Bangladesh faces tremendous development challenges. According to national statistics, Bangladesh is one of the poorest countries in the world, with approximately half the population living below the poverty line and 44% living on less than US$ 1 a day.

Despite impressive gains in education in the last decade, 3 to 4 million of the 19 million children of primary school age in Bangladesh still do not have access to primary education. Pervasive poverty, lack of access to schools, literacy challenges and poor health conditions limit children’s education opportunities.

Save the Children

With support from Dubai Cares, Save the Children is working in three districts and 11 upazilas in the northwest Sylhet region and three districts and 11 upazilas in the southeast Barisal region of Bangladesh to create positive changes in the lives of highly disadvantaged children. This intervention is designed to provide out-of-school children with cost-effective, quality, non-formal education that enables them to achieve competencies comparable to five years of formal primary school in four years.

The project is based on a curriculum and methodology piloted by Dubai Cares partners and is designed to complement the government system. Complementary education projects provide unique, community-based approaches to help children with little or no access to formal primary schools obtain educational outcomes equivalent to students in government schools.

Each center receives a provision of textbooks and learning materials that emphasize on teaching and learning methodologies, school health and hygiene, flexible and equivalent primary education curriculum and active parenting. It will also demonstrate a model for formal/non-formal education partnerships that effectively responds to the needs – such as minimum levels of numeracy and literacy – and learning potential of the millions of vulnerable children who remain outside the formal education system.

GAIN

In partnership with the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), Dubai Cares is providing primary school-aged children with high quality fortified foods produced at a centralized kitchen in the North-West disaster area, North-Central Chars, drought zones, Haor Basin, and Chittagong Hill Tracts. Through this model, income generation opportunities are created for women, who produce and provide the food. It also encourages community involvement in on-site preparation and distribution of nutritious food beyond the school.

Room to Read

Dubai Cares, together with its partner Room to Read, is developing a holistic, multi-pronged approach to help children in the Sirajganj district of Bangladesh gain access to quality primary education by helping establish classroom libraries that allow for easy accessibility to books.