• M. A. Quyyum, Ph. D.

Bangladesh is a developing country of south Asia. Recently it has reached middle income country. The current enrollment rate of students in primary education has increased to 97.74 percent. In 2009, drop-out rate for primary education for Bangladesh was 33.8 %. The dropout rate reduced to 17.90 percent as various initiatives taken by the government. Despite unprecedented progress in primary education, about 2.26 percent children are still out of school due to poverty, child labour and geographical barriers, according to Primary and Mass Education Ministry. According to ministry of education, Peoples Republic of Bangladesh the government took various initiatives including distribution of free textbooks, provision of stipends, mid-day meal, development of school infrastructure, recruitment of adequate teachers and so on in order to prevent dropouts and ensure quality education. In order to make primary education more dynamic, in 2013, Honourable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina nationalized 26,193 registered and community private primary schools and conferred second class status to the post of headmaster. This is another landmark step in the advancement of primary education. Meanwhile, the government has been implementing the 7th Five Year Plan (2016-2020) and has taken all-out measures to achieve the international commitment of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). There is a comprehensive plan for the non-formal education sub-sector in the 7th Five Year Plan to promote literacy, skills development training and create lifelong learning opportunities, which is the fourth goal of SDGs. However the present study has conducted to find out the actual cause of dropout cause of dropout, to find out the present activities of the dropout students, to analyses the cause and effects of the dropout students and to collect the suggestion to overcome their dropout problem. The study was conducted at urban and rural area of four districts in Khulna administrative divisions in Bangladesh. Purposive sampling method was used in the study so as to get the best information to achieve the objectives of the study. Total 160 respondents were selected from the study areas. From each district of Khulna division 40 dropout students were selected from different Primary schools and secondary schools. The present study is based on both primary and secondary sources of data. Primary data were collected from the respondents of the study area directly using different data collection techniques. On the other hand, the study used different relevant publications, dissertations, books, journal articles, reports, and websites etc. as sources of secondary data. Primary data were collected through interviews and Questionnaire survey. Structured questionnaire containing both open and closed ended was used. A survey through a standardized questionnaire was conducted to collect both quantitative and qualitative information from. Data were analyzed by Computer Program SPSS. From the study it was found that the primary education system of Bangladesh is one of the largest one in the world. It is working for making Bangladesh a developing country and alleviates poverty from the region as a whole. There are many hurdles in our education sector. Corruption is one of them. In our GDP 2.3% (Tk. 12,000 crore approximate) allocation is kept for education whereas the transactional volume of corruption in our country is about 2% of total GDP (BBC Sanglap, aired in the Channel-I on 16/04/2014, time 5:40am, BST). If we can invest more in the education sector with proper supervision and monitoring where transparency and accountability will be ensured we may reap better fruits for long term. For ensuring children’s rights to education we have to reduce dropout rate anyhow and increase the enrollment rate. Now the pertinent question that arises- are we ready to face the challenges of the 21st century with the existing standard of our education? We need competent manpower and positive attitude to change. We have to make education enthusiastic and learner-friendly. 100% success in the examinations with quality education will be our priority. We believe the inherent talents of our children must blossom if proper nursing can be done. The only need is to show love and sympathy to the people of the land. As a worthy citizen we have to keep in mind that it is our responsibility to promote our education and to have strong commitment to the nation. Only then we can believe that we will be able to materialize the long cherished “Vision-2021” of the people. From the study it can be recommended that Government should increase stipend in high school from 30% to 60%, Government should help the poor students especially who are not continuing study in school and Government should order school managing committee (SMC) and Managing Committee (MC) to take responsibility of the poor students to continue study in school. SMC and MC should talk to the poor guardian to send their children to school regularly, SMC, MC and teachers should visit home of irregular students to make sure their presence in school. Head teachers of school must maintain regular contact with the guardians of school students and maintain a routine work to advice the guardian and students that education and only education can improve their life style future. Primary and secondary school compound should be lively as a children park.

Dropouts, Primary and Secondary School, Bangladesh

"A Study on Dropouts from Primary and Secondary School in Bangladesh: the Cause and Effect", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.9, Issue 9, page no.d619-d638, September-2022, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2209374.pdf

"A Study on Dropouts from Primary and Secondary School in Bangladesh: the Cause and Effect", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.9, Issue 9, page no. ppd619-d638, September-2022, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2209374.pdf