1. A B M Badrul Munir
Project Director
SOS Children’s Village Rajshahi
BANGLADESH
Tel:+880721760079,Cell:01711408266
Badrul.munir@sos-bangladesh.org
www.sos-bangladesh.org B A N G L A D E S H

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Present Situation:
Bangladesh has one of the largest Primary Education systems in the world with an estimated
16.4 million primary school aged children [6-10 years]. It is currently estimated that there are
more than 3.3 million out-of-school children throughout the country. Primary Education was
declared compulsory for all the Children from 1991. This means that about 98% of school-age
children attend school-boys and girls. The programme also provides over 100 million copies of
textbooks free of cost to the student of primary schools. Bangladesh governments have rightly
prioritized education and actual education expenditure in Bangladesh has increased up to
BDT.192 billion [1.8 billion Euro] in 2012. It is important that this continues, both domestically
and to keep up with international competitors. Bangladesh spends 2.3% of GDP on education
against an international average of 3.5% of GDP. The Government of Bangladesh recognizes
education as a means of reducing poverty and empowered children to lead the quality of life.
SOS Activities in BANGLADESH:
Prof. Dr. Hermann Gmeiner, founder of SOS CHILDREN’S VILLAGES INTERNATIONAL, visited
Bangladesh in 1972 immediately after the War of Liberation with the proposal of establishing
SOS Children’s Villages in Bangladesh. GOVERNMENT OF BANGLADESH signed an
AGREEMENT with the organization on May 17, 1972 to start SOS Children’s Village activities in
Bangladesh. Focus on a clear target group; namely children at risk of losing parental care and
those who have lost parental care. One integrated programme, as a platform to develop a
package of supportive responses to the situation of the child.
In putting the child first, child education has given top most priority in SOS Children’s Villages in
Bangladesh. Education is first and foremost, making school and vocational education available
to all Children in SOS Children’s Village programmes: FBC: family based Care and FSP: family
strengthening programme.
STRATEGIES:
Ensure children’s security and support:
It is paramount that children are physically safe and live in a supportive environment. Ideally,
they should be in the care of their immediate or extended family. If not, family tracing should be
initiated following consultation with the child. If the child cannot be reunited with the family, other
alternatives such as foster care or group care with appropriate follow-up and monitoring should
be investigated. Whenever possible, siblings should be kept together. If children prefer to stay
on their own, measures should be put into place to ensure community support and safety, and
access to health care and social services.
Bangladesh has the highest population density in the world, Situated on the Bay of
Bengal, Extremely fertile, yet vulnerable to floods, and cyclones, this low-lying
country supports a population of around 156 million people. Nearly 40 per cent are
children. Bangladesh has one of the highest rates of child-marriage in the world.
Child laborers’ are frequently denied an education and are vulnerable to violence and
abuse. Bangladesh has one of the lowest rates of birth registration in the world. This
makes it difficult to protect children from trafficking, child labour and child marriage.

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Reduce the barriers, access to education:
If children at Social risk want to attend school, the barriers preventing them from attending
regularly or at all should be identified and addressed. It is important to note that in addition to
―simple‖ issues such as provision of school fees, clothes and shoes, etc., maintaining
attendance of children in especially difficult circumstances often entails addressing issues of
prejudices within the school and supporting the development of children’s self-esteem. Some
children do not want to or cannot attend school because they have to earn an income, or
behaviour problems in their interactions with other children. Children-who are growing-up in out-
of-home care often suffer from attachment disorder.
Good Practices:
Individual Need Assessment: Children specially at social risk needs special care, protection
and individual assessment to find out his-her ability, talent, weakness, interest for starting formal
school education. We, educational co-workers, SOS Mothers, Teachers sit together to assess
individual needs of every child-entrusted to our care.
Child Friendly Environment: Early childhood education for at social-risk kids is one of the
important issues. We ensure Joyful learning process and child friendly environment at learning
center enabling them to learn through fun and games. Before starting formal school, every child
must go to learning center to learn Alphabet, Rhymes, listen music, watch TV programme, play
with doll, puzzle etc. at Children’s Village and as well as FSP cluster.
Ensure Basic Health Services: SOS Children’s Village organized yearly health check-up camp
for our community children under family strengthening programme to address basic health care
services for all the children including easy access to routine vaccination. Every family have a
health card under our FSP programme, As a result they can go to Doctor for any health care
services for their family member as and when needed.
Mid-Day meal for Nutrition supplementary:
Childhood nutrition should be a balance
between the high energy and nutrient
content required for growth and
development. We have launched Mid-day
meal from 17th
September 2012 at our 03
FSP cluster. Some 354 FSP children
covered 219 families were assimilated with
the programme. There is a provision of one
decent meal every day for all FSP children.
The key objectives of the programme are
protecting children from classroom hunger,
increasing school enrollment, and
addressing malnutrition. The initiative helps
to break the hunger cycle of these families.
Condense nutrition deficiency and keep their children in schools and off the streets and child
labor. For most children, it would be their complete meal of the day.
Enhance Communication Skill: Teaching children how to communicate politely and effectively
is one of a parent's most important tasks. Failing to teach proper communication skills could
socially limit a child for a lifetime. Assuming that children will learn proper communication skills
without parental guidance is a big mistake. We educational co-workers, SOS Mothers, Teachers
and Parents of the Children–who are at Social risk teaches our children basic communication
skills. The capacity to communicate is the ability and desire to connect with others by
exchanging ideas and feelings, both verbally and non-verbally.

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Child safety and Protection: Child protection and safety is everyone business and the core of
our work. The enacted Child Protection Policy is a boon for the smooth as well as happy
up-bringing of our Children. We listen to the children and arrange sharing session to aware their
right and responsibilities. Children have full right to share everything for the betterment of
his/her future career. Regarding Child protection, we always shown ―0‖ Zero tolerance. Our Child
protection Team and CP focal person always welcome children to listen regarding CP issues.
Self-Esteem: Healthy self-esteem is like a child's armor against the challenges of the world.
Kids who know their strengths and weaknesses and feel good about themselves seem to have
an easier time handling conflicts and resisting negative pressures. They tend to smile more
readily and enjoy life. These kids are realistic and generally optimistic. SOS mothers, co-
workers, teachers, share with the children how they improve their personality, self-esteem,
social manners & behavior in day to day activities.
Pre-School Preparation: Most of the Children of SOS Children’s Village programme are at
Social risk specially community Children under family Strengthening Programme. We arrange
year- long pre-school coaching for those children. Pre-primary education helps children make
the smooth transition from home to formal schooling. The programme prepares under-privileged
children for mainstream entry into primary schools. The pre-school education programme
provides a basic academic foundation, and the crucial emotional and physical development
required for success in primary schools. After completing a one year pre-primary course, all
graduates are enrolled in the nearest government or registered non-government primary
schools. Through a regular monitoring process all children are kept under surveillance up to the
completion of primary education.
Parents / Caregiver Awareness: To educate our community mothers-how to deal with their
biological children, we arrange regular sharing session with community mothers and care givers
of the Children at social risk. We talk about positive parenting, Child health & Nutrition, Child-
education, Kitchen-gardening, Child rights and responsibility etc.
Challenges:
Child Labour: Social norms and economic realities mean that child labour is widely accepted
and very common in Bangladesh. Some parents and care
giver of the community under family strengthening
programme are not fully aware about their child rights and
protection. Lack of interest to educate their children, rather
engaging them to earn money for their families. Many families
rely on the income generated by their children for survival, so
child labour is often highly valued.
Poor Teaching Method: The quality of the teaching-learning
process, the school environment and children's learning
achievements are also major challenges. Poor qualifications
and lack of teacher motivation are major challenges.
Approximately 24% of Government Primary Schools and
Registered Non-Government Primary Schools teachers are
untrained. Poor teaching quality and a high teacher-student
ratio may also discourage children from completing school.
Floating Family: Children living in slums often move
frequently due to evictions, civic unrest and employment instability, further exacerbating School
drop-out rates. There are many children who are not going to school but who could attend if
schools were more inclusive using child-friendly. Even some schools have no toilet facilities for
the girl’s student.

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Examples of Children at Social Risk:
 Street children
 Orphans
 Separated children
 Children with AIDS/AIDS orphans
 Child-headed households
 Juvenile offenders
 Gangs
 Child and adolescent sex workers
A whole child approach, which ensures that each student is healthy, safe, engaged, supported,
and challenged, sets the standard for comprehensive, sustainable school improvement and
provides for long-term student success.
So, how do you know that it’s time to look for another educational approach for your
child? Here are some of the signs:
1. Does your child say he or she hates school?
If so, something is probably wrong with the school. Children are natural learners, and when they
are young, you can hardly stop them from learning. If your child says they hate school, listen to
them.
2. Does your child find it difficult to look an adult in the eye, or to interact with older or
younger children?
If so, your child may have become ―socialized‖ to interact only with peers within their own age
group a very common practice in most schools and may be losing the ability to communicate
with a broader group of children and adults.
3. Does your child seem fixated on designer labels and trendy clothes for school?
This is a symptom of an approach that emphasizes external rather than internal values, causing
children to rely on shallower means of comparison and acceptance, rather than deeper values.
4. Does your child come from school tired and cranky?
While a student can have a hard day in any school, consistent exhaustion and irritability are
sure signs that their educational experiences are not energizing, but actually debilitating.
5. Does your child come home complaining about conflicts that they’ve had in school, or
unfair situations that they have been exposed to?
This may mean that the school does not have a student-centered approach to conflict resolution
and communication. Many schools rely on swift, adult-issued problem solving, depriving children
of their ability to emotionally process and thoughtfully discuss the situation at hand.

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6. Has your child lost interest in creative expression through art, music, and dance?
Within the traditional system, these creative outlets are often considered secondary to
―Academic‖ areas, and are not as widely encouraged. In some cases, courses in these areas
are not even offered any more. This neglect often devalues, or extinguishes, these natural
talents and abilities in children.
7. Has your child stopped reading or writing or pursuing a special interest just for fun?
Are they investing the bare minimum in homework?
This is often a sign that spontaneous activities and student independence are not being valued
in their school. Children have a natural inclination to direct their own learning; however, an
emphasis on meeting standardized test requirements limits the abilities of teachers to nurture
and encourage this inclination. The result can be an increasing apathy toward subjects that
were once exciting, and a loss of creativity.
8. Does your child procrastinate until the last minute to do homework?
This is a sign that the homework is not really meeting his or her needs perhaps it’s ―busy work‖
or rote memorization—and may be stifling to their natural curiosity.
9. Does your child come home talking about anything exciting that happened in school
that day?
If not, may be nothing in school is exciting for your child. Why shouldn’t school and education be
a fun, vibrant, and engaging place?
THANK YOU
Resources:
1. News Letter-UNICEF Bangladesh 2013
2. Networks of Support: A literature review of care issues for separated children By Gillian Mann, Save the
Children Alliance.
3. SOS Journals
4. Literacy in Bangladesh: Reading between the lines-Sarah Cooke.
5. Quality Primary Education-UNICEF Bangladesh 2013.
6. Child Labour-UNICEF Bangladesh.