Hope Non-Formal Pre-Primary School

Enrolment of rural children in pre-primary schools is low in Bangladesh. Pre-school education is well known to support early cognitive development of a child. Urban children, especially those with educated parents and from more privileged socio-economic backgrounds, are more likely to have access to pre-school education. Pre-schooling is not in the official agenda of the education ministry of Bangladesh, and thus, schools are not bound to provide such education. However, due to pressure from parents and the communities some government primary schools and other formal schools introduced pre-school education in their institutions.

Hope Non-Formal Pre-primary School is a unique segment of the CSS education sector creating access to non-formal education for the underprivileged children of urban and remote areas of Bangladesh. With special focus on communities vulnerable to natural disasters and forced migration, these schools are acting as a bridge to formal education. Children who participate in this program are ensured admission to formal school. The project focuses on holistic development of these children by creating a partnership among the major stakeholders such as schools, teachers, parents and their communities. These schools are connected to the Micro Finance Program (MFP) and located in different places where microfinance of CSS is operating. At present, forty nine schools are in operation. Originated from the comprehensive family approach concept of CSS, target groups of these schools are the children of CSS microfinance program beneficiaries. These schools are unique in the sense that operating cost is covered from the service charges paid by the mothers of the children who take small loans through the MFP. Moreover, awareness raising sessions are conducted to educate the community mothers on healthy lifestyle, basic hygiene and value of education for their children given that most of the rural people are very indifferent towards the education of their children. The teachers of the rural schools play the roles of community organizers who are mainly female. Ensuring further involvement of the mothers, as one of the most important stakeholders in children’s education, school management committees are formed. The idea is to make these women responsible and empowering them in the decision-making process of their children’s education.