ANÁLISIS DE RESULTADOS

At the primary level, there is a serious insufficiency of provision, creating a deficit of the order of 50 to 60 percent in terms of schools, classrooms and teachers, if criteria for acceptable quality for provisions are applied. The present situation strongly indicates the need for a process and mechanism for upazila-based comprehensive and participatory planning, with local analysis of needs and circumstances, for rational and adequate provision to ensure quality primary education for all children (Ahmed et al, 2005) Only about a half of the secondary schools have science laboratories of varying quality; only 15 percent of the institutions have a library with a collection of books that could be regarded as adequate. Half of the physical facilities (roofs, walls, floors, doors, and windows) of secondary education institutions could be considered adequate, one third were in poor condition and 18 percent were in damaged or seriously dilapidated condition. Nearly 60 percent of institutions had electricity connections, but two-thirds of classrooms and half of teachers’ rooms had no electricity.

Three quarters of schools were with separate facilities for boys and girls; but a quarter of the toilets were in a seriously unhygienic condition (Ahmed et al, 2006) MOPME policy and PEDP II seek to have a distribution of primary schools with a distance of 2 kilometers between them. At present, the average distance between two schools works out to be close to 2 kilometers, although in specific circumstances, depending on the terrain, the distances can be much greater. PEDP II further aims that: i) Classrooms should be properly constructed with durable materials, provide well-lighted and properly ventilated environment for learning. Construction standards should be same for rural as for urban areas; and ii) Classrooms should be of sufficient size and furnished to suit the age and size of children and encourage the use of student-centered activity and enquiry based methods (GoB, 2003).

The National Education Commission 2003 (GoB, 2003) recommended establishing a primary school for every 1500 population. This target for school provision would require adding 10 to 12 thousand schools in addition to the current 82,000. Improving facilities in over 7,000 ibtidayee madrassas, over 3,500 community schools and an estimated 2,000 non-registered primary schools can meet in part the demand for additional schools.

The PEDP II principle is to reserve 20 percent of new school construction in each Upazila for remote and un-served areas. NFPE provisions of NGOs such as those of BRAC are based on the premise that a school in the neighbourhood in proximity to children’s home is necessary to reach children who are not attending formal primary school for various reasons. The proposed PRSP strategy for increasing access to primary education is to "recognize, encourage, facilitate and support the role of non-formal and complementary second chance primary education". However, a plan has not been developed so far to initiate coordinated and area- based local planning of education provisions involving government and non- government providers.

The secondary schools have on average a catchment area of 8.5 km2_{each. A major}

objective of Secondary Education Sector Improvement Project (SESIP) is "expanding equitable access to secondary education through provision in underserved areas and stipends for girls in rural areas".The PRSP target is to increase gross enrollment rates by 50 percent for all levels of secondary education; at junior secondary level from 60 to 90 percent and at secondary level from around 45 percent to 66 percent. New schools in underserved areas and area-based planning at the local level should help bring secondary schools closer to the homes of children.

4.5.2 Teachers

Insufficiency of teachers in primary schools is a common problem. The GPSs are overcrowded, with a teacher student ratio of 1:66. RNGPSs are slightly better with a ratio of at 1:54, but the teachers are generally less qualified. In 2005, about 92 percent of the GPS and almost all RNGPSs were run on double shifts that results in reduced contact hours.The PEDP II goal is to increase the number of schools with a single shift to over 30 percent by 2009, thereby increasing contact hours. If this goal is achieved on time, which is not likely, 70 percent of the schools would still operate in double shifts.

According to the Education Watch Survey 2004, in 10 upazilas, eighty percent of the schools had four or less teachers, 21 percent three or less. On an average, 30 percent schools had more than 60 students per teacher; over two-thirds had more than 40 students per teacher. The average teacher student ratio in the ten upazilas surveyed by Education Watch was 1:53 – somewhat better than the national average. There was a substantial variation in this ratio among the upazilas. The range was 37 to 90 students per teacher for GPS and 34 to 95 students per teacher for RNGPS (Ahmed et al, 2005)

A low level of academic achievement of teachers in secondary institutions was widespread. Eighty-four percent of secondary teachers had a bachelors or higher degrees; however, 57 percent of the teachers claiming the Bachelors degree were placed in the third division or even did not take the degree examination. The same was the situation with 78 percent of those who claimed Masters’ qualifications. More than half of the secondary teachers had no professional pedagogic training. The nominal student-teacher ratio was 29. However, with a shortage of teachers for key subjects and absences (10 percent on an average day), the effective student teacher ratio was substantially higher. This was offset by student attendance rate of only 50 percent (Ahmed et al, 2006)

The PEDP II aims to apply the principle of one teacher per classroom and to train all teachers to C-in-Ed standard before sending teachers to carry out teaching independently. PEDP II strategy for teacher development emphasizes that:

•All teachers should be trained to at least Certificate- in- Education (C. in Ed.) standard, and no untrained teacher should be in un-supervised charge of a class or grade level.

•The minimum qualification for entry to teacher training should be Higher Secondary Certificate (H.S.C.) level.

•Initial pre-service teacher training should include both theory and practice and involve regular periods of supervised practicum in schools, specifically designated and supported for training purposes.

•All teachers, irrespective of school type, should receive regular, annual in- service training, together with sub-cluster training, and

•All teachers should be provided with the texts, teacher guides, aids and equipment, for each class and subject taught. (GoB, 2003)

At the secondary level, the Ministry of Education has established a Secondary Teachers Registration and Certification Authority in 2005 and plans to set up an apex body to serve as the National Teacher Training Authority.