The international day of girl child was observed worldwide as in Bangladesh on Friday with a focus on “Innovating for girls’ education” A significant number of girls are compelled to leave schools everyday due to harassment they face on the way to schools.A substantial number of girls are trapped in many ways everyday and add to prostitutions across the country.
Time has come to do differently so that women get empowered in our society quickly and as a whole for the nation.
Not very long ago, there were a very few women teachers in non-government secondary schools in Bangladesh and many schools have no women teachers even in the urban areas.
Math, science (physical science; physics, chemistry) and English teachers are hardly found in the secondary schools particularly in remote areas and the scenario has not improved yet.
PROMOTE, an EC funded project lasted 2005 that promoted a huge rural women (Math, Science and English background) through teaching in rural schools and provided B. Ed degree in government Teachers Training Colleges (TTCs) under fellowship scheme.
Under PROMOTE project, a graduate women taught in rural secondary schools for one year in various capacities like substitute or additional teacher then she sent to her preferred government TTCs to achieve B.Ed degree. Then PROMOTE Fellows were capable enough for
teaching and got regular jobs in the rural secondary schools. Around three thousand PROMOTE Fellows got jobs in rural secondary schools within a very short span of time and getting job easier for them as the government issued a circular of thirty percent quota for women in
non-government secondary schools with the help from PROMOTE as there were no directives to recruit women as teacher earlier.
Not only that, upazila secondary education officer was included in the teacher recruitment committees suggested by PROMOTE which excels PROMOTE Fellows getting jobs in the secondary schools. PROMOTE built around two hundred Women Teachers Hostels in the upazila
campus across the country considering their safety and security.
Women teachers are more suitable for primary and secondary students and teaching positions are also warmly accepted by the society compare to other jobs for the women but the incumbent government has not taken any initiative to promote women in teaching rather has relaxed women teachers’ quota which has moved deadly against the women empowerment
also.
We urge the government to work stopping all the prostitutions across the country without any delay so that no innocent girl can be exploited any more in these prostitutions and introduce PROMOTE II as it was an appropriate for the women of Bangladesh.
Mawduda Hasnin
Raninagar
Rajshahi
Tofazzel Hossain mawduda@gmail.com
