SEQAEP 5 Years Success Story

SEQAEP 5 Years Success Story is a publica�on on the
four major components of the project and its thirteen
sub-components.
The project is one of the largest among eighty-one
projects of the Ministry of Educa�on, Government of
Bangladesh and a substan�ally successful one also.
The project has received addi�onal financing of USD
265 million in the year 2014 from the World Bank.
The report provides a summarized documenta�on
for reference on the objec�ves of each components
and sub-components with its quan�ta�ve sta�s�cs
and qualita�ve impacts over five-year period. It also
contains few case studies to highlight how the project
has brought posi�ve changes in the lives of the
beneficiaries.
Bangla: h�p://youtu.be/_w-JzTeNy5c
This 24 minutes documentary film Dreams
Etched Across the Sky (in English and Bangla)
captures triumph of the two children, Lima
and Arif. Their father Mr. Md. Almas is a
Rickshaw-van Puller while their mother is a
homemaker. Due to poverty, the parents had
considered discon�nuing the educa�on of
their children. Secondary Educa�on Quality
and Access Enhancement Project (SEQAEP)
assisted financially disadvantaged students
like Arif and Lima to con�nue their studies
by suppor�ng them with s�pends and with
help of well-trained Resource Teachers (RTs)
to improve on English and Mathema�cs. The
documentary captures other components of
the project and their impacts as well.
Mr. Nurul Islam Nahid, MP, Honourable
Minister of the Ministry of Educa�on and
other key persons speak about the plans of
Government of Bangladesh on educa�on
and effec�veness of SEQAEP.
English: h�p://youtu.be/4-iBlH9WdgY

Messages
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had dreamt of Sonar Bangla (Golden Bangladesh) for which
we need educated, wise and skilled people. Grooming the young genera�on and preparing them
with world standard educa�on is the only way forward towards making his dream a reality.
The Ministry of Educa�on is commi�ed to Educa�on for All and the UN’s Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs). Working inline to these goals, in the past half a decade, Bangladesh has witnessed a
revolu�onary makeover in the educa�on sector with 99.47% students ini�ally a�ending schools. In
terms of the UN’s Millennium Development Goal (MDG), we have already achieved gender equality
target in 2013 both in Secondary and Higher Secondary level. To encourage poor students, since
2010, the government of Bangladesh has been distribu�ng over 1231 million textbooks to students
of Pre-Primary through class ten on 1st of January, the first day of school year, without fail, even in
unstable poli�cal situa�ons; a phenomenal event.
S�ll there are many challenges we need to overcome. Currently, the Ministry of Educa�on is
execu�ng 81 projects of which SEQAEP is one the largest. This co-funded project where the World
Bank has contributed USD 265 million and government of Bangladesh USD 15 million covers 215
disadvantaged Upazilas. Na�onally 57% and in rural area 70% disadvantaged students received
s�pend through this project. Students in remote and rural higher secondary ins�tu�ons a�ended
free Addi�onal Classes (ACs) in English and Mathema�cs which were conducted by our specially
trained 0.5 million teachers.
I congratulate, the Project Director of SEQAEP, Mr. Md. Shahid Bakh�ar Alam, and his team who
have been extremely effec�ve in implemen�ng this project. Our partner, the World Bank, Con�nues
to support us for another three years �ll 2017 with funding of another USD 265 million. I thank
them for their shared commitment.
Nurul Islam Nahid, MP
Educa�on Minister, Ministry of Educa�on
Nurul Islam Nahid, MP
Educa�on Minister, Ministry of Educa�on
Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh
1

Md. Nazrul Islam Khan
Secretary, Ministry of Educa�on
The government of Bangladesh has made Educa�on for All a priority and accordingly invested
heavily in this sector. A�er rigorous scru�ny, we have been able to iden�fy the reasons that caused
dismal results in Secondary School Cer�ficate (SSC) level and disparity in educa�on quality in rural
and metropolitan ci�es. Moreover, we have learned that economically disadvantaged boys and girls
can do wonder when they are correctly iden�fied and provided with support. We have no�ced the
pa�ern that failing in English and Mathema�cs was pulling down the pass rate and increasing need
for private tui�ons, an addi�onal burden for struggling parents.
With implementa�on of the Educa�on Policy the impact has been remarkable. One of the largest
projects which has focused on making these unprecedented changes is Secondary Educa�on Quality
and Access Enhancement Project (SEQAEP). It covers a staggering 125 Upazilas and provided boys and
girls with s�pend through Proxy Means Tes�ng (PMT). The project managed its financial resources
extremely well and had zero disallowance. The World Bank, the donor for this project, has agreed to
double their investment and con�nue the project for another three years.
We deeply appreciate our donor and partners for their con�nuous support in enhancing the
quality of educa�on of Bangladesh. We are confident that we will be able to create access to
quality educa�on through this project. I congratulate the Project Director and his team in securing
funds for next three years to con�nue the good work for the interest of our na�on.
Md. Nazrul Islam Khan
Secretary, Ministry of Educa�on
2

It is a challenge for the government of many countries to publicize the importance of educa�on or to
send children to the schools. At present the situa�on in Bangladesh has been improving significantly
as both parents and students realize the importance of educa�on in general. However, Bangladesh
has not achieved its target yet and there is s�ll a high rate of drop out in the schools. One of the
major reasons for drop out is the overall economic condi�on of the society and the disparity among
boys and girls.
The Secondary Educa�on Quality and Access Enhancement Project (SEQAEP) works with rural
communi�es with a special focus on some major issues of our educa�on: drop outs, low pass rates
and hard-to-reach areas like char and haor. The project has been working successfully to meet
some specific objec�ves: ensuring quality educa�on, crea�ng equity to the access of educa�on
and reducing disparity between urban and rural students. In order to meet the goals, a number
of programs have been undertaken by the project that are running successfully. SEQAEP has been
providing s�pends to the poor children (both girls and boys), arranging trainings for the teachers
to conduct Addi�onal Classes (ACs) on English and Mathema�cs. Moreover, the project has been
offering incen�ves to the educa�onal ins�tu�ons as well as to students and teachers. At present
when the students are gradually withdrawing themselves from reading different kinds of books,
SEQAEP has taken a nice ini�a�ve to encourage the habits of the students to read books.
Currently, Ministry of Educa�on has adopted the strategies to work with all the stakeholders in
a team spirit. Mr. Md. Bakh�arAlam, Project Director, SEQAEP has been leading his team in the
same spirit under the guidance of the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Educa�on. I believe,
the interven�ons taken by the project has allowed us to receive good responses from different
corner of the society. I hope the project will work more successfully with views to meet Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) and to achieve the Vision 2021.
Prof. Fahima Khatun, Director General
Directorate of Secondary and Higher Educa�on (DSHE)
Prof. Fahima Khatun, Director General
Directorate of Secondary and Higher Educa�on (DSHE)
3

Educa�on is poten�ally the key that can eradicate of poverty from Bangladesh. There has been
projects leading up to Secondary Educa�on Quality and Access Enhancement Project (SEQAEP) and it
has been a remarkable journey. Based on the project’s posi�ve outcomes of the first phase, we have
embarked on a new phase where we would con�nue to find means to improve quality of educa�on
to strike a balance between urban and rural students, poor and financially privileged students, boys
and girls, disabled and able students and all minori�es.
I am personally happy with the project because it has been incen�vizing poor children as well as
tribal and special need students to come to school by the way of the s�pend program. The World
Literature Centre with the project team developed school libraries and in real terms has been able
to encourage reading habits in children. The project gave addi�onal inputs to various schools by the
way of improving school facili�es to providing trained Resource Teachers (RTs) on Mathema�cs and
English language. In upcoming phase of the project team is planning to provide Resource Teachers
(RTs) for science subjects as well.
There is no end to improvement of quality and we should not be happy and content with what we
have achieved. I think we should go beyond our limit and go further in truly holding the na�onal
proclama�on i.e. Educa�on for All. We have a very dynamic Project Director, Mr. Md. Bakh�ar Alam
and he is really making a difference. It’s evident from the work he is doing.
It has been my pleasure to have nego�ated addi�onal financing of about USD 265 million with the
support of IDA, the World Bank. Now I hope that this project is going to bring further success and
improve the quality of educa�on which is absolutely important for Bangladesh.
Arastoo Khan
Addi�onal Secretary, ERD
Ministry of Finance
Arastoo Khan
Economic Rela�ons Division (ERD)
Ministry of Finance
4

Giving a person an educa�on is the single most transforma�ve gi� that a benefactor can give. This
is important because educa�on enables a person to get a be�er job, to par�cipate more fully in
social and poli�cal life, and also to have higher self-esteem. It’s par�cularly important for girls. This is
because many studies have repeatedly shown that girls and women spend money much wisely than
boys and men. The Secondary Educa�on Quality and Access Enhancement Project (SEQAEP) is helping
poor girls and boys in 215 Upazilas in Bangladesh to access secondary educa�on. The project is built
on the success of two predecessor projects, which were focused exclusively on bringing poor girls to
secondary educa�on. This project as well as its predecessors has shown the world how transforma�ve
a program targeted on helping poor girls to access primary and secondary educa�on can be. If it had
not happened in Bangladesh, star�ng back in the 1990s, it’s very unlikely that Bangladesh today would
be able to employ some four million women in the second largest ready-made garment (RMG) industry
in the world. It would be hard to imagine that the goods coming out of the ready-made garments
industry would be compe��ve with those coming out of countries like China, Vietnam and Sri Lanka.
The new project also has several innova�ons. First, because the assistance provided to girls has been
so effec�ve, boys are now falling behind, and so the new project also provides tui�on and s�pend
assistance to boys. Second, the new project makes a very strong push on enhancing quality. It provides
performance incen�ves to schools, teachers and student, and it is building a stronger monitoring and
evalua�on system which this year for the first �me in Bangladesh’s history resulted in a systema�c
evalua�on of learning outcomes at the secondary level.
Support to the next phase of the Secondary Educa�on Quality and Access Enhancement Project is
proof that the Government of Bangladesh understands how vitally important it is to con�nue helping
young people to acquire an educa�on. Bangladesh’s leadership in the development of the educa�on
sector has set the stage for similar projects all over the world. Some imitators have become famous
in their own right, for example in Brazil. The World Bank is delighted to con�nue its associa�on with
this project of the Government of Bangladesh. I think the project management team is func�oning
well. The impact of the work that the team is doing is visible every single day. It’s very energizing to
be around young people who have an opportunity to improve their lives and who are taking hold of
that opportunity with both hands and making the most of it. The Secondary Educa�on Quality and
Access Enhancement Project recently received addi�onal financing of USD 265 million from the World
Bank. It’s the hope of the World Bank that every single child in this country, whether a girl or a boy,
will have access to a good-quality educa�on at the primary, secondary and ter�ary levels. Every single
child should be given the opportunity to realize his or her full poten�al, while also contribu�ng to the
country’s economy and to its social and poli�cal enrichment.
Johannes Zu�
Country Director, Bangladesh and Nepal, The World Bank
Johannes Zu�
Country Director, Bangladesh and Nepal, The World Bank
5

In 2008, the Secondary Educa�on Quality and Access Enhancement Project (SEQAEP) undertook its
journey to ensure the quality educa�on for the secondary academic ins�tu�ons and be�er access for
all. We have been working with almost 6,781 secondary schools of rural Bangladesh. The speciality
of this project is to provide s�pends to poor boys and girls as well as special need and children of
minority communi�es by iden�fying the needy students through Proxy Means Tes�ng (PMT). Every
year PMT Booths were opened in all the unions during July to August. The three member commi�ee
with Thana Educa�on Officer, Member of Union Council and a secondary school teacher interviewed
the applicant(s) and verified the informa�on provided to the Commi�ee. About 1 million students
received s�pends of which 57% of beneficiaries were girls.
Through research it was iden�fied that in other than metropolitan ci�es, students from other parts
of Bangladesh were failing in Secondary School Cer�ficate (SSC) examina�ons due to poor results
in English and Mathema�cs. With a few or no subject teachers, the schools with pass rate below
45% in Junior School Cer�ficate (JSC) and Junior Dakhil Cer�ficate (JDC) were struggling. The project
undertook merit based appointments of Resource Teachers (RTs) who were trained on effec�ve
teaching methods. The teachers arranged Addi�onal Classes (ACs) in about 400 schools relieving
parents from burden of private tui�on. The pass rates of those schools now have increased to
almost 100% in Secondary School Cer�ficate (SSC) examina�ons. To retain the almost 1,000 trained
Resource Teachers (RTs) they were provided with handsome remunera�on. Students between
the classes 6 through 8 undergo Learning Assessments to test their understanding. To encourage
students, teachers and educa�onal ins�tu�on on achieving specific results incen�ve awards in terms
of cash were awarded. Moreover, students were encouraged to develop reading habit with support
of Bishwo Shahi�o Kendra (BSK). From 2013, the project has been organizing Educa�on Fair among
neighbouring schools where students and teachers are able to share and exchange knowledge.
SEQAEP also helped to form and train Parent Teacher Associa�ons (PTAs) and School Management
Commi�ees (SMCs) in every school for social audi�ng of teachers, funding alloca�on, reducing
drop-outs, discouraging child marriage and eve-teasing. To improve overall environment the project
provided funds for improving school facili�es like access to safe drinking water, hygienic latrines and
much more.
A lot has been accomplished with great effort of all concerned for the students, who are the future
of Bangladesh. I hope that with our work we are enabling them to be good and produc�ve ci�zens.
And, I would like to take the opportunity to thank our partner the World Bank and agencies of the
Government of Bangladesh for suppor�ng us to do just that.
Md. Shahid Bakh�ar Alam
Project Director, SEQAEP
6

Contents
Acronyms and Abbrevia�on 08
1.0 Our Dynamic Team 10
1.1 Key Contributors to the Project 12
1.2 Partners and their Contribu�ons 17
2.0 Where Do We Work 19
2.1 SEQAEP at a Glimpse 21
3.0 How Did We Make a Success Story 25
3.1 Ins�tu�onal Capacity Strengthening 28
3.1.1 Project Management 29
3.1.2 Ins�tu�onal Capacity Building 29
3.1.3 School Management Accountability 31
(a) Case Study: Mrs. Asia Begum, Sanandabari High School, District: Jamalpur 32
3.1.4 Educa�on Awareness and Community Mobiliza�on (EACM) 33
3.2 Improving Educa�on Quality and Capacity to Monitoring Teaching-Learning Levels 36
3.2.1 Support for English Language and Mathema�cs Learning and Teaching 37
(b) Case Study: Nazirpur Palli Jagoran High School, District: Netrokona 38
(c) Case Study: Ulaul Model High School, District: Manikganj 39
3.2.2 Incen�ve Awards to Students, Teachers and Ins�tutes 41
3.2.3 Developing Reading Habit (DRH) 44
(d) Case Study: Savar Girls High School, District: Dhaka 46
3.2.4 Assessment of Educa�on Quality 47
3.3 Improving Equitable Access for the Poor and School Environment 49
3.3.1 PMT-based S�pends and Tui�on to Poor Students 50
(e) Case Study: Umme Salma Sarker; District: Gaibandha 51
3.3.2 Improving School Facili�es (ISF) 54
(f) Case Study: Sajuria Zahura Zerin High School, District: Rajbari 56
3.4 Monitoring & Evalua�on 58
3.4.1 Comparison of Project Performance Ra�ngs 60
3.4.2 Recogni�on by the World Bank (WB) 62
4.0 Challenges for the Future 64
5.0 Financial Accountability & Audit Report 66
6.0 Conclusion 71
Annex 1 73
Annex 2 76
Annex 3 77

Acronyms and Abbreviation
AC
ACT
ACF
AD
ADB
AF
APD
BANBEIS
BBS
BISE
BP
BSK
CAS
CCT
CONTASA
DA
DD
DEO
DG
DID
DLI
DO
DPHE
DPP
DRH
DSHE
EACM
EL
EMF
EMP
FAPAD
FMS
FMA
FSSAP
FY
GAAP
GO
GOB
HIES
HOI
HT
Addi�onal Class
Addi�onal Class Teacher
Award Conforma�on Form
Assistant Director
Asian Development Bank
Addi�onal Financing
Addi�onal Project Director
Bangladesh Bureau of Educa�on Informa�on and Sta�s�cs
Bangladesh Bureau of Sta�s�cs
Board of Intermediate and Secondary Educa�on
Bank Procedures
Bishwo Shahi�o Kendro
Country Assistance Strategy
Condi�onal Cash Transfer
Conver�ble Taka Special Account
Designated Account
Deputy Director
District Educa�on Officer
Director General
Difference in Difference
Disbursement Linked Indicator
Development Objec�ve
Department of Public Health and Engineering
Development Project Proforma
Developing Reading Habit
Directorate of Secondary and Higher Educa�on
Educa�on Awareness and Community Mobiliza�on
English Language
Environmental Management Framework
Environmental Management Plan
Foreign Aided Project Audit Disclosure
Financial Management Specialist
Financial Management Analyst
Female Secondary School Assistance Project
Financial Year
Governance and Accountability Ac�on Plan
Government Order
Government of Bangladesh
Household Income and Expenditure Survey
Human Opportunity Index
Head Teachers
8

ICT
IDA
IE
IFC
IFR
IPF
KPI
LASI
LGED
MEW
M&E
MIS
MoE
MoF
MoPA
MoU
MPO
MTR
NPV
OP
OARF
PAD
P-RAMS
PD
PDO
PMT
PMTA
PPR
PPT
PTA
RCT
RDD
RDPP
RT
SESDP
SEQAEP
SMC
SMF
SSC
SWAp
TDP
TA
USEO
Informa�on Communica�ons Technology
Interna�onal Development Associa�on
Impact Evalua�on
Interna�onal Finance Corpora�on
Interim Financial Report
Investment Project Financing
Key Performance Indicator
Learning Assessment in SEQAEP Ins�tu�ons
Local Government Engineering Department
Monitoring and Evalua�on Wing
Monitoring and Evalua�on
Management Informa�on System
Ministry of Educa�on
Ministry of Finance
Ministry of Public Administra�on
Memorandum of Understanding
Monthly Pay Order
Mid-Term Review
Net Present Value
Opera�onal Policies
Opera�onal Risk Assessment Framework
Project Appraisal Document
Procurement Risk Assessment Management System
Project Director
Project Development Objec�ve
Proxy Means Tes�ng
Proxy Means Tes�ng Administrator
Public Procurement Rules
Project Prepara�on Team
Parent-Teacher Associa�on
Randomized Control Trial Design
Regression Discon�nuity Design
Revised Development Project Performa
Resource Teacher
Secondary Educa�on Sector Development Project
Secondary Educa�on Quality and Access Enhancement Project
School Management Commi�ee
Social Management Framework
Secondary School Cer�ficate
Sector Wide Approach
Tribal Development Plan
Technical Assistance
Upazila Secondary Educa�on Officer
9

1.0 Our Dynamic Team
Dr. Md. Asaduzzaman Khan Mojlish
Assistant Director (ACT)
Prim Rizvi
Assistant Director (Admin)
Dr. Rafique Al-Mamun
Deputy Project Director (ACT)
Md. Mokhtar Ahmed
Deputy Project Director (Admin)
Md. Shahid Bakhtiar Alam

Dr. Mohd. Mozammel Hossain Chowdhury
Deputy Project Director (Access)
Dr. Sujan Kumer Sarker
Deputy Project Director (Quality)
S. M. Morshed Bipul
Assistant Director (Access)
Reaz Ahmed
Assistant Director (Quality)

1.1 Key Contributors to the Project
Mr. Md. Shahid Bakh�ar Alam is a Joint Secretary and member of Bangladesh
Civil Service (Administra�ve Cadre). Since April 2012 he has been working as the
Project Director (PD) of Secondary Educa�on Quality and Access Enhancement
Project (SEQAEP). His responsibility is to provide technical and project
management leadership to the team consis�ng of about 200 staff and a number
of consultants. Scope of his work includes policy level decision making, overseeing
financial management, resource mobiliza�on, monitoring day-to-day opera�on,
procurement and s�pends program. He is the focal point for maintaining
coordina�on with the Ministries and all the stakeholders of the SEQAEP, ensuring
proper documenta�on of all the SEQAEP ac�vi�es and regular repor�ng to the
Interna�onal Development Associa�on (IDA), Directorate of Secondary and Higher Educa�on (DSHE),
Ministry of Educa�on.
Prior to joining this post, Mr. Alam served as Deputy Chief of Mission and Counselor at Bangladesh
Embassy in Abu Dhabi, UAE. While working in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Director in desks like
United Na�ons, Finance, Consular and Welfare his responsibili�es included communica�ons with
UN organiza�ons; liaison with the Bangladesh Missions abroad as well as Foreign Mission in Dhaka;
coordina�on between different Ministries of Bangladesh and state protocol.
Mr. Alam completed his Masters from the Dhaka University and his second Masters from the pres�gious
Columbia University in New York, USA.
Prof. Abdullah Abu Sayeed
Professor Abdullah Abu Sayeed is a Teacher, television presenter, organizer, ac�vist
and Chairman of Bishwo Shahi�o Kendro (BSK). A�er receiving his M.A in Bangla
Language and Literature from Dhaka University in 1961, Prof. Sayeed started
his career as a teacher that lasted over thirty years (1961-92) and brought him
spectacular success and na�on-wide recogni�on.
All the facets of his personality have been combined in his role as founder of
Bishwo Shahi�o Kendro with the goal to create an informed, enriched and
commi�ed new genera�on for Bangladesh. Since its incep�on in 1978, the BSK,
a na�on-wide educa�onal and cultural organiza�on, is opera�ng various non-
conven�onal and informal enrichment programs in its own premises as well as at
several thousand educa�onal ins�tu�ons to create an environment for the sensi�ve, eager and young
students to develop into enlightened individuals.
BSK has been implemen�ng the SEQAEP’s Developing Reading Habit (DRH) Program. Prof Sayeed is the
Team Leader of DRH program since 2010. Under his leadership and direc�on to date 2.5 million readers
are benefited from the DRH program.
As a dis�nguished writer he has over 40 highly acclaimed books of poetry, essays, short stories, drama,
transla�ons, autobiographical wri�ngs, travelogue, etc. Prof. Sayeed is a well-known environmental
ac�vist with great success; he took ac�ve part in movements against air pollu�on, water pollu�on of
rivers, and illegal acquisi�on of lakes, parks and water.
For his contribu�ons Prof. Sayeed was awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award, 2004 which is known as
the Asian ‘Nobel Prize’ in the field of Journalism, Literature and Crea�ve Communica�on Arts. He also
received numerous awards which include Na�onal Television Award, Ekushey Padak, Paribesh Padak,
and Bangla Academy Award.
12

Dr. Md. Fazlul Karim Chowdhury has dis�nguished experience of working
as professor, educa�on administrator, researcher, educa�on planner and
management consultant. He worked in the Ministry of Educa�on (MoE) in the
advisory capacity and provided financial advice to the Educa�on Secretary and
the Educa�on Minister. He analyzed primary, post-primary and non-formal and
primary data, supervised the works of NGOs engaged in non-formal and primary
educa�on, and contributed to quality improvement in the prepara�on of policy
documents and assessing various projects.
He also served as ‘Chief of Planning’ of the MoE and prepared, implemented,
monitored and evaluated about 83 Projects of the educa�on sector and coordinated all the sub-
sector planning. As a member, Na�onal Curriculum & Text Board (NCTB) he developed na�onwide
life orienta�on need based curriculum and introduced topics such as livestock, farming and poultry at
primary and secondary level for the benefit of the children. As Project Director of Female Secondary
and School Assistant Project (FSSAP), he introduced skill development programme for drop-out girls
and skill training in sustainable trades with the help of the selected NGOs, built public awareness about
educa�on and mobilized community support for girls students, As Director General (DG) of Directorate
of Primary Educa�on (DPE) he was responsible for the overall management and administra�on of DPE.
He worked as Co-Team Leader of ESTEEM (Effec�ve schools through Enhanced Educa�on Management),
a DFID funded project.
In addi�on, he also worked in many projects financed by WB, ADB, UNICEFF, UNDP, UNFPA, CIDA
and UNESCO. He worked on a number of books on Economics for honours and post-graduate level
students.
Dr. Md. Fazlul Karim Chowdhury
Senior Consultant, Monitoring and Evalua�on
13
Prof. Selina Akhtar Jahan, PhD
Professor Selina Akhtar Jahan had more than 35 years of varied teaching and
consul�ng experience at Bangladesh Open University (BOU), Na�onal Academy
for Educa�onal Management (NAEM), Teachers’ Training College(TTC); B. Ed
English Medium College; Bangladesh Ins�tute of Administra�on and Management
(BIAM); Bangladesh Madrasha Teachers’ Training Ins�tute (BMTTI); University of
Liberal Arts; The Peoples’ University of Bangladesh; University of Science and
Technology; Asian University of Bangladesh; Eastern University; Bri�sh Council;
Bangladesh Civil Service College; UNICEF; Bri�sh American Language Ins�tute,
BPATC; Academy for Planning and Development (APD); Bangladesh Bank Training
Academy (BBTA); Trust Bank Limited; AB Bank; Mercan�le Bank; Dhaka Bank;
Janata Bank; Rupali Bank and Na�onal Bank Training Ins�tute.
Professor Selina Akhtar Jahan, PhD served SEQAEP as Na�onal Consultant for English and Senior
Consultant and Addi�onal Class Specialist. During her involvement with SEQAEP she designed
supplementary materials to support the Addi�onal Classes; trained the Resource Teachers (RTs) to
conduct and observe the Addi�onal Classes, monitoring the Addi�onal Classes, introduced Cluster
Monitoring involving the Head Teachers (HTs), RTs, and the Subject Teachers (STs) to find ways for be�er
implementa�on of the Addi�onal Classes, developed Training Manuals for the Training of Trainers
(ToT).
Professor Selina Akhtar Jahan holds a PhD in English Literature from the Dhaka University.
Na�onal Consultant for English Language

Dr. Md. Abdul Halim
Dr. Md. Abdul Halim is a faculty member at the Ins�tute of Educa�on and Research
(IER) of the University of Dhaka. He has obtained his Masters in Applied Math and
Master of Educa�on from the University of Dhaka and PhD in Math Educa�on
from the M.S. University of Baroda, India under ICCR scholarship. He was trained
on “Professionalizing In-service Teacher Training toward Improving the Quality
of Secondary Educa�on in Bangladesh” from the Philippines in 2009. He also
successfully completed the “Country Focused Training and Dialogue program
on Implementa�on and Evalua�on of the Primary Curriculum in Science and
Mathema�cs” from Japan in May 2014. He has worked as an educa�onal consultant
and resource person in na�onal and interna�onal organiza�on like Na�onal Curriculum and Textbook
Board (NCTB), Planning Ministry, DPE, NAEM, NAPE, Asian Development Bank (ADB), World Bank,
UNICEF, Plan Interna�onal Bangladesh, Oxfam Bangladesh etc. He developed and evaluated remarkable
numbers textbooks, teacher edi�on, teacher guide, module and training manual. He published lot of
research ar�cles on educa�on and Mathema�cs educa�on in renowned na�onal and interna�onal
journals.
He was Na�onal Consultant and Addi�onal Class Technical Specialist of Secondary Educa�on Quality
and Access Enhancement Project (SEQAEP). He led the team responsible for designing and developing
supplementary materials of Mathema�cs at Secondary level and trained Mobile Teachers Resource
Team (MTRT) and Resource Teachers (RT) to enhance the teaching – learning strategies on mathema�cs
in Bangladesh. He worked as a Resource Person of Teaching Quality Improvement (TQI-I & II) Project. He
developed and edited Teaching mathema�cs for teacher training manual for Trainers and trainees and
Trainer of the Master Trainer for dissemina�on of CPD training for the teachers of Secondary School of
Bangladesh. He was also involved with FSSAP-II and SESDP ac�vi�es.
Na�onal Consultant for Mathema�cs
Md. Abul Quasem
Md. Abul Quasem has more than 30 years of experience in accoun�ng, audi�ng,
taxa�on, management accoun�ng, consultancy services and office administra�on.
He is the sole Proprietor/ Principal of Quasem Abul & Co., Chartered Accountants.
Before joining SEQAEP, he worked in World Bank funded project �tled Enterprise
Growth and Bank Moderniza�on Project (EGBMP) in the Ministry of Finance.
He also worked in various organiza�ons and various posi�ons like: Chartered
Accountants Partner at G.Kibria & Co.; Accounts Management Specialist at The
Interna�onal Securi�es Consultancy, Hong Kong and the Aries Group Ltd., USA, for
the Capacity Building of Securi�es and Exchange Commission and Stock Exchanges
of Bangladesh- a project of Asian Development Bank (ADB); Na�onal Consultant for Finance and
Cos�ng at Jute Sector Training Program (TPRM Project)- a Project of World Bank (WB) and Ministry of
Jute; Government Priva�za�on Program, Priva�za�on Board; Comilla Proshika Center for Development
-a CIDA Funded Project; Project Director, Research and Evalua�on of Voluntary Steriliza�on and IUD
Program of Bangladesh Government and NGOs; Helen Keller Interna�onal, Dhaka in the Xerophthalmia
Prevalence Survey in Bangladesh to achieve common goal “Preven�on of Nutri�onal Blindness”; Family
Planning Associa�on of Bangladesh.
He is a Fellow Member of the Ins�tute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (FCA). He has also
achieved Level 3 (three) of Cer�fied General Accountants Associa�on of Ontario, Canada.
Financial Management Specialist (FMS)
14

Dr. Md. Lu�ur Rahman has more than 40 years of professional experience in the
field of teaching, administra�ve and financial management, project design, project
management and implementa�on, project monitoring and evalua�on.
He was a Professor of Chemistry and the Principal of Government Shariatpur
College. In addi�on, he worked in the Ministry of Science and Technology as
an Assistant Scien�fic Adviser, Director of Bangladesh Na�onal Scien�fic and
Technical Documenta�on Centre (BANSDOC) and as the Project Director of the
IDA- financed Female Secondary School Assistance Project (FSSAP) and FSSAP-II.
A�er re�rement from Government service, he has been working as an Educa�on
Consultant in various projects financed by the Government of Bangladesh, the World Bank, ADB, DFID.
He also worked as an Interna�onal Consultant in an Educa�on Project financed by ADB in Indonesia. Dr.
Rahman worked as an Educa�on Consultant with the World Bank.
Dr. Md. Lu�ur Rahman
Wali ul Islam
Mr. Wali ul Islam has more than 28 years of varied working experiences as a
member of Bangladesh Civil Service. He worked in different ministries such as
Ministry of Local Government. Rural Development & Coopera�ves, Ministry of
Establishment, Ministry of Planning, Ministry of Labour and Employment. Wali ul
Islam has extensive knowledge in diversified areas in educa�on system and policy,
development,administra�on,judicial,revenue,project&programimplementa�on,
planning and repor�ng. He worked in GoB- DANIDA funded Hygiene Promo�on,
Sanita�on and Safe Water Supply Project (HYSAWA) for more than four and a half
years.
Since February 2013, Mr. Wali ul Islam has been serving as Quality Assurance Consultant to Secondary
School Quality and Access Enhancement Project (SEQAEP). He is responsible for ensuring quality of the
services to be delivered and ins�tu�ons established. Before joining SEQAEP, Mr. Islam was the Director
of Bangladesh Public Administra�on Training Centre, Savar, Dhaka. Mr. Islam completed his Masters in
Economics from the University of Chi�agong.
Consultant Mid-term Review
Quality Assurance Consultant
15
Prof. Saleh Mo�n
Professor Saleh Mo�n, one of the leading Mathema�cians and eminent educa�onist
in the country, had pioneered competency based curriculum at primary level in
Bangladesh. Prof. Ma�n was Director General of Directorate of Primary Educa�on.
During his service in the directorate, he introduced innova�ve ac�vi�es at grassroots
level to bring quan�ta�ve and qualita�ve development in primary educa�on. He
served in renowned educa�onal ins�tu�ons like B.M College, Barisal; A.M College,
Mymensingh; M.C College, Sylhet; Jagannath College, Dhaka; Dhaka College,
Dhaka; and A.H College, Bogra. He also had overseen the training of principals and
vice-principals of colleges to build up their capaci�es in educa�on and curriculum
management through establishment of training ins�tutes under Higher Secondary
Educa�on Project in the capacity of program director.
Prof. Ma�n is a member of the research team at Secondary Educa�on Quality and Access Enhancement
Project (SEQAEP), exploring the possibili�es to enhance the quality of secondary educa�on of the
students of remote and disadvantaged areas of the country. In the context, he conducted a study on
“Effec�veness of Addi�onal Class for English and Mathema�cs” undertaken in the project schools.
Researcher

Currently Dr. A.S.M. Amanullah is a Professor in the Department of Sociology at the
University of Dhaka. Dr. Aman also taught at the University of New South Wales
(The UNSW), Sydney, Australia and Shahjalal University of Science and Technology
(SUST), Sylhet, Bangladesh. Furthermore, he was Staff Sociologist in the Research
and Evalua�on Division (RED) of BRAC, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
With his long and diverse experience in teaching, research and consultancy in the
field of Educa�on and Public Health, Dr. Amanullah has worked not only as an
academic researcher but also was involved in various research projects funded by
different na�onal and interna�onal organiza�ons. So far, Dr. Amanullah worked
in more than 50 research projects as Principal Inves�gator (PI)/Co-PI/Consultant. Dr. Amanullah is the
founder Advisor and Program Director of Master of Public Health (MPH) department at ASA University,
Bangladesh. Besides, he is a visi�ng fellow at the North South University (NSU) and Independent
University of Bangladesh (IUB). He is also leading a joint collabora�ve project on “Breast Cancer
Awareness among Bangladeshi Women” ini�ated by Sydney University and the University of Dhaka.
Besides, he is currently working with IOM as regional consultant. Professor Amanullah published many
scholarly ar�cles/book chapters in peer-reviewed interna�onal journals such as Interna�onal Quarterly
of Community Health Educa�on, University of Massachuse�s, MA, USA. As an interna�onal health and
educa�on expert, Professor Amanullah also works with many interna�onal journals as their editorial/
advisory board member.
He did his Masters in Sociology from the University of Dhaka, and obtained Ph.D. in Social Science from
the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
Prof. Dr. ASM Amanullah
Researcher
16

17
1.2 Partners and their Contributions
From 1993 to 2001, with IDA’s support the Government of Bangladesh ini�ated
the first Female Secondary School Assistance Project (FSSAP). The project was
implemented in 119 Upazilas. FSSAP is the predecessor of the Secondary Educa�on
Quality and Access Enhancement Project (SEQAEP). Here again Interna�onal
Development Associa�on (IDA) plays a vital role as a development partner financing
the project in 125 Upazilas under 61 districts of the country. As per the provision of
RDPP 16% of the total found was spent from the Government of Bangladesh and rest
84% was funded by IDA.
www.worldbank.org/ida
Interna�onal Development Associa�on (IDA)
Bishwo Shahi�o Kendro (BSK) is implemen�ng Developing
Reading Habit (DRH) Program of the Secondary Educa�on
Quality and Access Enhancement Project (SEQAEP) to
introduce the similar program as a Na�onwide Enrichment
Program in 7,230 schools of 125 Upazilas covering about
750,000 students.
www.bskbd.org
Bishwo Shahi�o Kendro (BSK)
Establishedin1980,PIACTBangladeshisanon-profit,non-governmentalorganiza�on.
PIACT carried out ac�vi�es related to community mobiliza�on through training,
workshop and orienta�on sessions for local stakeholders; and educa�on awareness
through development and communica�on about the project; development and
distribu�on of informa�on materials.
www.piactbangladesh.org
PIACT Bangladesh
Agrani Bank is responsible for disbursing money for Secondary Educa�on Quality and
Access Enhancement Project (SEQAEP) for the following (sub) components:
· Disbursement of Incen�ve Awards to students, teachers and ins�tu�ons;
· Addi�onal Classes (ACs) program: Honorarium for Resource Teachers (RTs),
Subject Teachers (ST)
· Head Teachers (HT) and ins�tu�ons;
· S�pend and tui�on disbursement;
· Disbursement of Improving School Facili�es (ISF) funds;
· Disbursement fund for Educa�on Awareness and Community Mobiliza�on (EACM);
· Disbursement of both ICT and social audit grants.
www.agranibank.org
Agrani Bank
MIDAS is the strategic partner of Government of Bangladesh. The scope of work with
SEQAEP includes assis�ng in capacity building and dissemina�on of project ac�vi�es.
Overall, MIDAS works with SEQAEP in achieving UN’s MDG goal of educa�on for all,
especially at the secondary school level.
www.midas.org.bd
MIDAS

The Department of Public Health & Engineering (DPHE) installed shallow and deep tube
wells and constructed of twin latrines in the educa�onal ins�tu�ons in partnership with
SEQAEP. Every year, the level of arsenic in water of these tube wells and the water purity
are tested by DPHE.
www.dphe.gov.bd
SEQAEP provides s�pends and tui�on to the poor boys and girls. Selec�on of beneficiaries
is done through a household-based targe�ng method, Proxy Means Tes�ng (PMT)
that generates a welfare score for applicant based on a set of observable household
characteris�cs. The Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) is entrusted
with administering PMT for selec�on of beneficiary students. Proxy Means Tes�ng
Administrator (PMTA) was responsible for (a) selec�on of PMT s�pend beneficiaries,
(b) Award Conforma�on Form (ACF) prepara�on for PMT s�pend beneficiaries, and (c)
maintenance of integrated database. The services of LGED as PMT Administrator will
con�nue through the project life�me.
www.lged.gov.bd
Local Government Engineering Department (LGED)
Department of Public Health & Engineering (DPHE)
The Bangladesh Bureau of Educa�onal Informa�on and Sta�s�cs (BANBEIS) is
the central depository of Bangladesh government under Ministry of Educa�on
for the collec�ng and dissemina�ng of educa�onal informa�on including that of
SEQAEP. BANBEIS has been iden�fied to partner with SEQAEP and Monitoring and
Evalua�on Wing (MEW) to serve the project as the MIS cell. It is responsible for
data processing and Award Conforma�on Form (ACF) prepara�on for all school
grants schemes, including tui�on support.
www.banbeis.gov.bd
Bangladesh Bureau of Educa�onal Informa�on and Sta�s�cs (BANBEIS)
BANBEIS
LGED
Government Agencies:
DPHE
18

2.0 Where We Work
Geographical Distribu�on of SEQAEP / EACM Program
20

2.1 SEQAEP at a Glimpse
1.0 Table: Project Profile
The ongoing SEQAEP is being implemented in 125 Upazilas under 61 Districts of Bangladesh. The number
of total targeted educa�onal ins�tu�ons are 6715 Secondary Schools and Madrashas throughout the
country following pre-determined criteria included in the Revised Development Project Proforma
(RDPP). According to the 2nd
revised Development Project Proforma (DPP) the Addi�onal Financing (AF)
Project will undertake new 90 Upazilas to implement project ac�vi�es. More than 5000 ins�tu�ons
of the extended areas will be brought under this program. The significance of SEQAEP program is
that it covers the remotest and poorest areas of the country. Moreover, the AF Project will con�nue
Ins�tu�onal Achievement Awards in SEQAEP and will introduce it non-SEQAEP Upazilas as well.
Project Profile of SEQAEP
1. Name of the project Secondary Educa�on Quality and Access Enhancement Project (SEQAEP)
2. Objec�ve The overall objec�ve of the Project is to improve quality of educa�on,
systema�cally monitor learning outcomes, and to increase equitable access.
3. Specific objec�ves a. To improve the quality of educa�on par�cularly, the teaching-learning process;
b. To ensure equitable access to educa�on by providing s�pends and incen�ves to
the poor students;
c. To reduce drop outs rate at the secondary level;
d. To strengthen the capacity of school management, monitoring and assessing
teaching-learning outcomes;
e. To a�ract new and retain exis�ng students through improving school facili�es;
and
f. To improve and strengthen the monitoring and evalua�on capacity of DSHE’s.
4. Loca�on covering
area of the Project
Original Project: 125 selected Upazilas under 61 Districts.
Revised Project: Exis�ng 125 plus 90 new Upazils.
5. Implementa�on
Period
Original: July 2008- June 2014
Revised: July 2008- December 2017
6. Cost of the project Original: BDT 118176.30 lacs (US$ 155.70 million) [BDT 75.9 = USD 1]
1st
Revised: BDT 122195.65 lacs (US$ 155.70 million)
2ND
Revised: BDT 328866.76 lacs (US$ 420.70 million)
7. Mode of Finance Original: GOB: BDT 19037.28 lacs (16%) and PA: BDT 99139.02 lacs (84%)
1st
revised: GoB: BDT 19037.28 lacs (16%) and PA: BDT 103158.37 lacs (84%)
2nd
revised GoB: BDT 70179.54 lacs (21%) and PA: BDT 258687.22 lacs (79%)
8. Components and
Sub-components
4 main components and 13 sub-components
9. Name of 4 main
components
1. Improving Educa�on Quality and to Monitor Teaching- Learning Levels;
2. Improving Equitable Access;
3. Ins�tu�onal Capacity strengthening;
4. Monitoring & Evalua�on.
10. Main Ac�vi�es • Providing Best Student Awards (Grade 7-10);
• Providing PMT SSC Pass Awards;
• Ins�tu�onal Achievement Awards;
• Support for Addi�onal Classes in English Language and Mathema�cs;
• Resource Teachers Recruitment;
• 6 Day Basic Training for Resource Teachers (RTs);
21

• Resource Teachers’ Refreshers Training;
• Providing Training to Subject Teachers;
• Introduc�on of Reading Habit Development;
• Training for Library In-charge/Coordinator;
• Enrolment of Book Readers;
• Book Distribu�on Award Ceremonies;
• Supply of Appropriate Books;
• Crea�on of English Readers;
• Crea�on of Maths Book Readers;
• Assessment of Educa�on Quality;
• Providing PMT Based S�pend and Tui�on;
• Providing Tui�on only Benefit;
• Providing General S�pend and Tui�on;
• Safe Drinking Water Supply provision;
• Water Quality Tes�ng and monitoring;
• Establishment of Sanita�on Facili�es in Schools;
• Ins�tu�onal Capacity Strengthening;
• Project Management;
• Ins�tu�onal Capacity Building;
• Overseas Training/Study Tour;
• Local Training/Workshop;
• Ensuring School Management Accountability;
• Forma�on of PTA;
• SMC/ MMC/PTA Training;
• Conduc�ng Social Audit;
• Introduc�on of School Informa�on Report Card;
• Crea�on of Educa�on Awareness and Community Mobiliza�on;
• Monitoring and Evalua�on;
11. Overall
Achievement
• The physical progress achieved in first 4 years surpassed the project end targets;
• The disbursements and financial progress have reached almost 100%;
• The targets for students appearing in the SSC exam and the secondary school
comple�on rate surpassed. Around 210,000 poor students appeared in the SSC
exam;
• The project benefited more than 1.8 million students through s�pend and tui�on
scheme;
• Around 1.0 million poor students received s�pend to con�nue secondary
educa�on;
• About 3.8 million schooling years were benefited from the targeted s�pend and
tui�on;
• Girls contributed 57% to achieve this milestone ;
• So far, 146,000 poor students received SSC pass awards, exceeding the project
target of 84,000;
• Nearly 5 thousands ins�tutes received ins�tu�onal awards against the target of
3566;
• The project emphasizes improvement of secondary educa�on quality through a
series of academic support interven�ons and incen�ves;
• Almost 562,000 students were brought under “developing reading habit program”
22

12. Impact of the
Project
• Grade 10 comple�on rate up to December 2013 was 71.75%, compared to 31% at the
end of the project;
• SSC appearing students were 310,000 at project end target and actual achievement up
to December 2013 was 284,000, whereas 70% was poor students;
• The project end target of PMT SSC pass rate was 82%. But the rate of achievement was
80.52% in December 2013;
• The gender parity (Male/Female) in enrolment in grades 6 to 10 was 0.87 at the end
of the project. But the rate of actual achievement was calculated as 0.85% in December
2013;
• Finally, the percentage of poor children enrolled in secondary school was 39% at the
end of the project, while the achievement was 47.18% in December 2013.
13. Financial
Achievement
• Up to June 2013 the cumula�ve financial progress was 85%;
• Total expenditure of the project up to June 2013 was about BDT 114881.90 lacs, while
the total es�mated cost was BDT 122195.65 lacs;
• The percentage of progress compared to total es�mate was 94.83%;
• The percentage of progress for the fiscal year 2012-13 was 99.83% compared to
expenditure with target for the said period.
14. Physical
Achievement
Progress up to December 2013 compared to target:
• 166,714 (84% of target) students received Best Student Awards (Grade 7-10);
• 219,014(103% of target) students received PMT SSC Pass Awards;
• 4640 (107% of target) ins�tutes received Ins�tu�onal Achievement Awards;
• 521,410 (87%) Addi�onal Classes conducted on English Language and Mathema�cs;
• 1168 (146.5%) Resource Teachers Recruited;
• 1168 Resource Teachers received 6 Day Basic Training;
• 1002 RTs received refreshers training;
• 561 (73%) Subject Teachers received Training;
• Introduc�on of Reading Habit Development in 6669 (98%) ins�tutes;
• Training provided to 6669 (98%) Library In-charge or Coordinator;
• 17, 32,956 (117%) Book Readers enrolled;
• 696,602 (47%) Award Books distributed;
• 11,70,8333 (97% of target) Appropriate Books supplied;
• Two rounds of Assessment of Educa�on Quality completed;
• 41,39,463 students received PMT Based S�pend and Tui�on;
• 354,372 students received tui�on only benefit;
• 1.35 million students year provided General S�pend and Tui�on;
• 1879 safe drinking water supply op�ons installed;
• 655 Arsenic Test Kits supplied;
• 1826 Twin Latrines and sanita�on facili�es established;
• 696 Water Pump and 696 Water Tank installed;
• About 36 Officials received Overseas training and par�cipated in study tours;
• PTA’s formed in 6781 ins�tu�ons;
• 67810 PTA members received training;
• Crea�on of Educa�on Awareness and Community; Mobiliza�on were undertaken
through consul�ng firm;
• 9 Semi-Annual monitoring reports submi�ed.
23

15. Addi�onal Financing
(AF) Project Target
• The AF Project has extended the current SEQAEP up to December 2017;
• The financing of AF project would be US$ 265 million, represen�ng an increase
of about 80% compared to original project funding;
• The main four components remained unchanged;
• The AF Project would ini�ate replica�on of successful ac�vi�es in 90 new
addi�onal Upazilas;
• The direct beneficiaries of SEQAEP AF would be 11500 ins�tu�ons of 215
Upazilas which provide educa�on to more than 4.5 million student annually;
• The Project would benefit teachers, SMC’s and PTA’s in project ins�tu�ons
directly;
• The AF Project would establish an effec�ve monitoring and evalua�on system
in partnership with BANBEIS;
• The IDA credit funding modality would be Transac�on Based and Result Based
for US$ 200.00 and 50.00 million respec�vely. The result based disbursement
will be financed through Disbursement Linked Indicators;
• The incen�ve rates in different grades have been enhanced from BDT 500.00
to 1000.00 and the Ins�tu�onal Achievement Awards scheme would be
replicated in all Upazilas of the country;
• The AF Project would enhance the tui�on rates and it will be provided directly
to eligible educa�onal ins�tutes;
• The AF Project will contribute to raise massive awareness and enhance the
transparency and accountability to bring back the drop outs. Accordingly the
provision for holding Upazila Educa�on Fair has been created in the revised DPP;
• Based on the reality the AF Project would finance for science subject teachers
in addi�on to English and Mathema�cs;
• The transfer of MEW manpower to revenue budget has to be completed
during the AF project;
• The AF Project will finance TA support to develop teaching-learning materials
and training modules, to provide training of ACTs, for supervision and on-site
support; etc.
• ACT ins�tu�ons will gradually be increased up to 2000 by 2017;
• ACTs will be deployed in a few non-SEQAEP ins�tu�ons to broaden the
provision of ACTs na�onwide in the future.
24

3.0 How Did We Make a Success Story

It is a long history of human civiliza�on to make educa�on universal which is also a fact in the context
of Bangladesh. A�er the Libera�on War in 1971, Bangladesh with its new cons�tu�on had put forth
educa�on as one of the top priori�es. For children growing up in rural Bangladesh, the schools were far
and few. On the other hand, for urban children schooling was reserved for the elite. The government
of Bangladesh has been aggressively developing schools, colleges and universi�es. In 1970, in the then
East Pakistan the teacher to student ra�o was 28.42 students to a teacher. As the popula�on growth
accelerated in Bangladesh, the government began crea�ng teachers training ins�tutes. Yet it was gap
that was hard to meet. This was evident when stream of talented students from village, many of who
are now in top brass of their profession became a story of olden days. In tough compe��on, students
and parents opted for private tui�on while the poor students languished in villages stuck in their
socioeconomic cycle with no way to break through.
It has not all been bad news. Bangladesh has made tremendous progress by mee�ng several targets of
the United Na�ons’ Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) like being on track to eradicate extreme
poverty, reducing child mortality and improving maternal health. Bangladesh has successfully achieved
the goal of promo�ng gender equality in primary educa�on. Now, the goal of universal primary
educa�on needs a�en�on and Bangladesh has real chance in mee�ng that target. In response to this
disparity in opportunity among students between poor and well-to-do families plus gender inequality
due to social outlook, the government of Bangladesh took major ini�a�ves. The Government of
Bangladesh through its Directorate of Secondary and Higher Educa�on (DSHE) is implemen�ng the
SEQAEP since July 2008 as a follow up project of Female Secondary School Assistance Project (FSSAP)
Phase II.
To address the issue the Government of Bangladesh has been implemen�ng the World Bank financed
Secondary Educa�on Quality Access and Enhancement Project (SEQAEP). SEQAEP is one of the largest
poverty targeted safety net projects in secondary educa�on. The SEQAEP aimed at crea�ng educa�onal
opportuni�es in Bangladesh to ensure equitable access to quality educa�on at the secondary level. It
has been emphasizing to ensure quality educa�on especially in English and Mathema�cs learning. The
overall objec�ve of the project is to improve quality of schooling, strengthen capacity to systema�cally
assess and monitor learning outcomes and to improve equitable access in 125 project Upazilas of
61 Districts of Bangladesh. The total number targeted educa�onal ins�tu�ons are 6,781 Secondary
School and Madrasha’s throughout the country. It has four main components comprising of 13 sub
components. It is the first na�onal level interven�on of its kind where Proxy Means Tes�ng (PMT) was
used to systema�cally iden�fy pro-poor student with priority to girls. Despite various impediments
the primary school enrolment was 80% while half of them dropped out before comple�ng the primary
level and majority of them would leave within one or two years of entering schools. This project has
reduced drop-out rate in both primary and secondary level to 44.99 % among boys and 60.8% among
girls. Now, many students are able to con�nue their studies to grade 10. SEQAEP has disbursed fund to
2,19,014 PMT-students as SSC/Equivalent Pass Awards to enable them to con�nue higher educa�on.
All these have been possible for some targeted steps taken in the project. SEQAEP supported
selected rural schools with trained Resource Teachers (RTs) and Subject Teacher (STs) for English and
Mathema�cs. Pass rate of most ins�tu�ons which had Addi�onal Classes (ACs) was near about 100%.
In partnership with Bishwo Shahi�o Kendro (BSK) the Developing Reading Habit (DRH) Program was
an effec�ve program where 17,32,965 students in 6,669 ins�tutes have a library with books, necessary
funding and trained staff. For promo�ng healthy compe��on for quality educa�on there is provision
for Achievement Award for students, teachers and ins�tu�ons. In Improving School Facili�es (ISF)
component, user groups were trained and formed. The groups acted as support to improve sanita�on
and access to safe drinking water. Furthermore, School Management Commi�ee and Parent Teacher
Associa�on (SMC-PTA) were created in 6,781 ins�tutes.
3.0 How Did We Make a Success Story
26

The SMC-PTA members were trained on their roles and responsibili�es. They have been successful in
communica�ng social awareness and were credited for increasing student a�endance, reducing drop-
outs, preven�ng early marriages and much more. The learning assessment component is first of its
kind interven�on in Bangladesh where quality of educa�on and its outcome is measured. Based on the
learning outcomes, na�onal level policy will be recommended.
The government of Bangladesh is in the process of implemen�ng a comprehensive Na�onal Educa�on
Policy 2010. Meanwhile, the second revised Development Project Proforma (DPP) of SEQAEP was
approved on 26 January 2014 with an addi�onal financing of US$ 265 million which is about two
�mes higher than the original es�mated cost of the project. The implementa�on period of the project
has been increased to December 2017 instead of June 2014 with an extended coverage of new 90
Upazilas. This is in addi�on to original 125 Upazilas. Most of the interven�ons either achieved the
project end target or surpassed the original target. Based on the successful implementa�on the donor,
development partners, different agencies, stakeholders and grassroots level beneficiaries recognised
the SEQAEP as one of the effec�ve and useful projects in order to reach the overall goal of improving
the quality of secondary educa�on.
Overall Assessment of SEQAEP
The Government of Bangladesh through its Directorate of Secondary and Higher Educa�on has been
implemen�ng its work throgh the SEQAEP since July 2008 as a follow up project of FSSAP Phase II. Over
the last five years, significant progress has been made based on different key indicators. As per Project
Appraisal Document of the World Bank (WB), as of June 27, 2008 the proposed Key Performance
Indicators (KPIs) and the progress up to 2013 are given below:
2.0 Table: KPI of SEQAEP
Indicators Baseline
(2007)
Mid-Term
Targets
(2010)
Project End
Target June
2014
Achievement
in 2012
Progress up
to Dec. 2013
Source of data
1. Comple�on rate
in Grade 10 (%)
20 23 31 71 71.75 MEW,
Independent
surveys
2. No. of students
appearing in SSC
(000)
187 243 310 292 284 BANBEIS/BISE
Poor (%) 84 97 70
3. SSC pass rates (%)
a)Poor
b)Non-poor
30
65
64
69
82
72
89.4
79
80.52
72
PMT
Administrator,
BISE
4. Monitor learning
levels in secondary
school (Bengali,
English &Math)
Ini�al
stages
Two
assessment
tests in Eng.
and Maths
for G 8
Annual
assessment
in Eng. &
Maths for G
6 and 8
1st
assessment
completed
& 2nd
assessment is
in progress
Report
is under
process
Independent
Survey, MEW
5. Gender parity
(male/female) in
enrolment in grades
6 to 10 (%)
0.82 0.84 0.87 0.87 0.85 MEW,
Independent
Survey, PMTA
6. Percentage
of poor children
enrolled in
secondary school
30% 34% 39% 40% 47.18% MEW,
Independent
surveys
27

3.1 Institutional Capacity Strengthening

3.1 Institutional Capacity Strengthening
The Ins�tu�onal Capacity Strengthening is a major component in the Secondary Educa�on Quality
Access and Enhancement Project (SEQAEP). In reality this component had been a key challenge that the
SEQAEP team had successfully overcome to achieve and at �mes exceeding many of the project goals.
According to Planning Commission, in Bangladesh across all sectors the (budget) burn rate is about 57%.
While for SEQAEP, the team has managed to reach an efficient burn rate of 97% approximately. This had
been possible for the superior project management and leadership of SEQAEP team.
This component, Ins�tu�onal Capacity Strengthening, had four sub-components. All these programmes
had been created to enhance management capacity, accountability and above all transparency at the
school-level management. This component aims at strengthening School Management Commi�ee
(SMC), Parent Teacher Associa�on (PTA), and stakeholders involved in the secondary educa�on. The
sub-components were:
(i) Project Management;
(ii) Ins�tu�onal Capacity Building;
(iii) School Management Accountability and;
(iv) Educa�on Awareness and Community Mobiliza�on.
3.1.1 Project Management
The main objec�ves of establishing SEQAEP unit was to build on administra�ve structure that will be
responsible for project implementa�on and to assist the administra�ve partners and involved agencies.
The SEQAEP is unit comprised of 40 personnel headed by a Project Director (PD). The PD of SEQAEP was
responsible for the overall implementa�on of project in accordance with the design and structure of the
RDPP. The PD was assisted by two Deputy Directors and three Assistant Directors along with suppor�ng
officers. A group of independent consultants also assisted the PD in designing, formula�ng modali�es
of implementa�on, opera�on financial management, procurement, developing training manuals,
opera�on manuals, and conduc�on of several trainings.
The Monitoring and Evalua�on Wing (MEW) under the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Educa�on
(DSHE) was set up for monitoring and evalua�ng SEQAEP ac�vi�es. The MEW was mandated to monitor
the tasks of ACs in the scheduled ins�tu�ons. In doing so, the concerned Upazila Secondary Educa�on
Officers (USEOs) were monitoring addi�onal classes frequently and they communicated the informa�on
received from the ins�tu�ons to the Director, MEW. The MEW processes all informa�on in a prescribed
format describing the scenarios of ins�tu�on-wise ACs conducted and producing a report along with
recommenda�ons for providing alloca�ons against remunera�ons of the teachers involved. The report
was then sent to PD, SEQAEP for necessary ac�ons.
On field-level to strengthen the school management, the following ac�vi�es were implemented under
SEQAEP. In developing the modali�es of strengthening the capacity of SEQAEP ins�tu�ons, consultants
have already been engaged in developing and designing training materials. These are:
• Forma�on of SMCs and PTAs;
• Training for the members of the SMCs and PTAs;
• Introducing schools to conduct social assessment; and
• Introducing school informa�on repor�ng cards system.
3.2.1 Institutional Capacity Building
Trainings and workshops on how to implement the strategies, and the team’s consensus of solving the
problem required knowledge of models of how other organiza�ons and countries have successfully
overcame those. SEQAEP with support of LGED used a new method of sor�ng out poor students through
household survey i.e. Proxy Means Tes�ng (PMT) in the 125 Upazilas during the past 4 years. The
concerned officials of SEQAEP, Monitoring and Evalua�on Wing (MEW) and Directorate of Secondary and
Higher Educa�on(DSHE)were oriented on these topics.
29

A�er a need assessment, concerned officials of SEQAEP and MEW were trained to introduce the
interna�onal benchmark on quality of secondary educa�on in the developed countries. The World Bank
organized a six-day long training on Learning Assessment for Educa�on Policy Making in Melbourne,
Australia. On a ten-day study visit on the Management and Implementa�on Secondary Educa�on in
Canada the team had knowledge sharing mee�ng in Westland Secondary School in Niagara Falls; Niagara
College Teaching Winery to showcase “Learning Enterprises”; Niagara College and its outreach to local
High School Students and Local Community; and most importantly the Central Technical School, District
School Board. Another team visited School within College (SWAC); York Catholic District School Board
(YCDCB); O�awa School Board and a High School in Toronto and another in Niagara area. A two-member
team received training on Procurement and Management for Goods, Physical Services and Consultancy
Services from Turin, Italy.
Without trained officials it is next to impossible to envision the correct ways of implemen�ng the project
and reinven�ng the process whereas there are successful examples of execu�on elsewhere in the world.
Byorien�ngtheprojectofficialswiththeinterna�onalstandardofsecondaryeduca�onandadministra�ve
processes, the officials were able to innovate ways to adapt the benchmark for Bangladesh. Because of
be�er project management in first four years of the project, the work surpassed the project end target
one year prior to deadline.
Training session for PTA members being conducted
SEQAEP Team at Ontario Ministry of Educa�on in Canada. SEQAEP team at Toronto District School Board
30

The disbursement of finances through appropriate channel to various stakeholders reached almost
100%. The project staffs were able to iden�fy key areas which can have high-impact in improving
secondary educa�on quality through a series of academic support interven�ons and incen�ves.
3.1.3 School Management and Accountability
Discussion on the problems and solu�ons rela�ng PTA Sr. consultant is highligh�ng the responsibility of PTA
Rubina Akhter Rubi is the eldest among three siblings. Life is a struggle as it is, being a daughter of
a landless farmer in Sultanpur village of Bera Upazila in Pabna district. The only silver lining in Rubi’s
life was being able to a�end Paikpara High School. Her school is few kilometers away from her home
and the walk had increasingly become fearful with eve-teasing turning to hints of physical abuse. Rubi
shared her ordeal with her mother who rather than suppor�ng her inquired whether she had ins�gated
this behavior from the boys. Her mother worrying about what might happen agrees with her father
to arrange marriage with a “suitable” man. Rubi’s dream of si�ng for SSC exam just a year ahead now
seemed impossible. Her uncle, Mr. Belaet, came to know about his niece’s situa�on as parents stopped
her from con�nuing school. Mr. Belaet contacted the Parent Teacher Associa�on (PTA) of Paikpara
High School. The PTA decided to speak with the parents of the boys who were eve teasing Rubi and
with the community level interven�on the situa�on was resolved for Rubi. The PTA also explained the
disadvantage of early marriage and convinced Rubi’s parents to allow her to con�nue schooling.
Unfortunately, the interven�on was seen in a nega�ve light by neighbors. The neighbors con�nued to
blame Rubi for crea�ng a so-called drama to gain a�en�on and not going through with the arranged
marriage. The Head Teacher of Paikpara High School was disheartened with the ugly remarks of Rubi’s
neighbors. He spearheaded a mee�ng with support of PTA with neighbors of Rubi. In the mee�ng they
explained the neighbors on sta�s�cs of eve teasing for which many girls �ll date commits suicide and it
is not a random thing. If this was le� unchecked, then this could escalate to even worse social menace.
Moreover, PTA reminded that government of Bangladesh has strong laws against eve teasing as well as
early marriage and if needed, law enforcement agencies will be no�fied. The neighbors understood the
gravity of the situa�on and now have suppor�ve a�tude towards Rubi and other school-going girls.
The aim of School Management and Accountability component is to orientate and enhance the capacity
of the School Management Commi�ees (SMCs), Madrasha Management Commi�ee (MMC) and Parent
Teacher Associa�ons (PTAs) members of non-government secondary educa�on ins�tu�ons. SEQAEP has
reformed the exis�ng du�es and responsibili�es of PTA and decentralized its management hierarchy.
The sixteen-member Execu�ve Commi�ee of PTA is comprised of:
• Ten members will be parents/guardian representa�ves;
• Five teacher representa�ves; and
• One member will be a parent selected by SMC/MMC.
31

Mrs. Asia Begum used to live in Gaibandha with her family. In 2005, her husband, Mr. Anowar Hossain
Mondal died suddenly in a road accident leaving Mrs. Begum to struggle with her son, Sarafat Jaman
Porash. Soon a�er this tragedy, they lost their home and a small piece of cul�vatable land to the river
erosion of Brahmaputra river. Now they were homeless, landless and without a earning member in
the family Mrs. Begum decided to return to the neighbouring district, Jamalpur to her father. She was
strong willed and determined to give her son Porash a figh�ng chance in life out of poverty by giving
him educa�on. She has a goat and rears poutry enabling her to financially support themselves. From
SEQAEP, Porash receives s�pend and tui�ons. Porash has persistently did well in his school. As student
of class X of Sanandabari High School he stood 5th
among 178 students. The good result has enabled
him to get Student Acheivement Award too. Mrs. Asia Begum was selected by SMC to represent them
in PTA for her prac�cal approach to solving problems and her son’s performance in school even though
they live in poverty. Since 2010, as a conscious guardian, Mrs. Asia Begum has been a PTA member in
Sanandabari High School.In her role of PTA member, she a�ends and par�cipates in the (PTA) mee�ngs
to share the teaching-learning situa�on of the school and other community level issues like preven�ng
early marriages among girl students. Through implementa�on of this sub-component, SMC, MMC and
PTA members were informed on the rules and regula�ons of the government.
Sarafat Jaman Porash, his mother, Mrs. Asia Begum and Mr. Bidyut
Sarkar, RT (English)
The ledger sta�ng Mrs. Asia Begum’s a�endance in PTA mee�ng.
Mr. Md. Shahid Bakh�ar Alam, Project Director, SEQAEP, addressing at the six-day training programme for the RT
(a) Case Study:
Mrs. Asia Begum, PTA Member, Sanandabari High School, Upazila: Dewanganj, District: Jamalpur
32

The SMC and PTA members were oriented on the modali�es of conduc�ng ACs on English and
Mathema�cs, on the changing scopes and redesign of implementa�ons of other interven�ons. The
project had trained the concerned officials with involvement of the relevant Na�onal Consultants. PTA
was organized in 6,781 ins�tu�ons and 67,810 PTA members were oriented on their scope of work.
During 2012, SEQAEP had targeted to orient 1,664 persons likely to be involved in conduc�ng ACs on
English and Mathema�cs. The aim was to create awareness among the stakeholders at the school level
and in the community including the PTA members. Among the targeted persons, the chair of SMCs and
PTAs of selected ins�tu�ons were trained in Dhaka. In 8 batches 1,664 persons/chairs were trained
during June and July 2012. A�er the orienta�on of chairs, the Training Manual on School Management
& Accountability had been developed. Furthermore, training program for 500 targeted trainers was
arranged in September 2012. The concerned trainers were: 125 USEOs, 125 AUSEOs, 125 Upazila
Primary Educa�on Officers (UPEO) and locally available 125 Resource Persons. They were trained in
Dhaka in 13 batches to work as trainer for future program at the school level. Ul�mately this process
helped to make the ins�tu�ons transparent and accountable of their work. The responsibili�es of PTA
are overall social audit of the management of the ins�tu�on, monitor teachers’ performance and ACs,
student par�cipa�on, opera�on of PMT booths, incen�ve award, and supervision of Mobile Training
Resource Team (MTRT). PTA has an important role as source of feedback for Monitoring & Evalua�on
team.
Students face a lot of obstacles when they live in a poverty stricken family, especially female students
like Rubi. The community level associa�ons like SMC, MMC and PTA when func�oning independently has
been proven to make effec�ve interven�on in society. In research, it has been found that it is important
to include beneficiaries and not to neglect opinion of people for social status, level of educa�on or
gender. Here, Mrs. Asia Begum is one such poor and widowed mother who has been part of PTA and
made real impact in lives of students, teachers and parents in her village.
3.1.4 Education Awareness and Community Mobilization (EACM)
Mr. Abdur Rahim lives with his five children in Rupshe village of Chatmohar Upazila of Pabna district.
Though he struggles financially, he is commi�ed to educa�ng his boys and girls. All his children are
student of Handial High School which is under SEQAEP. He being illiterate himself and simply unaware of
SEQAEP, he never ac�vely seek out any assistance. Meanwhile, his eldest son, Shamser, passed HSC and
went to city for work. His elder daughter, Rina too was recently married off. When his third child, Jamil
was studying in Class V, Mr. Rahim came to know about SEQAEP’s assistance to poor students in terms of
s�pend, tui�on and student achievement awards from a folk song concert staged by PIACT.
Visi�ng of stalls at an educa�on fair
33

He consulted with his neighbours and
went to meet Jamil’s teachers to verify
about the facili�es. He was informed that
every year during September to October,
USEO and Upazila Engineering Office of
LGED operated the PMT Booth where
informa�on of students were collected.
Mr. Rahim and Jamil went to PMT Booth
where they were interviewed by LGED
officials. Later on the officials visited Mr.
Rahim’s home to verify whether he is truly
financially disadvantaged and therefore
eligible. Before disbursement, Jamil was
explained that he has to a�end classes
regularly and perform well in class to
con�nue to qualify for PMT-based s�pend
and tui�on.Demonstra�on of projects at an educa�on fair
Jamil has been doing well in school and received Best Student Achievement Award. Mr. Rahim is relieved
that he does not have to bear cost related to Jamil’s educa�on now. Yet he regrets not knowing about
SEQAEP earlier because Shamser and Rina were both eligible for PMT-based s�pend and tui�on. The
family had missed the opportunity to save money. The administra�ve responsibility of sub-component
EACM, was outsourced to PIACT Bangladesh through compe��ve bidding. PIACT Bangladesh (Program
for the Introduc�on and Adapta�on of Contracep�ve Technology) is a na�onal level NGO. For crea�ng
awareness, PIACT executed a campaign that lasted for one and half year ending in October 2012. The
campaign covered 122 Upazila of 61 districts.
PIACT organized awareness-raising mee�ng with key stakeholders such as Upazila Officials, local
government representa�ves, local elites, heads of ins�tu�ons and school management commi�ee
(SMC) members on the working of SEQAEP project. A total of 2,767 people par�cipated in these
mee�ngs. At ins�tu�on level, all the PTA member secretaries of 4,000 educa�on ins�tu�ons were
provided a day long orienta�on with a vision that they can replicate the orienta�on amongst the PTA
and SMC members of their respec�ve ins�tu�ons. About 3,981 PTA member secretaries received the
orienta�on. The goals of the orienta�ons were to explain and receive support of the parents, teachers
and other stakeholders towards implemen�ng the SEQAEP through EACM ac�vi�es. Among 4,000
ins�tu�ons SMC, MMC and PTA members a�ended awareness-raising mee�ng. From 2013, as part of
EACM the SEQAEP team organized four Educa�on Fairs a�er the comple�on of the school and Madrasha
exams. These Educa�on Fairs were a�ended by students, teachers, parents, guardians, commi�ees and
the community. Stalls were setup to exhibit posters, publica�ons and school projects. Best performing
teachers, students and ins�tutes were given incen�ve awards. Students performed in the cultural show.
The Educa�on Fairs became a great forum for different ins�tutes to share and explore knowledge.
Folk songs are organized to spread out SEQAEP program
34

The PTA members of 3,981 secondary level educa�on
ins�tu�ons who had received day-long orienta�on
earlier in turn provided orienta�on to the remaining
PTAs, SMCs and MMC members. This program
increased par�cipa�on of PTA, SMC and MMC member
to enrol ultra-poor students, reduce drop-outs while
establishing transparency and accountability to ensure
quality educa�on. A total of 95,544 stakeholders had
par�cipated in these events. All the secondary educa�on
ins�tu�ons of SEQAEP under 122 Upazilas have been
grouped in to 1,300 clusters. There are five ins�tu�ons
in each cluster while one of the ins�tu�ons ac�ng
as lead. The planning mee�ngs were organized with
the 260 ins�tu�ons leading each cluster. The mee�ng
coordinated and organized cultural program at Upazila
levels. The cultural programmes also included debates
and essay compe��ons.
The propor�on of EACM ac�vi�es organized by PIACT.
61%
33%
6%
Cultural Programme in Institution Level (Institutions)
Street Drama (No of event)Folk Song (No of event)
In the rural area of Bangladesh folk song and street drama are popular communica�on media. A total of
1,836folksongand194streetdramaeventswereorganizedtospreadoutimportanceofSEQAEPprogram
among the teachers, students, guardians and community. PIACT organized the events such as cultural
programme in ins�tu�ons, street drama and folk song. Here is a pie-chart showing the propor�on of
their ac�vi�es. Laminated posters containing SEQAEP slogans and brief on ac�vi�es were fixed in various
strategically important places like major educa�onal ins�tu�ons and public places. Moreover, PIACT
Bangladesh distributed posters to UNO offices, Office of Upazila Chairman, Upazila Secondary Educa�on
Officer (USEO) Office and Upazila Complexes. SEQAEP has been working on lots of ac�vi�es for the poor,
disadvantaged and weak students. At the ini�al stage of rolling-out, most of beneficiaries were unaware
of SEQAEP and its ac�vi�es. It was a formidable challenge for SEQAEP to inform the messages to all its
stakeholders given the dispersed loca�ons of all the Upazilas across rural Bangladesh, many of which are
remote and hard-to-reach. To overcome this, SEQAEP had assigned PIACT to take on the EACM ac�vity
and to run the awareness campaigns. The grass-root level campaigns organized by PIACT created mass
awareness about SEQAEP and the benefits that it is offering to areas under coverage. Poor parents like
Mr. Abdur Rahim came to know about PMT-based s�pend, tui�on and student achievement awards and
reached out to SEQAEP. Many children like Jamil has now become serious in being regular in class and
understands that government will con�nue to support him as long as he is performing well in his studies.
This gives financially disadvantaged students who want to complete secondary educa�on a chance to
break-out of poverty cycle.
35
Few sample posters:
Poster explaining SEQAEP ac�vi�es and encouraging
poor students that they too can a�end college.
Poster to communicate to students about
the Addi�onal Classes.

3.2 Improving Education Quality and
Capacity to Monitoring Teaching-
Learning Levels

3.2 Improving Education Quality and Capacity to Monitoring Teaching-Learning
Levels
The following four sub-components were included in Improving Educa�on Quality and Capacity to
Monitor Teaching- Learning Levels in order to achieve quality of educa�on:
(i) Support for English Language and Mathema�cs Learning and Teaching;
(ii) Incen�ve awards to Students, Teachers and Ins�tu�ons;
(iii) Development of the Reading Habits and
(iv) Assessment of Educa�on Quality.
3.2.1 Support for English Language and Mathematics Learning and Teaching
Mr. Maolana Mozibur Rahman is the principal of Islam Alim Madrasha. It is situated in Islampur Upazila in
Jamalpur district. He has been working in the Madrasha since 1991 and in 2002 he took over as principal
of the ins�tu�on. Dakhil pass rate of Islam Alim Madrasha was 20%, 23% and 27% in 2002, 2003 and
2004 respec�vely. He observed that most of the students were failing in English and Mathema�cs. Mr.
Rahman was puzzled to find these poor results, as the Madrasha had no qualified Mathema�cs and
English subject teachers and other subject teachers had to take English and Mathema�cs classes. District
Educa�on Officer (DEO) and local Upazila Secondary Educa�on Officer (USEO) advised the Principal to
appoint English and Mathema�cs subject teachers. The local educa�on authority had provided training
to the teachers on English and Mathema�cs. Unfortunately, next year the results of these two subjects
did not improve. Mr. Rahman again contacted USEO hoping to find solu�on for the situa�on. The USEO
informed him about SEQAEP through which trained English and Mathema�cs RTs take ACs in various
educa�onal ins�tu�ons. Moreover, the ins�tu�on which needs help would not have to bear the cost of
the Resource Teachers (RTs). As suggested by the USEO, Mr. Rahman applied to SEQAEP for English and
Mathema�cs teachers and subsequently got two RTs trained by SEQAEP.
A�er ge�ng English and Mathema�cs RTs he did not have to worry about the poor results. Gradually
the result of Dakhil and JDC has been improving. Now the pass rate of Islam Alim Madrasha has
increased to 100%. Like Islam Alim Madrasha, many ins�tu�ons have benefited from SEQAEP ac�vi�es.
Furthermore, the pass rate of SSC/JSC has increased to about 100% in many of the ins�tu�ons because
of the SEQAEP ACs support. For example Sa�rjan Girls High School, Sundarganj, Gaibandha, Chandipur
Alhaj Tahurunnessa Girls High School, Sundarganj, Gaibandha, etc.
Most of the students at secondary level cannot pass in English and Mathema�cs in our country as a result
dropout rate is high. The sub-component, Support for English and Mathema�cs, has been ini�ated to
assist the low performing ins�tu�ons to improve by suppor�ng their students with addi�onal classes
(ACs) in English and Mathema�cs. Only disadvantaged ins�tu�ons were selected. These ins�tu�ons
received trained RTs who took addi�onal classes outside of regular schedule. Out of 6,781 SEQAEP
ins�tu�ons in 125 Upazilas, 402 ins�tu�ons were selected from 55 Upazilas for ACs. From the selected
ins�tu�ons 556 RTs for English and another 612 for Mathema�cs were provided with basic trainings.
A resource person facilita�ng training for the Resource Teacher
of Mathema�cs
Group discussion of English Resource Teachers during training
37

In addi�on, 1,400 Subject Teachers (STs) were trained. Up to December 2013, more than 0.52 million
ACs were conducted in selected 402 SEQAEP ins�tu�ons. The objec�ves of Addi�onal Class Program:
(i) Improve students’ performance in English Language and Mathema�cs.
(ii) Reduce high rate of failure and increase pass rate in the JSC/JDC, SSC/Dakhil examina�on.
(iii) Improve classroom teaching-learning processes in English Language and Mathema�cs in targeted
project ins�tu�ons.
(iv) Discourage private coaching/tui�on.
(v) Reduce student drop out
3.2.2 (b) Case Study:
Nazirpur Palli Jagoran High School, Upazila: Kalmakanda, District: Netrokona
Mr. Md. Ataur Rahman Khan, Head Teacher
of Nazirpur Palli Jagoran High School has
come a long way since he joined two years
back. Reminiscing how he found the school
and helplessness that seeped deep down him
about the dire situa�on. Head Teacher recalls, “I
could not think of a way out with poor budget.
I organized mee�ngs with teachers, parents and
students to discuss on various issues. We had
taken all possible internal measures to improve
the situa�on. S�ll Nazirpur Palli Jagoran High
School was struggling with only 24% pass rate
in Secondary School Cer�ficate (SSC) and 28% in
Junior School Cer�ficate (JSC) examina�ons.It was
God sent when I received a call from USEO and
he explained to me about SEQAEP financed and
trained Resource Teachers (RTs) for English and
Mathema�cs.”
Mr Md. Ataur Rahman Khan, Head Teacher of Nazirpur Palli Jagoran
High School
A session on Mathema�cs during RT Training Group exercise of Mathema�cs RTs
Otherwise, it would have been impossible for the school to appoint teachers due to lack of funding.
The trained Resource Teachers began taking addi�onal classes (ACs) before regular school hours and on
Friday i.e. weekly holiday. Soon things began to change for be�er. Thinking back, “I was taken aback to
see the enthusiasm and sincere effort of teachers and students alike on new ways of teaching.”
The Head Teacher along with members of PTA and MMC were trained in Dhaka. Now PTA and SMC
members regularly communicate with the school authority and also members’ sit-in during addi�onal
classes (ACs). Students do not require private tui�on on English and Mathema�cs. Now, Nazirpur Palli
Jagoran High School boasts 82.75% pass rate in Secondary School Cer�ficate (SSC) and 92.4% in Junior
School Cer�ficate (JSC) examina�ons. The community and the school are thankful to SEQAEP for its
assistance.
38

A Resource Teacher of Nazirpur Palli Jagoran High School is conduc�ng English Addi�onal Class
(c) Case Study:
Ulaul Model High School, Upazila: Daulatpur, District: Manikganj
Mr. Monir Hossain a�er being appointed as Mathema�cs resource teacher (RT) received a six-day
training on modern teaching techniques, using various tools to teach and responsibili�es of a resource
teacher (RT). Monir says, “The training opened my eyes to prac�cal teaching methods that I was not
aware of during my academic life.” A�er joining Ulaul Model High School, Monir organized a daylong
session with students, teachers, parents, SMC and PTA members about addi�onal classes. Monir
remembers, “I didn’t receive much response from students, parents or teachers. I didn’t give up. I
began visi�ng the houses of students and found that the parents are very poor unable to afford school
uniform and many cannot afford three square meals a day. During monsoon, they also had to take
boat to reach the school.”
On ini�al competency assessment of the
students Mr. Hossain realized that all the
students were weak in Mathema�cs. Ulaul
Model High School had SSC exam pass
rate of 55% and JSC 57% in Mathema�cs.
Steadily, Mr. Hossain with support of Head
Teacher took in more than 40 students in
ACs. Mr. Hossain introduced par�cipatory
method whereby students learned in groups
and explained Mathema�cs with games.
Students started taking a lot more interest
in Mathema�cs and in 2013, it reflected
in results. Ulaul Model High School now
boasts 100% pass rate in JSC and 93% in SSC
in Mathema�cs.Students during Addi�onal Class
Mr. Hossain makes regular visits to students’ homes and proudly shared, “The best part of all the
achievements is that there have been zero dropouts among students in sixth to tenth class.”
In RDPP, the target was set to train 800 RTs that is 400 English and 400 Mathema�cs teachers. Within
December 2013, SEQAEP team has been able to meet and exceed the target by training 1,168 (146%)
RTs. To revisit the main learning points the trained RTs were again given one day refreshers training
in Dhaka. Remarkably �ll December 2013 a total of 1,002 RTs received the refreshers training which
83% of the set target of 1200. These measures by SEQAEP authority resulted in conduc�ng major
por�on of 87% (521,335) ACs against the target set. The details are shown in the Table 3.0.
39

Source : SEQAEP AC Desk
Due to ACs in English and Mathema�cs there have been remarkable results such as:
• In 2013, the average pass rate of JSC/JDC in SEQAEP ins�tu�ons is more than 95%.
• In 2013, The average pass rate of SSC/Dakhil in SEQAEP ins�tu�ons is about 90%;
• In many areas private tui�on has been discouraged;
• Six months ahead of target, all 561 STs were successfully engaged;
• Dropout rate has been reduced and
• Overall student a�endance has increased.
3.0 Table: Project Profile
SEQAEP trained 139% and 153%, English and
Mathema�cs RTs respec�vely compared to the targets.
Item of Ac�vi�es RDPP Target Cumula�ve up to Dec 2013 Percentage of Target
Number of RT Trained 800 1168 146%
Number of English RT Trained 400 556 139%
Number of Math RT Trained 400 612 153%
Number of one day refreshers Training 1200 1002 83%
Number of ACs in Math& English 6,00,000 5,21,335 87%
A Resource Teacher is conduc�ng Mathema�cs Addi�onal Class
SEQAEP is dedicated to provide quality educa�on par�cularly to develop the English language skill
and Mathema�cal knowledge of the students at secondary level including Madrasha. It also aimed at
reducing the high rate of fails and increasing pass rate in the SSC/ Dakhil/ JSC/JDC examina�ons. To
develop English and Mathema�cs, SEQAEP has introduced ACs in English language and Mathema�cs
subject at 400 ins�tu�ons. The guardians and students of poor families are very happy and grateful to
SEQAEP for ACs. The learners enjoy the English and Mathema�cs class as most of the RTs use teaching
aids and mul�-media to make the class interes�ng and effec�ve. This has enormously contributed to stop
the need for private tui�on. The training component of this ac�vity has far reaching effect in the capacity
strengthening of other teachers. The schedules of the ACs were either before or a�er the regular school
hours. The schedule are not suitable for the students as they had to come to school very early in the
morning or wait long hours a�er the usual classes to be able to a�end the ACs. The students are mostly
from poor families who are unable to bear addi�onal expenses for snacks or pocket money. Hence, it was
difficult for teachers to mo�vate students to stay extra hours while they were hungry. This innova�ve
program of SEQAEP has incorporated world-class best prac�ces in educa�on sector. The far-reaching
impacts of AC program are 100% pass rate in SSC or equivalent as well as JSC or equivalent exams due
to improved quality educa�on imparted by RTs to the students. This has reduced the phobia of English
and Mathema�cs among students and hence it has eliminated private tui�on/ coaching. Among other
ongoing projects of Bangladesh in educa�on sector, the above men�oned successful implementa�on has
set SEQAEP as a unique example.
Now AC program of SEQAEP is highly demanded by the ins�tu�ons, teachers, parents and students
because it had been effec�vely implemented all over Bangladesh. The best example of reducing the
need for private tui�on in SEQAEP supported ins�tu�ons are Morakuri High School, Lakhai, Habigang;
Purba Chaparha� Girls High School, Sundarganj, Gaibandha; Bozra Alifia Girls Dakhil Madrasha, Ulipur,
Kurigram. In reality, benefits of ACs are highly recognized and have become the talk of the �me among
the parents of poor families.
Percentages of Target Achieved
Percentage
English RT
Trained, 139%
Math RT
Trained, 153%
40

The success stories of AC program conducted by these ins�tu�ons were published in the na�onal
and local dailies. The sa�sfac�on and gratefulness of the guardians and students of poor households
are expressed to the SEQAEP authority have been reflected through the success stories published in
the newspaper. Furthermore, the pass rate of SSC/JSC has increased to about 100% in many of the
ins�tu�ons because of the ACs support. The parents of the poor families are now very happy and
demanding highly to SEQAEP for providing support with free of cost ACs in remote areas. The impact
of ACs support and the RT ac�vi�es are highly focused through reduced dropout rate and increased
student a�endance in the ins�tu�ons. Last but not the least, many subject teachers of the ins�tu�ons
are showing experiences and become skilled in classroom teaching being in touch with the Resource
Teachers. As a result the demand for ACs in other SEQAEP ins�tu�ons is also growing. This ac�vity has
become very popular among wide economic spectrum of people.
Mr. Asifur Rahman is the Headmaster of Kanchanpur High School. The high school is situated in
Baghmara village under Kamarkhond Upazila of Sirajgonj District. This rural area of Bangladesh is flood-
prone. More than 1500 boys and girls mostly from poor families of neighbouring villages are studying in
this ins�tu�on. There are 25 teachers in the school among them 17 teachers have completed Masters
while most of the teachers have passed Bachelor of educa�on. Under the leadership of Mr. Rahman,
teachers and members of SMC and PTA of Kanchanpur High School have been ensuring consistent good
quality of educa�on. All teachers are sincere and they are applying interac�ve and par�cipatory teaching
methods to teach the students using teaching aids. Home works are assigned every day. Therefore
results in JSC and SSC examina�ons are remarkable. The pass rates in public examina�ons were more
than 90% for last three years. In 2012, USEO of Kamarkhond Upazila of Sirajgonj District informed Mr.
Rahman about the le�er from SEQAEP men�oning Kanchanpur High School has been awarded the
Ins�tu�onal Achievement Awards (IAA) accompanying with Tk.100,000 in cash prize. All the students,
parents of Kanchanpur High School and the community are proud for achieving IAA and they are also
delighted for their results of public examina�ons. Like Kanchanpur High School, SEQAEP has provided
IAA to about 5,000 ins�tu�ons. In addi�on, under this program 146,000 poor students received SSC and
Dakhil Pass Awards. To encourage teachers, 2,986 for Mathema�cs and 2,995 for English Language were
awarded Teacher Incen�ve Award for their performance. By looking at the popularity and effec�veness
of SEQAEP’s IAA program, now all 484 Upazilas of Bangladesh has adapted this best prac�ce.
The objec�ve of this incen�ve award is to encourage ins�tu�ons, Head Teachers, Teachers, Students,
School Management Commi�ees (SMC), Parent Teacher Associa�ons (PTA) and others suppor�ng
educa�on in the school to reach and maintain high level of achievement. This sub-component focuses
on the achievement of students, teachers and ins�tu�ons by providing addi�onal monetary incen�ves
and thereby reaches and maintains educa�onal goals through a con�nuous and long-term process.
This sub-component focuses on providing monetary incen�ves to encourage rural students, teachers
and ins�tu�ons to reach and maintain higher levels of achievement, understanding quality improvement
as a con�nuous and long-term process. The impact of these incen�ves will be evaluated before project
comple�on and the results will disseminated for poten�al replica�on in other areas. Incen�ves to be
provided include:
Best Student Achievement Award: The best performing girl and boy student in the final examina�on
in Class VI, VII and IX (six in co-educa�onal ins�tu�ons and three in other ins�tu�ons), and students
achieving highest class point average in the junior secondary comple�on examina�ons for class VIII (can
be more than two students in co-educa�on ins�tu�ons depending upon the number of students who
achieve A+ class). Each student awardees will receive Taka 500 through Agrani Bank booths in March/
April.
PMT SSC Pass Award: All Proxy Means Test (PMT) selected students who pass the SSC or equivalent
examina�on will receive Taka 1,500 through Agrani Bank booths in September/October. Both best
student achievement award and PMT SSC pass award are relevant and remain unchanged from the
original design. Data processing and disbursement procedures for these awards will be aligned with
those for s�pend and tui�on component (component 2.1).
3.2.2 Incentive Awards to Students, Teachers and Institutes
41

Incentive Award for Education Institution
The selected ins�tu�ons will receive Tk 1,00,000 (one lac) in September/October. Based on SMC
minutes, the award will be distributed as follows: (a) teacher (15% Math, 15% English, 30% others); b)
to Head-teachers (15%)/Assistant HT (10%); and (c) SMC discre�onary (15%). Agrani Bank will deposit
the award in ins�tu�on award based on USEO verifica�on of SMC minutes.
Based on implementa�on experience in the first two years of the project, the teacher awards for
English and Mathema�cs SSC student achievement and the ins�tu�onal awards for SSC achievement
and Grade Progression Award (GPA) from the original project design are combined into a single
award as Ins�tu�onal Achievement Award (IAA) to be implemented from January 2012. The main
ra�onale for this change is that the original SSC teacher and ins�tu�on awards selec�on cut-offs are
no longer relevant because both average and subject specific pass rates have increased markedly
since project prepara�on, and that the GPA awards are difficult to administer given large discrepancies
between reported and verified informa�on. The combined single award will be provided to two best
performing schools and one best performing Madrasha in each of the 125 Upazilas every year based
on Secondary School Comple�on examina�on results. In 1966, Pathakata High School was established
in Nakla Upazila of Sherpur district with the help of local community people. Affluent members of
the community donated cash, land and construc�on materials like wood, �ns or bamboo. Some
even helped in the construc�on of Pathakata High School by volunteering to build it. The community
par�cipa�on was very strong for educa�on of the local children. A�er establishing the school, result
of SSC examina�on was good. Gradually over the decades, the ins�tu�on has been sliding off in terms
of quality of educa�on.
Mr. A.B.M. Benazir Ahmed is the Headmaster of Pathakata High School. In 2009, when he joined
the high school the SSC pass rate was 33%. Mr. Ahmed took ini�a�ves to create educa�on-friendly
enabling environment. Some of the highlights of the ini�a�ves were ensuring 100% a�endance
of teachers, improved teaching methods, used a�rac�ve teaching aids such as globe, interac�ve
charts and maps for class and monitored regular classes. Mr. Ahmed also arranged proper training
for the teachers, appointed high quality teachers and effec�vely implemented Addi�onal classes. To
improve the students’ performance Mr. Ahmed ensured a�endance of regular class, proper uniform,
homework done on daily basis and par�cipa�on in co-curriculum ac�vi�es. In addi�on he arranged
effec�ve mee�ng with SMC and PTA members, home visits and mothers’ assembly. Because of these
ini�a�ves the pass rate of SSC examina�ons increased to 89.33% in 2012, 89.70% in 2013 and 95.52%
in 2014. On the other hand, the pass rates of JSC examina�on increased to 79.56% in 2011, 76.15%
in 2012 and 97.59% in 2013. In recogni�on of its encouraging performance Pathakata High School
received Ins�tu�onal Achievement Awards from SEQAEP project in 2013.
SEQAEP officials are presen�ng Educa�on Ins�tu�on Incen�ve
Award to representa�ve of a school
The best performing ins�tu�ons/
Madrasha in each Upazila will be
ranked according to the following
criteria: (i) number of regular
students appearing in SSC exams; (ii)
pass rate among regular students;
(iii) change in pass rate among
regular students from the previous
year. The weights of these criteria
will be determined based on data
analysis of SSC results from 2010
and 2011. The selec�on for each
year will be based on SSC exams
held during the same calendar year
(data to be collected from respec�ve
BISE boards and processed at DPC).
The awardee ins�tu�ons can be
repeated a�er a one year gap.
42

SEQAEP 5 Years Success Story

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Similar to SEQAEP 5 Years Success Story

Similar to SEQAEP 5 Years Success Story (20)

SEQAEP 5 Years Success Story