My two weeks have passed very fast, but I did accomplish my goals for the visit. I have visited 48 DoPeace Learning Centers in Dhaka, Chittagong, Saidpur, and Rangpur, and they have a total of more than 10,000 enrollments. I have met with more than 100 teachers and staff members, and more than 1500 students.
My goal was to determine the progress of the initiatives to dramatically improve the quality of education, and I can report that with the exception of a few LCs, we were able to do that. However, we have come to the conclusion that preschool students have the capability to learn even more.
Our preschool graduates are better prepared than the average student enrolled in class one, even when we consider the private schools outside of the slums. This was determined by the knowledgeable individuals involved in our enterprise. As a result, the DoPeace “brand” is gaining the recognition as high quality schools.
All our students readily get admission in class one in the nearby primary schools. We also see new students who flock to our schools for admission as much as two months in advance. We have seen students ditching low quality schools run by some NGOs who lure them by paying monthly stipend, in favour of DoPeace schools, which do not provide anything additional other than the education.
Our coaching classes have produced good results as the students get better standing in the class year after year.
It was pointed out that our one Learning Center has intake of 120 students per year, which is pretty much equal to that of a normal size primary school. This is remarkable, particularly as it is very low cost with high quality of education.
This feat was accomplished in only five years of operation with a dedicated set of teachers who excel in what they do. I am indebted to our teachers who work very hard on a daily basis to achieve this level of success. Hats off to them, as well as the supervisors and other staff of our NGOs!
#EducateChildrenInSlums #EducationInSlums #DoPeace.org
Students at a DCPUK DoPeace Learning Center in Rangpur, Bangladesh
