Pre Primary Education Pre Primary Education Expansion Plan Expansion Plan December 2012 December 2012 Government ofof People’sPeople’s RepublicRepublic of Bangladesh DDirectorateirectorate ofof PrimaryPrimary Government Education of EducationGovernment of People’s Republic of Bangladesh Directorate of Primary Education 1 Pre Primary Education Expansion Plan, DPE, 2012 Pre Primary Education Expansion Plan Directorate of Primary Education with Technical Assistance from UNICEF December 2012 2 Pre Primary Education Expansion Plan, DPE, 2012 Contents page Section-1: Background 8 1.1. Introduction 8 1.2. Rationale and objectives 9 1.3. Scope of the expansion plan 9 1.4. Process for development of the expansion plan 10 Section-2: Situation Analysis 12 2.1. Overall context 12 2.2. Access 13 2.3. Quality 14 2.4. Equity 15 2.5. Training of teachers 15 2.6. Supervision and Monitoring 16 2.7. MIS and Reporting 16 2.8. Location of existing Pre Schools 16 2.9. Upazila as geographical unit for PPE expansion 17 18 Section-3: Standards of Quality PPE service delivery 3.1. Key areas and elements of standards 18 3.2. Gradation of standards 21 3.3. Matrix of standards with gradation 23 41 Section-4: PPE Expansion Plan 4.1. Introduction 41 4.2. Categorization of Upazilas as geographical unit for PPE expansion 41 3 Pre Primary Education Expansion Plan, DPE, 2012 4.3. Upazila wise plan 44 Category - A: Rural low PPE coverage Upazilas 46 Category - B: Rural other Upazials 62 Category- C: Urban (City Corporations) 78 Category – D: Islands, Coastal and Riverine Upazilas with Char 85 Category – E: Ethnic/Indigenous Children 97 Category – F: Tea Gardens 103 Category – G: Haor 109 4.4. Plan for PPE Activities at Central Level 116 4.5. Plan for Training of teachers 128 4.6. Factors to be considered for operationalization of expansion plan 131 Section-5: Financial implications and way forward 133 Annexes 138 Annex-1: Terms of Reference of consultant Annex-2: List of references Annex-3: Core group for development of PPE Expansion Plan Annex-4: Core principles of national PPE curriculum Annex-5: Key areas of Quality Standards of PPPE/ECE Service Delivery of Selected Countries 4 Pre Primary Education Expansion Plan, DPE, 2012 Acronyms AIEC : Access and Inclusive Education Cell ASC : Annual School Census ASPR : Annual Sector Performance Report AOP : Annual Operational Plan DLI : Disbursement Link Indicator DPE : Directorate of Primary Education ECCD : Early Childhood Care and Development GoB : Government of Bangladesh GO : Government GPS : Government Primary School MoPME : Ministry of Primary and Mass Education MLE : Multi Lingual Education NCTB : National Curriculum and Textbook Board NGO : Non Government Organization PEDP : Primary Education Development Program PPE : Pre Primary Education PSQL : Primary School Quality Level RNGPS : Registered Non Government Primary School UNICEF : United Nations Children Fund 5 Pre Primary Education Expansion Plan, DPE, 2012 Preface The Government of Bangladesh recognizes the benefits of Pre Primary Education (PPE) for preparing young children to survive and thrive in primary school settings. Hence, the PPE has been identified as an effective strategy to address the challenges of high dropout and low achievement in the existing primary education system in Bangladesh. The pre-primary activities in Bangladesh consist of various programs under different actors. Earlier NGOs were in the frontline and a large number of pre-primary schools were run by a substantial number of big and small NGOs. From 2010 as an interim arrangement under PEDP-2, the Government initiated PPE through Government Primary Schools. Currently, all these pre-primary actors follow varied objectives, methodologies and curricula with inadequate coordination as there is no national standard for PPE services in place. Based on the experience and progress under PEDP-2, PPE comes as an important sub- component of the PEDP-3 with a view to create permanent systems and structures for PPE in the primary education system and gradually provide standardized services for all children. In the process of improving the situation of PPE, the GoB recognizes the need for a comprehensive expansion plan that will ensure universal PPE coverage with quality. With this target, the Government as an activity under PEDP-3 has developed the ‘PPE Expansion Plan” for an effective and coordinated implementation of PPE services based on a national standards. It gives me immense pleasure to note that, this expansion plan was developed through an extensive consultation process involving key stakeholders. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Md. Faruque Jalil, Director, Policy & Operation DPE, for his leadership to initiate the dialogue, organize the consultation process and activate the core group for formulating and finalizing the plan. My heartfelt thanks to all those who were involved and contributed in various stages of the preparation of this document. I am grateful to UNICEF Bangladesh and deeply appreciate for their technical and logistical support during the entire preparation process. Special thanks to Dr. Md. Golam Mostafa, Consultant, UNICEF for his hard work which made it possible to prepare the PPE Expansion Plan within agreed timeline. I firmly believe that this valuable document will fulfill the need of necessary operational guidance to all PPE service providing organizations towards achieving quality universal Pre Primary Education. I am confident that with this document in hand, we would be able to set national standards for quality PPE throughout the country and prepare our children better for their future education. Shyamal Kanti Ghosh Director General Directorate of Primary Education 6 Pre Primary Education Expansion Plan, DPE, 2012 Acknowledgment My sincere gratitude to the Directorate of Primary Education and UNICEF for assigning me to develop the Pre Primary Education (PPE) Expansion Plan and providing necessary organizational support for the development of this plan. I would like to acknowledge the fact that technical information from various documents on Early Childhood Care & Education and Pre Primary Education produced by national and international organizations immensely helped me in developing the PPE Expansion Plan. I am thankful to Shyamal Knati Ghosh, Director General, DPE for his moral support and guidance during the process of development of the PPE Expansion plan. My sincere gratitude to Md. Faruque Jalil, Director, Policy and Operation who successfully lead the core group and ably managed the organizational work at DPE. Mahfuzur Rahman Jewel, Education Officer and other team members of PPE unit at DPE deserve special thanks for providing administrative support which facilitated in accomplishing all tasks on time. I am grateful to Nabendra Dahal, Chief of Education, UNICEF for his overall guidance, inspiration and support to work with the DPE in a congenial environment. Sincere thanks to Md. Mohsin Education Manager, Early Learning, UNICEF who not only contributed as member of the core group but also provided organizational support whenever needed. Contribution made by Laila Farhana Apnan Banu, Education Officer, UNICEF in situation analysis and other preparatory work is also highly appreciated. Thankfully acknowledge and greatly appreciate contribution of the core group members for their valuable technical inputs, friendly advice and encouragement. Special thanks to Romij Ahmed, Consultant World Bank for providing baseline data on pre primary eligible children required for development of this plan. I am deeply indebted to Iqbal Hossain, Education Advisor, Plan Bangladesh who as a member of the core group provided technical inputs on a continuous basis and generously worked with me after office hours and over the weekends. Without his support it would have not been possible to finalize the development of the PPE Expansion Plan within limited timeframe. Dr. Md. Golam Mostafa Consultant Development of PPE Expansion Plan 7 Pre Primary Education Expansion Plan, DPE, 2012 Section-1: Background 1.1. Introduction The global and national evidence strongly emphasize that children who attend Quality Pre- Primary Education have better chances for a smoother transition to primary school leading to significant improvement in school retention and lowering dropout rates. Programs focusing on early learning promote awareness of child development and lead to higher net enrolments and better achievements, especially among the most disadvantaged children and children from the poor families. A cost benefit analysis based on longitudinal research conducted in the US demonstrates a seven fold increase in benefits for every dollar invested in early childhood education (ECCD Briefs-Calculating Cost savings: The High/Scope Perry Pre-School Project; www.ecdgroup.com/download/bhiccshu.pdf). Moreover, the country benefits by creating strong foundation for a productive work force in the future. Hence, the pre-primary education (PPE) has been identified as an effective strategy to address high dropout and repetition and low achievement rates that many primary school systems are facing now a days. The GoB recognizes the benefits of early learning and its importance for preparing young children to survive and thrive in primary school settings. Keeping this in mind, the “Pre-Primary Education Operational Framework” was approved by MoPME in 2008 for effective implementation of one year pre-primary education for all children of 5 - 6 years age. The government