This document proposes research on the dropout rates of underprivileged girls in English medium primary schools in urban Bangladesh. It notes that about half of Bangladesh's primary school aged children are girls, but there is a decline in girls continuing to secondary school. The purpose is to understand why dropout rates are higher for underprivileged urban girls through surveys of parents, teachers, and students. Key expectations are that financial issues, cultural barriers like early marriage, and questions around the benefits of English medium education contribute to girls dropping out at higher rates than boys.

1. TOPIC:
The Dropout Rates of
Underprivileged English medium
Primary School Girls in Urban
Areas
Submitted by:
Sinyat Ahmed

2. Introduction
• Bangladesh has a population of 156.6 million
with around 23 million children of primary
school age (ages 6-10).
• Close to half these children are girls.
• This results in gender parity of enrollments in
both primary and secondary schools.
• There is also evidence of a percentage decline
in girls going into secondary schools.
• When dropout rates are added to the number
of girls who have never enrolled there are
over 2 million primary school age girls out of
school.

3. Background Information:
• The dropout rates of underprivileged
girls have been going up and there are
multiple reasons behind this
phenomenon:
• Child labour is one of the main factors
in keeping young girls out of secondary
school.
• Early marriage is still another big
concern. Underprivileged young girls
are still being forced into marriage by
their families.
• Helping out large households at a
young age to raise their brother and
sisters and do chores.

4. Why we need to educate women?
• Literacy and education rates are known to be
one of the main factors behind a country
moving on from being a “developing nation” to
a “developed nation”
• Studies show that educating female’s leads to
an increase in overall education of both
genders and higher standards of living.
• Educating females can have a ripple effect
between families and across generations.
• Educated women can recognize the
importance of health care and seek it for
themselves and their families.
• Education helps them know their rights and
how to seek it.

5. Literature Review
• Since Bangladesh’s liberation in 1971, tremendous efforts have been given by
both government and private local/foreign organizations to boost the literacy
rate and educate the population of Bangladesh. In 1971 the GDP of
Bangladesh was only $7 billion. Research and reports published by both local
and foreign organizations have played a key role in highlighting problem areas
and providing solutions to advance the development of Bangladesh; and over
the past 40 years have impacted in the significant growth of the GDP which
presently stands at almost $130 billion, with an increase in literacy rates from
16.8% to 57.7%.
• Although a lot of research has been done and reports have been written on a
multitude of topics, there is more to be studied and more investigations to be
made to further our understanding of the socio-economic conditions of both
rural and urban Bangladesh. Therefore past research and reports play a key
role in highlighting current problem areas and pinpointing areas that need to
be further studied to improve upon current conditions.
• Thus, in selecting the topic of this research proposal, the following reports
which had examined and described the roles, barriers and challenges of
“Women’s Education in Bangladesh“have been studied to get a better
understanding of the topic, and be able to propose a research on the “Dropout
Rates of Underprivileged English medium Primary School Girls in Urban
Areas”.

6. Purpose/Objectives/Goal:
• The purpose of this proposal is to do an in depth
research into why “the dropout rates of
underprivileged girls in English medium schools in
urban areas” have been increasing.
• Developments in socio-economic conditions of urban
areas play a significant role in the advancement of a
nation.
• Through this research we can delve deeper into the
causes of the low number of graduates of secondary,
higher secondary education of females in the country;
and get a clear understanding and perspective of the
persisting problems in the stagnation of development
in overall Women’s education.
• By targeting a specialized field of research like this,
extensive research and study can be done on the
main issues and pragmatic solutions can be found to
alleviate some of these problems.

7. Research method
Data source:
• Both primary data and secondary data.
• Some of the questionnaire has been
extracted through in depth literature review
and in the process will help us to gather more
knowledge through the experienced
researcher.

8. Method of collecting data:
Study location: Data collection will be done in Dhaka City. Primary schools for Underprivileged kids
that follow the English medium curriculum will be targeted.
 Target population: Our main target population will be primary school going girls, their parents and
teachers.
Sample size: Our proposal is targeting a small demographic. English medium primary schools for
underprivileged girls with a small student population of 50 to 100 students.
Types of survey: Information will be collected by personal interviews and questionnaires. The
questionnaire will be designed as a multiple choice close ended question and with one or two open
ended questions.
Questionnaire designs: Since the research is about underprivileged girls in English medium
primary schools in urban area during our survey we will ask many questions which are vital to the
research.

9. For parents
 What is the reason you send your daughter to school?
 Do you want your daughter to go into higher education?
For teachers
 Are there more girls to boys in ratio?
 What is the percentage of student dropping out
after or during primary school education?

10. Expected Outcomes and Concluding
• Our proposal is to find out the reasons and causes of the Dropout rate of Underprivileged English
medium Primary School Girls in Urban Areas.
• The excepted outcome is to find out why and what leads to a higher number of girls dropping out
more than boys in ratio even though they are a significant contributor of the economics of the
country.
• During our research the outcome we expect will mostly be related to the financial state of the
parents. Also since the schools are English curriculum based, the parents question the benefits of
learning and speaking a foreign language.
• Another reason is cultural barriers which in this case is families wanted to marry of their girls as
soon as they hit puberty. Families start looking for grooms for their daughters and think if the girl
becomes too old it will be a burden for them to find a groom.
• Benefits of the proposal is to get a clearer understanding of the specific causes which result in girls
dropping out more than boys from the education system, and the increase in the rate of girls
dropping out. With this we can look for solutions for the betterment of female education in the
country and furthering the cause for women’s empowerment in the society though education,
starting at an early age.

11. References
• The Jaago foundation http://jaago.com.bd/
• Street wise http://www.streetwise.com.bd/
• Unicef Bangladesh http://www.unicef.org/bangladesh/education.html
• The financial times http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.
com/old/index.php?ref=MjBfMTJfMDJfMTJfMF8zMV8xNTE3MTk=&f
eature=c3BlY2lhbHNOZXdz&na=RkUgRURVQ0FUSU9O
• Banbeis
http://www.banbeis.gov.bd/webnew/index.php?option=com_content&
view=article&id=479&Itemid=166
• Faithful Education: Madrassahs in South Asia By Ali Riaz
• http://books.google.com.bd/books?

12. Abbreviations
• NGO=non government organization
• GDP= Gross domestic product
• JICA = International cooperation agency
• CAMPE=campaign for popular education
• UNICEF=United nation children’s fund
• Banbeis=Bangladesh bureau of education information and
statistics