By Amala Reddy

A walk through the mud and muck of a monsoon-flooded alley leads to the primary school. It is a row of five classrooms in a bustling locality on the edge of Dhaka. Each classroom is just a small hut really, with bamboo walls and a corrugated-tin roof. There are 25 or 30 children packed into each room. They sit on straw floor matting, clutching their books and slates. Only the teacher has a desk and chair, positioned in front of a large blackboard. Their eager school-scrubbed faces and bright eyes almost obscure the fact that the children are from the surrounding slums, thin and wearing faded ragged clothes.

A little boy, barely 6, stands up and lisps out a poem on the importance of truth from their book, while his classmates all mouth the words silently. Everyone claps and the boy sits down looking pleased. All eyes return to the book's author – an intense, wiry 45-year old man – conducting the class. "Try and do this," says Ibrahim Sobhan, and calls out, "One, Two, One-Two-Three" in Bangla as he leads them in a clapping rhythm. They try to follow and everyone laughs at the first failed attempt. By the third time they are successful and Sobhan beams at them.

With the children at the new non-formal school, Sobhan is obviously in his element. He is transformed from his stern mood earlier, when he rigorously checked the teacher's lesson plans and preparation for learning games with the next lesson. Sobhan was drawn to education in 1978, after various part-time jobs in Dhaka in social welfare and children's welfare and as reporter for a newsletter. He has since introduced many original ideas to make primary schooling more effective in Bangladesh through his concept of School-Based Education (SBE).

Free Education but Low Literacy

Initially, Sobhan set out to identify the reasons for low literacy in Bangladesh. His interest was not sparked by any single experience, but rather, "My inspiration comes from all around – from what my eyes see, from my feelings," he said. "Education is the main necessity for development of a person. My vision was always different – to serve the nation, to help poor children become adults."

Although the Constitution advocates free, compulsory education for children, in 1980 the adult literacy rate was only 32 percent. Now the national literacy rate of the population over age seven is estimated at 47.3 percent (41 percent rural and 59.9 percent urban), with male literacy of 50.6 percent and female 41.5 percent (1997 census data).

The education situation improved once the Government signed the World Declaration on Education for All at Jomtien, Thailand (1990). The Government has slowly begun to meet its commitments through the Compulsory Primary Education Act of 1990 and related legislation on children's rights. There are several new departments for primary and mass education, and incentives like "Food for Education," coupled with attempts to decentralize the bureaucracy.

The policy to improve adult literacy has been to emphasize primary and basic education, especially for girls, and there are now over 120,000 primary schools (Classes 1-5) of different types. Children enter Class 1 at age six. After Class 5, they start secondary school (Classes 6-10), which culminates in a secondary school certificate examination at age fifteen. There are 12,858 secondary schools in Bangladesh (1997 census). Immediately after Independence, all schools were converted to Bangla-medium instruction, but now there are many private English-medium schools.

Avenues to Primary Education in Bangladesh

The vast majority of mainstream primary schools, approximately 60,000, are directly administered or financially assisted by the government, and these free schools cater to the majority of rural and urban students enrolled (about 82 percent).

Ibrahim Sobhan conducts a teacher training session in the Chandpur district

Another major force evolved once non-government organizations (NGOs) for social development became involved. In the mid-80s they began so-called non-formal schools to provide free primary-level education to children excluded by the government system – because of no government school nearby, or because the children dropped out, or are very poor. About 45,000 of these schools educate 8.5 percent of all children enrolled. The biggest local NGO, named BRAC, has the largest program, with over 34,000 schools.

The other main types of primary schools are Madrassahs, or religious schools, and privately operated kindergartens charging fees. The Madrassahs emphasize Islamic studies, but also provide basic education. A small minority of affluent children attend the kindergartens, which often are in urban areas.

In August, at a ceremony to present a report on primary education by an NGO coalition, the good news was that the drop-out rate has decreased and gender disparity in enrollment has disappeared, with 78.6 percent girls and 75.5 percent boys enrolled. The Minister for Education estimated that Bangladesh would reach an adult literacy rate of 58 percent by the end of this year, a figure many consider optimistic.

But there was also bad news: The schools do not function very effectively. "With 77 percent net enrollment, 73 percent completing primary level and 57 percent of them achieving literacy, less than a third of children leave primary school age with some meaningful learning."

A pre-primary class being taught in an outdoors classroom in Sarar

The Government-NGO alliance remains fragile and contentious. At the ceremony, the Minister alluded to the reason when he noted that they receive funds from a common pot of donor money. He complained that the government has more infrastructure to maintain – brick buildings, typically with four or five classrooms and desks and benches for 300 students. In contrast, the one-room non-formal NGO schools are low-cost construction, generally community-supported.

The National Curriculum and Textbook Board jealously guards its influence over books and curriculum. The government schools follow the approved courses and texts for Classes 1-10. But NGO schools often use modern learner-centered teaching methods, with their own books and aids. Many, like BRAC, follow independent three-year primary education programs with flexible hours. The schools tend to be more progressive and emphasize making learning accessible to girls, who are often restricted by social conventions from schooling outside their communities.

No Money for Poor Quality Schooling

Sobhan found that in spite of free primary education, poverty still prevented children from going to school in Bangladesh, where 79.9 percent of the people live in villages (1991 census). With a per capita income of less than $250 a year, many parents cannot afford even incidental expenses like proper clothes and school supplies, and keep children home. Poor or rural children need tremendous motivation to stay in school; home support is lacking, parents are often illiterate and facilities are sparse.

A 1995-96 national survey found that 19 percent of children aged 5 to 14 had worked the preceding year and did not attend school. Most contributed wages to the family. Many are unpaid family helpers, while those who work outside the home frequently get lodging, food and clothes, instead of cash. The majority worked in agriculture, and the balance worked at other jobs such as domestic service, waste recycling, non-formal factories, small businesses, etc. Children in cities, especially girls employed as maids, often work long hours without holidays.

Children aged 5 to 14 who worked the preceding year and did not attend school Employment: Agriculture Other   66% 34% Location: Rural Urban   20.2% 15.2% 82% contributed wages to their families

Further, typical government classrooms are crowded, with one teacher handling 60 to 80 students, and classes are short. Therefore, "teachers just give tick marks against the lessons, and ask the children to complete them at home," Sobhan says. Illiterate parents are expected to hire expensive tutors to help their children. Low-income parents struggle to do so, very poor parents cannot.

Unscrupulous teachers who profit as private tutors worsen this situation. Hence, many children cannot do homework properly and fall behind, lose motivation and interest – and drop out before secondary school. Recent studies indicate only 32 percent children aged 11 to 15 years were registered in secondary school.

Caught in the crowds, even children who finish primary school are often not learning enough for lasting literacy. Government schools have automatic promotion from Class 1-3, and cheating is prevalent.

School With No Homework

Having pinpointed the problems, Sobhan decided to experiment. Without formal qualifications, he could not work through the establishment. Therefore in 1978, with his own meager savings, he started a small school in Dhaka to test his ideas. He motivated local children living on the streets, or working as domestic help, to enroll. He supplied free textbooks by going door-to-door asking rich households to contribute used ones.

"This was very difficult for me," he said. "Sometimes people wouldn't open the door, and hide. Some treated me like a beggar, and they would say as they do 'Maph koren, chole jaan' (Forgive me, go away)." Sobhan's schoolchildren searched old notebooks for blank lines and empty spaces to write in. To pay his teachers' salaries, Sobhan cut his own food spending.

Through four years of research at his model school, Sobhan designed his own alternative "School-Based Education and Teaching Method" for primary schools. The guiding principle is that the responsibility for giving children a basic primary education must rest with the schools, and happen at school – no homework.

Sobhan used the official primary curriculum, but introduced innovations that optimized the use of time and allowed teachers and students to complete lessons. He extended the class periods of 35 minutes to one hour; in the old system, too much time was spent on changing classes, roll call and review of homework – rather than on new lessons.

Sobhan organized a systematic weekly lesson plan for teachers to complete the yearly syllabus, with a cumulative grading system. This eliminated the traditional system of quarterly, half-yearly and annual examinations. It helps teachers monitor weak students while it cuts down on cheating.

To make learning fun and keep students eager to attend school, Sobhan introduced group-learning techniques, which work better in crowded classrooms. In groups of ten, with bright students as leaders, children spend part of each period studying and using learning aids.

Sobhan has designed various learning games and colorful visuals incorporating folk images to augment the primary course. Through different games and puzzles, children learn Bengali letters, numbers and simple arithmetic. One popular aid is a re-usable plastic sheet with embossed letters that children use to practice writing.

1981-83 was a critical time for Sobhan in enlisting support for his methods. For a year he persistently lobbied the Ministry of Education with research results and meetings. Finally, the ministry agreed to let Sobhan train teachers and introduce SBE at 50 government primary schools in rural Tangail district (1983). Convinced of its effectiveness, a year later the government gave him 110 schools, and Sobhan obtained funds from UNESCO for expansion. By 1986, when the project was finished, SBE had been introduced to more than 1,000 rural government schools nationwide, out of a total of 60,000.

Working to Go to School

Sobhan realized, "It is not possible for me or anyone to change the economic condition of parents during a child's two or three primary years. Suppose the father is a rickshaw-puller. He cannot provide pencils, notebooks and so on." Thus, to help the community financially, and as an incentive, Sobhan was one of the first educators to try income-generation and savings schemes in primary schools.

Since primary students are unskilled 6- to 11-year-olds and should not do hard labor, Sobhan devised simple school projects that also "save the environment and improve economic conditions." Rural children are trained to raise saplings at school-based seed nurseries and sell them locally. They also learn cattle or poultry rearing. In a variation, students get marks for keeping five saplings alive the whole school year. Appropriate schemes have been adapted for urban schools.

These ventures are funded by a cooperative of teachers and students buying shares, each for a nominal cost, 2 to 5 taka (there are about 50 taka to the dollar). The profits are shared after 40 percent is put aside, of which half is funneled back into the school and half becomes students' savings. The savings remain for five years until students finish, as an incentive against dropping out.

Through these school-based schemes, even very young children earn small amounts, maybe 15 or 20 taka a year – enough to buy some school supplies and save perhaps 50 taka for secondary school. Mainly they receive training in skills useful for real earning later, and this motivates parents to let children attend school. The school nurseries and general school improvement benefit the community also.

Putting Learning Back in School

Sobhan displays tremendous energy, travelling ceaselessly by bus and by boat into villages and cities, advising, supervising and training. In the last 20 years, he has trained teachers in SBE at more than 10,000 primary schools both rural and urban. Initially he trained teachers personally, but later developed a team of master-trainers to help.

Sobhan has worked with schools in all sectors. He is a devout Muslim, and has a project with the Islamic Foundation of Bangladesh to train religious leaders on SBE methods and introduce basic education at their religious schools.

In 1988, Sobhan became the first Ashoka Fellow in Bangladesh, followed by other national awards. He formed the Association for School-Based Education to do research and receive funds. Through the Ashoka network, Sobhan has visited and exchanged ideas with other Fellows in Bombay, New Delhi and Katmandu, and SBE has elicited wide interest at international meetings.

Sobhan does not "waste time" raising funds directly. Instead he promotes his results among policy makers and officials, and they find the funds needed, often from international agencies like UNICEF and UNESCO.

He finds the constant lobbying frustrating. "I convince the Minister, 'do my program.' He leaves, and my project disappears. There is a problem with continuation through Government because they are only interested in their votes." UNICEF had guaranteed funds to introduce SBE nationally through the Ministry of Education in 1995, but the government changed – and the agreement lapsed. Increasingly, Sobhan works through small NGOs. He estimates that now about 1,200 to 1,300 non-formal schools and 100 government primary schools are being trained and using SBE – mainly rural, but some urban.

Sustaining Alternative Schooling

There are many benefits when communities implement SBE. Students enjoy and understand lessons, so that they want to study further and enter secondary school. Teachers enjoy working effectively, and acquire new leadership skills and status. The village profits through the income and training they receive through school-based nurseries and other schemes.

In 1992, a UNICEF survey found that SBE led to a 44 percent increase in enrollment and a 48 percent decrease in dropout rates in the villages studied. But it is hard to assess the continuity, as Sobhan does not have funds to monitor programs beyond the two to three years he supervises directly. BRAC education program director Kaniz Fatema feels Sobhan needs financial support for this because in education with "any kind of innovation, creativity, you need to nurture it, and the back-up support to run for quite a few years."

Khursheed Erfan Ahmed, director of education and training at Aino Salish Kendra, which runs drop-in centers for working children, reviewed his early methods and learning games. She finds his work is "very instinctive, but very good." She feels he would profit now by getting exposure to a wider perspective through a "structured training in modern education methods" abroad. She advocates establishing a local education resource center, where experts would review and assess programs, and provide information on progressive methods.

Educators in the country agree Sobhan is really creative, and admire his dedication. He grew up in rural Bangladesh, attending local government schools, and in his teens founded a village welfare society and a savings and loan program for local youth. Thus, he has a reputation as a strong fieldworker.

Sobhan met his wife, a government school headmistress, while training her group, and she remains a sympathetic supporter. He is a modest man, who admits, "My ambition is not too high, because then I cannot meet the mid-level and poor people easily."

School-Based Education for Other Age Groups

Sobhan is busy disseminating his latest methods in SBE for other ages. He believes the advantage that four- to six-year-olds from richer families get from pre-primary training (playgroup, nursery and kindergarten) can be incorporated into free primary schools. He has developed materials and training methods for a yearlong pre-primary course, and also a Class 1 course integrating pre-primary skills.

Child-to-Mother, a creative program that promotes women's literacy provides a "two-for-one literacy benefit." Primary students copy Bangla alphabets on their slates and take them home for their mothers to practice. The teacher monitors progress regularly. Children also pass along health and nutrition information to their mothers.

Sobhan plans to extend his income-generating ideas to pre-vocational training for 11 to 15 year old rural children who are too young for a trade. At a Rural Agro-Technical Institute and College, they will take courses in nursery and tree planting, fish cultivation and livestock and poultry rearing, along with a primary level education.

Over the next few years, Sobhan would like to strengthen his Association for School-Based Education by asking various influential people in government and education experts to join and securing more funds. The association would further disseminate his methods and evaluate programs.

Sobhan's long-term vision is that "in all the 100,000 or so primary schools, children will keep their books in school, learn to earn, with overall economic development of the country." He adds with a smile, "It is possible." Perhaps he senses that education has a wide ripple effect.