from flooding, resulting in even more flood damage and poverty. It then becomes even harder to escape this cycle. Even those farmers slightly above the poverty line are but just one bad flood away from the ranks of the poor.

Implications of poverty in Bangladesh-

The Gross National Income (GNI) per capita measured in 2008 prices is a staggering low of US $520 while GNI Purchasing Power Parity per capita is US $1440 (2008). This is a dismal figure when compared to other developed economies. Even though the poverty rate in Bangladesh has been decreasing, it is doing so at a slow rate of less than 2% per year. 49% of the population still remains below the poverty line. Poverty matters because it affects many factors of growth – education, population growth rates, health of the workforce and public policy. Poverty is most concentrated in the rural areas of Bangladesh, hence creating disparities between the rural and urban areas. However, urban poverty remains a problem too.

In particular, poverty has been linked strongly to education and employment. Research papers published by the Bangladesh Institute of Studies (BIDS) have shown that poverty acts as both a cause and effect of a lack of education, which in turn adversely affects employment opportunities. Having an unskilled workforce also greatly decreases the productivity of the workforce which decreases the appeal of Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) and thus impedes sustainable economic growth. In essence, education is an important contribution to the social and economic development of a country.

Secondly, rising landlessness is also a consequence of poverty in Bangladesh. In the year 2000, among the poorest of the poor – the poorest 20 percent of the population – four out of five owned less than half an acre of land. Not only did many own no acreage at all, but landlessness has been increasing in rural Bangladesh along with the number of small and marginal farms.

The 2000 HIES found nearly half (48 percent) of the country’s rural population to be effectively landless, owning at most 0.05 acres. Roughly three-fifths of all households in the two poorest quintiles fell into that category.

Lastly, for the chronic poor, issues such as food security and health hamper social mobility. According to a study done by the World Bank on Dhaka, the poor suffers from a lack of proper healthcare in their areas due to the expensive and poor quality health care services. 

The poverty stricken areas either do not have the available facilities, or can only afford low quality healthcare. This is a problem that is common in both the rural and urban poor. For the urban poor, the problem has worsened as they can only afford to stay in slums where there are problems of overcrowding and unhygienic living conditions. These two factors results in the spread of diseases amongst the poor whom cannot afford better healthcare. Also, one cannot deny that a healthy and well-fed citizen is better suited for increased productivity as part of the workforce. Thus, poverty matters because it affects the social welfare of citizens.

This article has been extracted from Wikipedia.