By Friendship NGO | Project Leader
Since 2015, Friendship’s secondary education program is implemented in some of the most remote and inaccessible river islands and riverbank areas of northern Bangladesh. The overall objective of the program is to improve access to equitable quality secondary education for children in remote and inaccessible areas of Bangladesh. To achieve the overall objective, Friendship’s Secondary Education Programme has progressively created opportunities for the children especially for girls living in the Chars.
Activities
During the reporting period, Friendship had 16 secondary schools in total. This report covers the data, activities, and achievements of all the 16 secondary schools but it is to be noted that among these 16 secondary schools, 5 schools are funded by other two donors i.e., SIF (4 secondary schools) and AEM (1 secondary school).
Alternative teaching methods adopted for COVID-19 Pandemic
Due to COVID 19 outbreak, secondary schools of Friendship along with all other educational institutions of Bangladesh have been closed from 18 March 2020. Hence, all the regular school activities had to be canceled or postponed. However, teachers maintained regular communication with students through telephone calls to students as well as parents, home visits by teacher/students (where possible with necessary safety precautions), group study sessions (maintaining social distancing protocols), etc. to ensure students remain engaged with their studies as per the class schedule. During the period January 2021 to June 2021, a total of 18,395 phone calls had been made to the students to monitor and provide support to students’ studies and also make them aware of the pandemic situation. In addition, 14,290home visits were conducted by the teachers to the students’ homes, and 31,256 visits were also conducted by students to the teachers’ homes for study support (Details outlined in Monitoring and Follow-up part).
No assessments or examinations did not take place in the reporting period. However, eight assignments, as per Government instructions, have been taken from students of Grade VI-IX and two assignments from Grade X. 100% of students submitted their assignments accordingly. These assignments covered all the subjects of every grade, and the result of these assignments was satisfactory (equivalent to GPA: A). The main purpose of these assignments was to assess students learning competency acquired through alternative learning methods.
Time Schedule
Friendship secondary education follows Government Secondary Education academic calendar for the school days and examinations. During the first 3 months of 2020, Friendship followed this academic calendar without any interruptions. But, since March 18, March 2020, following government order all types of School level activities were paused due to the COVID-19 Pandemic situation. The government order has been applicable for all education institutes across the country. However, to ensure the continuation of education for the secondary students, Friendship took alternative approaches that include, study supports over the phone, visiting students' homes by teachers to follow up on their studies (by maintaining social distancing protocols), and students visiting teachers’ home for group classes. Details are discussed separately.
Monitoring and Follow-up
During the first 3 months of 2020, the project staff in the regional level, paid weekly visit while the staffs from Head Office monitor the program periodically. But due to the COVID-19 pandemic, after March 2020, all the secondary schools along with all other educational institutions of Bangladesh were closed. But, Friendship’s teachers, who are recruited from the same islands in which they work, always helped students with their studies over the phone and visiting them at their homes. During the lockdown period, Friendship Education staffs from their respective home (mostly are in their duty stations) supervised and monitored the program activities, as stated above.
The number of girl students is higher than the boys in the Friendship secondary schools. During the reporting period, 57% of the secondary students were girls.
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