VISION STATEMENT

Our vision is to lay the foundation for a brighter future for the poor of Gopalgonj, Bangladesh, through free, broad-based, multidisciplinary education from early in life.

AIMS & OBJECTIVES

* To help our students achieve their full potential despite poverty.

* To keep our students physically healthy and positive with hope for the future.

* To promote friendship and understanding with students in other countries.

* To promote the education of girls.

* To expand the school to Grade 12 in order to prepare our students for college and the working world.

Education in Bangladesh

• Bangladesh has a population of 142 million; per capita annual income is US$470; 36% of the population lives on less than $1 a day.

• 18 million are children in 62,000 primary schools. 30% of them cannot go to school due to poverty.

• Sixty-five percent of schools are run primarily by the government and the rest are registered non-governmental schools with assistance from the government.

• There are also exclusive private schools with very high fees mainly reserved for the wealthy class.

• Government-run schools are free. Text books are also supplied free.

However, these schools can be characterized as:

• Being inefficient, centralized and bureaucratic;

• Over-crowded: one teacher for every 80 students;

• Lacking in discipline, sanitation and security;

• Following teacher-centered instruction, memorization and rote learning;

• Lacking properly trained teachers.

As a result of these shortfalls:

• Parents who can afford it are forced to spend a good portion of their educational household budget on private tutoring for children enrolled in government-run schools. 

• Public school drop-out rate is very high: less than 50% of students complete the full five-year cycle (Grade 5) of primary schooling.

• According to a recent study, less than 2% of the children passed in all basic competencies test in government-run schools, while half qualified in 60 percent of the basic competencies.

to top of page