The New Nation - Internet Edition

ABOUT sixty percent of the female students who receive stipend drop out of the higher secondary courses. The trend has been noticed in three academic sessions from 2006 to 2008. The social and human development index of Bangladesh went up as a result of some pragmatic steps including higher enrollment of girls. According to official statistics, 8.32 lakh female students were given stipend during this period; but 4.93 lakh of them dropped out.

Poverty is one of the major causes of the dropout. Most of the students who cannot continue their studies are from poor families. They reportedly fail to meet the stipend eligibility criteria like scoring at least GPA 2.5 in SSC exam, promotional and qualifying tests for HSC and minimum 75 percent class attendance. Though stipends have facilitated education for girls, the poor students usually do not have congenial environment in the family, sufficient food and other essential supports. For all these they cannot meet the stipend criteria. Early marriage under social pressure is another reason. Poor parents cannot but yield to such pressure. Whenever a girl is married usually her in-laws do not allow her to continue study. One of the criteria for the stipend is that a girl should be unmarried. If a poor girl is married to a poor husband, she would not get the stipend. So, application of the criteria should be flexible, at least, in case of poor students. Motivational campaigns among the people should also be conducted to raise social awareness. Regular inspections of educational institutions must be carried out to probe whether eligible students get the stipend money. Without addressing these problems, attraction and retention of female students to schools and colleges turn difficult and the target of promoting women empowerment under the Millennium Development Goals might remain lofty.