Table 4.
1977 | Bangladesh Association for Community Education (BACE) set up by Dr. Ellen Sattar (education specialist) and Dr. Mohammed Abdus Satter (former Secretary for Population Control and Family Planning in the Ministry of Health and Population Control, GoB). The stipend programme for girls and boys from poor families at the primary level established |
1982 | First form of the Female Secondary Stipend Programme piloted in Shahrasti upazila and Kaharole upazila by BACE—supported by USAID and the Asia Foundation |
1990 | Primary education becomes compulsory and free |
1990 | Free tuition introduced for girls in class VI-VIII |
1992 | NORAD takes over funding the FSP—increased coverage to 7 upazilas |
1994 | Nation-wide FSP launched, funded by NORAD, the World Bank and GoB, ADB, and GoB for students in class VI and IX |
30 metropolitan upazilas excluded in Khulna, Dhaka, Chittagong, and Rajshahi because they have better facilities | |
270 upazilas covered by GoB: FSSP | |
118 upazilas covered by World Bank and GoB: FSSAP | |
53 upazilas covered by ADB: SEDIP/SESIP | |
1996 | The stipend programme extended to girls in class VII and VIII |
1997 | NORAD takes on another 12 upazilas: coverage 282 upazilas |
2000 | Enrollment of girls reported at over 50% |
2000 | Programme received a World Bank gold medal for excellence |
2004 | Conference in Shanghai co-hosted by the Chinese Government at the World Bank's ‘Reducing poverty, sustaining growth’—FSP was held up as an example of a successful scale-up of an intervention |
2004 | All programmes renewed for a five-year period |
Adapted from Raynor, 2004 (32); ADB=Asian Development Bank; FSP=Female Secondary Stipend Project; FSSAP=Female Secondary School Assistance Project; GoB=Government of Bangladesh; NORAD=Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation; SEDIP=Secondary Education Development and Improvement Project; SESIP=Secondary Education Sector Improvement Program; USAID=United States Agency for International Development