14,200 teachers to be appointed by June

They also expressed satisfaction over the progress of the project in the last 18 months as two model schools under the programme have already witnessed positive changes, but they are concerned about replication of the interventions in all the government primary schools.

PEDP-II, the largest programme in this sector, started in September 2004 and it will end in 2009.

High-level government officials and delegates of the donor agencies visited the two schools -- Jhikirabandar and Srikola government primary schools at Ullapara in Sirajganj -- on April 1.

Under the six-year programme, 30,000 classrooms and 15,000 toilets will be set up in the schools, 397 Upazila Resource Centres will be constructed, 460 upazila education offices, 64 district education offices and 53 Primary Training Institutes will be expanded, National Academy for Primary Education will be renovated and 35,000 teachers will be appointed.

Imparting training to the school management committees and government officials is also a key component of the project involving 1.81 billion dollars.

The government will provide 64 percent of the funds while the rest will come from a donor consortium comprising World Bank, ADB, DFID, European Commission, the Netherlands, Norwegian Agency for Development (NORAD), Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), Swedish International Development Authority (SIDA), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Unicef.

After the visit to the schools, the government officials and the delegates of donor agencies held a meeting at the Sirajganj Circuit House.

AKM Shamsuddin, secretary of the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education, said 14,200 teachers will be recruited by June while 14,000 classrooms will be constructed by May this year.

The progress achieved under the programme is greater than expected, he said.

Jhikirbandar Primary School enrolled 100 percent of children of the area and there was no dropout last year. The rate of pass in grade five is 97.5 percent and a number of students obtained talent scholarships.

The school has 13 teachers and 12 of them received one-year Certificate in Education training, resulting in significant improvement in quality of education, said the officials.

Shamsuddin said the authorities have also been arranging final examinations for students of class five at the district level with a view to enhancing the education quality.

After the meeting, ADB Country Director Hua Du told reports, "We are very much optimistic about improving the quality of education in Bangladesh."

She also appreciated the Local Government Engineering Department for its rapid and quality construction work of the schools.

The members of the Jhikirbandar School Management Committee also received a two-day orientation under PEDP-II and they are now actively contributing to the school development process, she said, adding that the teachers' training also benefited the students in a big way.

Khondaker M Asaduzzaman, director general of Directorate of Primary Education, said the existing average dropout rate is now 33 percent and the ratio of teacher to student stands at 1:56, which are the major challenges facing the PEDP-II.

The PEDP-II aims to bring down the teacher-students ratio to 1:35, while the experts say the ideal ratio should be 1:25 for a better academic environment in the classroom.