EDUCATION PROGRAMS IN BANGLADESH

EYE

Education for Youth Empowerment

PROGRAM OVERVIEW
Save the Childrens Education for Youth Empowerment
(EYE) program aims to transform the life outcomes of
working children and vulnerable youth in urban and rural
Bangladesh. EYE is a comprehensive education model for
getting working children and vulnerable youth into education or decent employment, enabling them to influence
decisions that affect their lives and advocate for their rights.
Save the Childrens EYE program consists of nine projects
that each provide basic education, vocational training, and
life skills education to young people in distinct life circumstances across the country.

BACKGROUND

economically, socially and politically empowered to build

better futures.
Objectives
1. Child laborers get out of hazardous work and into basic
education relevant to their present and future life situation.

2. Youth laborers are economically empowered through

access to technical vocational skill development, apprenticeship, and entrepreneurship training leading to
decent work.

Since the late 1980s, Bangladesh has been experiencing

3. Children and youth laborers are equipped and prorapid population growth. This growth, combined with untected in their work places and society and are empowplanned urbanization, has led to unregulated industrializaered as active citizens taking part in decisions that aftion and a weak rural economy with limited, physical, ecofect their lives.
nomic, and social resources. Too many struggling families
caught in this phenomena must send their children to work
EYE PROGRAM COMPONENTS
to help meet daily needs.
In Bangladesh, more than half of all children drop out of
primary school before completing Grade 5, and more than
7.4 million are economically active. At least 93% of these
are employed in the informal sector, and nearly 1.3 million
work in hazardous conditions. Without basic education and
little access to quality vocational training, these young people can easily become caught in a trap of poverty. Moreover, more than 60 percent of young people who drop out
of school are currently unemployed.
Save the Childrens EYE projects seek to give out-ofschool children a second chance at education and decent
employment through access to non-formal education
(NFE), life skills training, and quality vocational training.

GOAL & OBJECTIVES

Goal
That child and youth laborers in rural and urban areas are

Accelerated Basic Education

Since poor parents of child laborers are often unwilling or
unable to support their childrens long-term education,
EYE has developed a basic education course that condenses the government curriculum for Grades 1-8 into
three or four years. Students in EYEs accelerated basic
education classes complete each grade in six months, appropriate for working children, since they are usually more
mature than the children for which the material was originally intended.
Technical & Vocational Education & Training (TVET)
Children and young people who have completed Grade 5
or its equivalent may enroll in a 6-12 month vocational
skills training course. Training courses provide technical
skills for specific trades such as electronics, industrial sewing and apparel, and screen-printing. Each training course is
operated by an industry professional with a child-friendly,
engaging, hands-on approach.

Apprenticeships & Entrepreneurship Trainings

Three months of the year-long EYE vocational training
course consists of an apprenticeship within the industry,
through which children gain practical skills and the valuable
experience they need to become competitive employees.
Apprenticeship managers must provide uniforms, keep a
logbook of specific learning targets, and dedicate a trained
supervisor for the trainees. In addition, young people who
prefer to launch their own businesses are provided entrepreneurship training. After completion of either an apprenticeship or an entrepreneurship training course, graduated
youth are placed in decent jobs through self or wage employment.

Employers in the informal sector increase their competitive advantage by gaining access to skilled labor
through apprenticeships and job placements.

Trainees receive high-quality market relevant vocational training and job experience through apprenticeships, after which more than 70% are able to secure
decent jobs in the formal private sector.

Corporations add value to their brands by ensuring

that suppliers comply with international child rights
standards and conventions.

Joint Program Development and Monitoring

Each EYE project has been developed and monitored
jointly by all stakeholders, including Save the Children, emChild and Youth Clubs
Child clubs are safe spaces where working children and vul- ployers, working children, families, local NGOS, and the
government, to ensure the program is mutually beneficial to
nerable youth find social support while learning soft employability skills and life skills. Many working children have all and is sustainable outside of project intervention.
not belonged to a group of peers since leaving school,
which can lead to feelings of isolation and hopelessness.
EYE PROJECTS BY TARGET
Child clubs give them an encouraging environment and
practical support as they seek better futures together. Child GROUP
club trainings including basic interviewing skills, resume
writing, and communication skills, as well as important life SUSTAIN - Slum Children
Most children living in slums must work to contribute to
skills, such as problem solving and overcoming violence,
household incomes. For those who do go to school, classexploitation and discrimination. Finally, they learn about
their rights as children and as employees and how to effec- rooms are over-crowded and under-equipped. The EUfunded SUSTAIN project aims to increase access to quality
tively ensure that those rights are fulfilled.
basic education in a safe learning environment for 38,988
children in the urban slums of Dhaka and Chittagong, and
Private Sector Engagement
Since child laborers are intrinsically linked to corporations, mainstream students into the mainstream education or vocational training. The project provides education on schedCorporate Social Responsibility (CSR) provides a frameules that work for most working children and emphasizes
work through which EYE can engage meaningfully with
the corporate sector. In the context of EYE, CSR is an effi- advocacy with families and employers to allow children
cient tool to persuade corporations to participate and con- time for school.
tribute to the child rights agenda by combating the most
Child Domestic Workers
harmful child labor practices. By supporting vocational
It is estimated that over 421,000 children are employed as
training and learning about existing labor laws, employers
child domestic workers (CDWs) in Bangladesh. Most
and corporations move away from harmful child labor to
CDWs are deprived of education, training, and recreation,
providing safe and decent work.
and are at high risk of exploitation and abuse. With funding
BASIC PROGRAM INFORMATION
from Comic Relief, Save the Children currently serves
Program Dates January 2011 to December 2013
20,000 CDWs with comprehensive education including
non-formal basic education, vocational skill training, and
Total Direct Beneficiaries 180,000 children per year
life skills training through 150 child clubs or learning cenTotal Budget $14.52 million USD
ters and 16 drop-in centers. Learning centers offer nonformal education close to childrens place of work, and
Bilateral Donors Comic Relief, DANIDA, European Undrop-in centers provide training, support, and rest and recion, Save the Children Finland, Save the Children Gerreation for CDWs. The project also works directly with
many
employers to advocate for observation of child rights and
Private Donors Bestseller, Varner Group, IKEA Foundabetter working conditions. The project reaches full-time
tion, Princess Group, S.Oliver
CDWs who live 24 hours with their employers, part time

CDWs living with parents or relatives, as well as

children at risk of becoming CDWs.
CSR and Child Labor
EYEs EU-funded CSR and Child Labor project
works to integrate CSR down the supply chain
by building partnerships between private formal
sector companies, informal sector suppliers, and
vocational training institutions to provide working children with safe working conditions, high
quality vocational training, and opportunities for
a better future. For example, formal sector employers can support vocational trainings or host
apprenticeships and job placements, while building a workforce that suits their needs. In the informal sector, program staff, community volunteers, and child club members advocate for employers to improve working conditions and release child
laborers from hazardous conditions into education. At the
national level, a Multi Stakeholder CSR Forum is being developed to advocate for a national CSR policy for children.

Child and youth clubs provide practical soft skill trainings and social support to working children.
Photo/Jeff Holt

working hours or locations, the project has established

community-based learning centers near places where they
tend to work, sleep, and gather. These centers provide three
years of non-formal education and life skills training, after
Work 2 Learn - Garment Industry
which children are eligible for six months of vocational
Bangladeshs economy relies heavily on textile and readytraining and job placement services. The projects key advomade garment exports, but fierce international competition
cacy initiative is to promote workplace codes of conduct
means increased quality standards, along with increased
among local governments and companies.
demand for skilled workers. The Work 2 Learn project,
funded by S.Oliver, Dressman, and Bestseller, provides
Working Children with Disabilities
education and technical training to children, while advocat- The IKEA-funded Empowerment of Children with Dising for improved working conditions and compliance with abilities in Bangladesh project targets the needs of working
international child labor laws. Children may continue paid, children with disabilities who are engaged in hazardous lasupervised apprenticeships in safe jobs that comply with
bour due to limited educational and vocational opportuniinternational labor standards until they turn 18.
ties and harmful social perceptions. To work towards this
Rural Children and Youth
Most rural Bangladeshis earn their living from agriculture.
However, low crop prices and high production costs force
rural farming families to seek cheap labor options; children
of farming families must often help. Therefore, in rural areas, Danida-funded EYE projects focus on children and
youth involved in the agriculture sector. Through detailed
market surveys, the project identifies potential alternative
livelihood options for rural youth and provides technical
training services at various points along the supply chain.
Trades promoted include technology-based agriculture, art,
fashion design, and tourism. Community mobilization and
collective action also play a large role in the project.
Street Based Working Children
The Danida-funded Social and Economic Empowerment
for Street-based Working Children project serves children
in Dhaka city involved in various forms of street-based labor. Because most of these children do not have fixed

group, the project provides comprehensive services

through socio-economic empowerment, inclusive education, and advocacy and policy change. As a result of project
interventions to date, more than 300 children with disabilities have enrolled in formal schooling and study in safe,
protective and inclusive school environments, and 800 children and their families have acquired vocational skills and
safe income generation knowledge to improve their socioeconomic situation.
Sea-Beach Working Children
More than 500 children are currently employed in Bangladeshs beach resort area of Coxs Bazar. Situated in an impoverished area with the lowest literacy rates in Bangladesh,
the beach offers attractive income earning prospects for
poor families. Children work making and selling food and
souvenirs, as well as collecting shrimp to sell to retailers.
The EYE project, with funding from Danida, operates two
drop-in centers where 200 children receive education and

vocational training, as well as a safe place for rest and rec- form for technical learning, sharing, and external advocacy.
reation. A large component of the project is raising awareness among families of working children about the inherent
ADVOCACY
hazards of beach-based work, and encouraging them to
TWC partners leverage grass roots evidence to encourage
enroll their children in school.
government, corporations, and other institutions to improve working childrens lives. Results of advocacy efforts
Child-Sensitive Social Protection
Households in Bangladesh who struggle with poverty often to date include a partnership with the Ministry of Labor
resort to coping mechanisms that deprive children of ade- and Employment to draft the 2010 National Child Labor
Elimination Policy (NCLEP), and a Joint Child Labor
quate education, nutrition, health, and safety, but wellWorking Group to develop the National Plan of Action on
designed social protection measures have proven to improve childrens lives and reduce child labor. Therefore, the NCLEP. EYE also advocates for private corporations to
promote apprenticeships and age-appropriate decent jobs
Finida-funded Child Sensitive Social Protection project
for young workers through CSR.
aims to improve access to social protection programs for
poor households with vulnerable children. In addition to
the standard EYE program interventions, we work with
parents, caregivers, community members, and service providers to increase child sensitivity in existing program delivery, and to motivate policy makers to provide more childtargeted programs. Communities work together to ensure
that services are delivered to households who need them
most, and that children are protected and nurtured within
communities.

PARTNERSHIP
The success of the EYE program is due in large part to its
partnerships with a wide range of stakeholders: Local
NGOs, childrens clubs and networks, media, academic
institutions, communities, private sector actors, government
bodies, and others. A key component of the programs
partnerships is to build the capacity of 15 local NGOs on
technical aspects of EYE, as well as organizational management and administration. Together, these NGOs form the
Together with Working Children (TWC) network, a plat-

REACH
The EYE program currently reaches over 180,000 children
in 3 city corporations and 17 districts through
partnerships
with NGOs,
corporations,
civil society
networks, and
government
ministries.

CONTACT
Save the Children in Bangladesh
Shahida Begum, Program DirectorEYE
House CWN (A) 35, Road # 43,
Gulshan-2, Dhaka-1212
t: +88 (0) 2 88 28 081
e: shahida.begum@savethechildren.org