WELCOME
Journey of the Government of
Bangladesh to Promote Inclusive
Education in Primary Education
Md. Anwarul Haque, Director, Policy & Operation
Ms. Shahnaj Parvin, Deputy Director, AIEC
Md. Raza Mia, Asst. Director, AIEC
Ms. Shamsun Nahar, Research Officer, AIEC
Md. Muzibor Rahman, Education Officer, AIEC
Directorate of Primary Education
Ministry of Primary and Mass Education
Background
Inclusive education has gained recognition as a process to
improve and reform education systems to ensure access,
participation and achievement of all learners.
Inclusive Education addresses individual’s needs.
Inclusive education has been implemented in different parts of
the world to enhance the quality of education.
National & International Commitment
Constitutional Obligations
Signatory to the Declaration on EFA (1990)
Dakar Framework
Signatory to the Declaration of E 9 countries
Millennium Development Goals (MDG)
National Plan of Action 2000 – 2015
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
National Education Policy 2010
National Child Policy 2011
Goal
The Third Primary Education Programme (PEDP-III) has
been designed to support the National Education Policy of
2010 to provide quality primary education with equal
opportunities for all children.
The Scope of PEDP III is the whole primary education
sector and gradual inclusion of one year pre-primary.
PEDP 3’s Goal is to provide:
“quality education for all our children”.
Objectives
The Objectives of PEDP-III is to establish
“an efficient, inclusive and equitable primary
education system delivering effective and relevant
child-friendly learning to all Bangladesh’s children
from pre-primary to Grade V.
Our Target
Education
for ALL
Remedial
Education
No
Discrimination
Address
Diversities
Inclusive
School
Child-friendly
Pedagogy
Holistic
Development
Right-based
Flexibility
Rights of the Persons with Disabilities

All international policies and declarations have
provided the impetus for national initiatives for IE
practice in Bangladesh.

The Government of Bangladesh has enacted :
the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Protection
Act 2013 (Act No.:39)……

Trust Act for the Protection of the Rights of the
Persons with Neuro-Developmental Disabilities2013.
Major Initiatives
Eliminate gender discrimination.
Ensure access for all children into the primary
schools of Bangladesh.
Reduce drop out of the students and their
retention in the schools.
Ensure primary school cycle completion.
Major Initiatives
Harmonized strategy and action plan under
PEDP-III to address all excluded children
within “Mainstreaming Gender and IE
Action Plan” (Tribal, vulnerable, special
needs children along with gender issues).
Mainstreaming Gender & IE Action Plan
Gender
Special
Needs
Tribal
Vulnerable
Number of Disabled/Special needs children
in Primary Schools
(GPS, RNGPS, NRNGPS, EBTEDAYEE MADRASA & COMMUNITY SCHOOLS)
Source: APSC ( Annual Primary School Census) 2013 (Published in July 2014)
Type of Disabilities
Girls
Boys
Total
Physical Disability
16749
21132
37881
Low Vision
6699
8041
14740
Hearing Disability
3128
3407
6535
Speech Disability
10575
13806
24381
Intellectual Disability
10548
12214
22762
Autism
1090
1197
2287
Others
1848
2010
3858
Grand Total
50637
61807
112444
Major Initiatives
 To
raise social awareness, there is a
communication strategy in PEDP-III in which
social mobilization program have been
launched through different activities for
access and participation of all children in
primary education.
 For capacity building & skill enhancement
of Teachers & Officials different training
programs have been conducted on IE.
Major Initiatives

Allocation of Block Grants for assistive devices for student
with disabilities. 50,000/- taka has been allocated for each
Upazila

Mother Language Education (MLE) has been
addressed by the government. Initiative has been taken
to translate & adapted texts in five languages for ethnic
minority people, such as, Chakma, Marma, Garo,
Tripura, & Sadri.
Major Initiatives

Accessible infrastructure for students with disabilities,
such as, ramps have been established all schools.
 Separate toilet for both boys & girls in schools
 Flexible time in examination for students with
disabilities.
Additional classrooms have been constructed to reduce
teacher student ratio.
In recruitment of Primary school gender parity is
established (60% posts are filled up by female teachers).
1% quota is reserved in service for persons with
disabilities.
Some Remarkable Initiatives by NGOs
&Other Organization with DPE
CDD and Sight Savers arranged special training on Braille &
Sign Language with the support of DPE (Participants include
Teachers, HT, TEO, PTI Instructor, URC Instructor, etc.)
Plan Bangladesh has launched a pilot programme and
arranged ToT program on IE & supported some of the schools
to be inclusive.
CAMPE, Save the Children and other NGOs are also working a
lot to promote smooth education for special needs children.
ACIE is working with DPE, NAPE, PTIs and IER to promote IE
in teacher education
As UN Organization UNICEF is supporting a lot for IE.
Challenges for Implementing IE
Database of children with disabilities.
Adequate number of trained teachers.
Big size classrooms (Teacher-student ratio).
Appropriate teaching-learning curriculum and materials
for Inclusive Education practices.
Challenges for Implementing IE
Resources to support Special Education Needs (SEN).
Accessible vehicle for special needs children.
User-friendly infrastructure.
Barrier free school environment.
Challenges for Implementing IE
Mass awareness about the rights to equal educational
opportunities of all children
An education divide persists in primary cycle completion
rates and learning outcomes between geographical
locations (urban, urban slum, rural, and remote areas).
Coordination & collaboration among different agencies of
the Government and Non-Government Organizations.
Way Forward
To enhance better coordination and collaboration among
different stakeholders.
To establish resource centers to support IE.
Introducing a flexible curriculum and evaluation system
meeting the needs of all the learners.
Way Forward
Employ more trained teachers on IE.
Monitoring and assessment tools needs to be developed
for step forward of IE.
More budget allocation needed.
THANK YOU