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Empowering Children through Education (ECE)

The overall goal in the ECE project is to improve foundational learning competencies for learners from Grade I-V through remedial learning support with a special focus on teachers’ professional development.

  • 00,000

    children are directly benefiting from the project

  • Where
    Jamalpur, Bangladesh
  • Focus area
    Education
  • Duration
    2023 - 2026
  • Economy
    DKK 13 million
Prime partner: Save the Children

The ‘Empowering Children through Education (ECE)’ project is founded on the successful completion of the previously funded ‘Empowering Girls Through Education (EGE)’ project which successfully improved girls’ foundational literacy and numeracy skills and positively impacted girls' continuation of education.

Background

Bangladesh is facing a learning crisis with alarming figures showcasing high levels of children out-of- school, and a drastic reduction in foundational literacy and numeracy skills. A huge gap in teachers’ skills to address children’s learning needs is at the root of this learning crisis. Foundational learning is critical in enabling all children to reach their full potential and participate fully in society.

This project will be implemented in Rajarhat and Madarganj , which have been selected as they are disaster prone and remote with consistent low performing students. In 2022 the dropout rate for primary level in Rajathat  was 23.2%  and in Madarganj it was 19.6%. The national dropout rate was 17.9% (ASPR 2020).  

Teachers are at the core of every education system, and a highly skilled and well-recognized teaching workforce is key to success in any quality education. However, the Bangladesh education system faces several challenges in terms of shortage of qualified teachers, appropriate teaching learning practices and teacher attitudes and also in terms of systems for developing their capacity and 21st Century skills.

The study on curriculum effectiveness conducted by NCTB in 2019 revealed that over 50% of primary school teachers had inadequate performance in facilitating the expected teaching-learning process.

The project

The Enabling Teachers Approach (ET) will be used and contextualized in partnership with the local government authorities. Partnership with the government at the national and local level will be a key strategy of this project right from the design stage due to the strong presence of Save the Children in Bangladesh’s education sector and the robust relationships built with the local government in the intervention areas during the previous project (EGE). Key learnings from EGE will be carried forward and scaled up in this project.  

Save the Children will work to roll out 'Enabling Teachers' to ensure more motivated and qualified teachers, teaching more effectively, every day, with a specific focus on strengthening remedial teaching competencies, which in turn will support general quality teaching practice. This approach is centered around a professional development course and system strengthening. The course boosts teachers’ competencies and the focus on system strengthening creates an enabling environment that helps them teach well and continue to improve.  

Objectives

  1. Increased capacity of teachers to deliver remedial learning to children from grade I-V, so they have improved foundational learning competencies and enhanced EdTech skills.
  2. Strengthening government systems to deliver qualified TPD training and remedial learning to children grade I-V through stakeholder engagement.
  3. Teachers’ motivation and engagement with the school community have increased.

ECE will have a focus on EdTech as a teaching and learning modality.