“I am very pleased to be able to buy reading materials for students from SLIP funds and to distribute these in the presence of the guardians. The READ Project made us aware of this important opportunity and helped us to use it.”

Jagadish Chandra Roy

Decentralization Increases Access to Reading MaterialsREAD has trained 3,020 teachers on the use of teaching-learning materials (TLM) in reading instruction. TLM are often procured through SLIP funds.

School Learning Improvement Plans empower schools to manage the delivery of quality in the classroom.

The Government of Bangladesh recognizes education as a means of reducing poverty and improving the qual-ity of life for children. Bangladesh has one of the largest primary education systems in the world with close to 20 million primary school aged children (5 to10 years, 50% F). There are around 500,000 primary school teachers (58% F) working in 108,500 different types of schools. Following on the successes of school enrolment and completion, respectively 98% and 80%, the govern-ment is now addressing the challenges of educational quality. One means to strengthen quality is to decen-tralize the administration of education so that schools and upazila actors can decide on educational improve-ments.i

In 2007, the Government of Bangladesh’s (GoB) Second Primary Education Development Plan (PEDP II) envis-aged decentralization as an implementation strategy for improving quality and equity in primary education. One element introduced was the School Level Improve-ment Plan (SLIP). By 2013, nearly two-thirds of schools (62%) received SLIP grants. In that year, a total of 23,166 government primary schools (GPS) and 14,027 newly nationalized primary schools (NNPS) received SLIP grants.

Under the next phase of PEDP (III), a target was set to reach 80% of GPS and NNPS with SLIP grants. SLIP was re-branded as the as the School Learning Improvement Plan (SLIP), setting out how a school’s resources will be applied to improve its performance. Per annum, schools may receive a maximum of 35,000 BDT for quality improvement. The School Management Committee (SMC), teachers, and community stakeholders (e.g. parents) prepare a SLIP application. This empowers schools to manage their own affairs and promotes the role of the community in education.

The READ team worked with the government’s decen-tralization team to strengthen SLIP tools and processes. The project directly mobilized 1,510 School Manage-ment Committees to access SLIP funds for early grade reading materials. An SMC Support Pack was developed

to guide the SMCs to identify constraints in schools and plan for improvements that could be addressed by SLIP.

Moksudpur Government Primary School (GPS) is located in Derai upazila of Sunamganj district. This region is persistently among the lowest performing districts in education. This school had access to SLIP funds for the past few years but the SMC had little idea where to invest the fund other than infrastructure maintenance. READ provided orientation to the SMC and introduced the Support Pack to expand the possibilities in their use of SLIP. The SMC came to understand that Teaching Learning Materials (TLM) are important for learning to read and that these may be procured under SLIP funding. They applied for TLM for the first time. The SMC has learned that access to quality materials is directly associated with quality of education. They also noticed that having attractive materials in the classroom also improved attendance rates by students. In addition to purchasing TLM, the Head Teacher also distributed three note books and one pen for all students. As part of exercising local transparency, all materials are distributed among children in the presence of parents. READ has trained 3,020 teachers in 18 districts and 44 upazilas on reading instruction through use of TLM. Their School Management Committees are now able to avail of SLIP to procure teaching learning mate-rials for their schools. Around 74% of teachers have re-ported changing their practices by using TLM in their classroom teaching practices. A total of 158,944 chil-dren are being benefitted in READ-supported schools throughout the country. SLIP can make a significant contribution to getting early grade materials in the classroom, enabling as well as encouraging more chil-dren to become strong readers.

i Quality Primary Education.docx | UNICEF Bangladesh, 09/2009