Bangladesh: Despite the Odds, A Thirst for Education
Text by Chulie de Silva, Photographs by Saikat Mojumder/Drik

DHAKA - It’s monsoon time in Bangladesh when flashes of lightning streak across the skies, howling gusty winds bring the South Asian country under great swathes of rain- bursting rivers, and sometimes washing whole villages away. But for trouble-hardened Bangladeshis, it’s just another rainy season.

Sandbags come out, villagers and schools are relocated to higher grounds and the children plod happily to school. Many youngsters brave the pelting rain, often barefoot or in rubber sandals, wading from boat to land, shielding themselves with huge leaves or in makeshift raincoats made out of polythene.

For many like Sabina, their thirst for education remains unquenched. Collectively, such children have given Bangladesh impressive statistics of progress towards increasing both primary and secondary school enrollment.

The government of Bangladesh has recognized that the country’s ability to get the majority of its 164.4 million people out of poverty depends on investing in primary education and building a more literate population. Public spending has continued to give priority to education, with total spending on the education sector at 2.6 percent of GDP, according to World Bank statistics. Of this, the share of spending at the primary education level is 46.3 percent.

“Bangladesh has already achieved one of the key Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) - gender parity in primary and secondary schooling, “says the World Bank in a web-based summary. “Bangladesh’s success in female secondary school education is now well-established and the success has brought a revolution to women’s status in the society.”

The Bangladesh Government’s National Plan of Action for Education for All (EFA) subscribes to the international goals of making education compulsory, accessible and inclusive by 2015. “A more progressive redistribution of government primary education spending to the children from poorest and disadvantaged groups and a better targeting of the primary stipend program to the poorest students, are likely to help Bangladesh achieve its EFA targets,” says the World Bank summary.