AGENDA 21 CHAPTER 36:

PROMOTING EDUCATION, PUBLIC AWARENESS AND TRAINING NATIONAL PRIORITY:

National education for all by the year 2000.

STATUS REPORT: Enrollment in primary schools increased from 12.6 million in 1991 to almost 15.2 million in 1994 while the completion rate increased from 41% in 1991 to 60% in 1993. To improve the quality of education, a competency-based curriculum has been introduced. Free text books are provided to all students in grades I to IV, and a broad programme of in-service teacher training has been introduced.

Community participation in educational management and the delivery of services have been introduced through school management committees, local education committees and parent-teacher associations.

Number of programmes for training of teachers, teacher educators and education administrators have been undertaken.

a) Reorientation of education towards sustainable development Expansion of general education is not enough to transform the population from liabilities to assets. It must be accompanied by job-oriented education in order to enable them to undertake income-generating activities. Therefore, Bangladesh's aim is to introduce a job-oriented education system.

b) Increasing public awareness To increase public awareness, different programmes are being implemented under the Ministry of Education, such as the World Teachers Day, Education Week, etc. female education awareness programme is being implemented under the IDA assisted Female Secondary Assistance Project.

c) Promoting training Double Shift Programme for B.Ed and M.Ed. has been introduced in the existing Teachers' Training Colleges (TTC's). In-service training of secondary school teachers is also in progress. The following number of teachers will be trained in phases under these programmes:

B.Ed. Programme: 10,000 trainees

M. Ed. Programme: 2,400 trainees

In-service training: 16,560 teachers.

ROLE OF MAJOR GROUPS: The youth and women have actively been involved in the implementation of programmes for the promotion of education, public awareness and training.

FINANCING AND COST EVALUATION OF THE LABOUR ACTIVITIES: No information.

STATISTICAL DATA/INDICATORSf
	1980	1990	Latest 1995-96
Adult literacy rate (%) Male (Age 15 years or more)	39.7	47.1
Adult literacy rate (%) Female (Age 15 years or more)	18.0	22.0
% of primary school children reaching grade 5 (1986-97)		42	60
Mean number of years of schooling			7
% of GNP spent on education		2.3	3
Females per 100 males in secondary school	NA	51	84
Women per 100 men in the labour force		64