A Situation Analysis Report

on

Gender (MDG 3)
Bangladesh
A Baseline for Needs Assessment and Costing

General Economics Division, Planning Commission,

Government of the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh & UNDP Bangladesh

A Situation Analysis Report

on

Gender (MDG 3)
Bangladesh

A Baseline for Needs Assessment and Costing

General Economics Division, Planning Commission,

Government of the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh & UNDP Bangladesh

A Situation Analysis Report on

Gender (MDG 3) Bangladesh A Baseline for Needs Assessment and Costing

Conducted by

General Economics Division, Planning Commission, Government of the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh & UNDP Bangladesh

This report is the situational assessment of the MDG 3 on Gender and has been prepared by Prof. Dr. Sadeka Halim, as as Social Development Analyst (Gender) for the Project Support to Monitoring PRS and MDGs in Bangladesh The inferences from the study were utilized for the MDG Needs Assessment and Costing for Bangladesh through the Thematic Working Group (TWG) on Gender. The MDG Needs Assessment and Costing (2009-2015) for Bangladesh contains the detailed situation analysis, the challenges, proposed interventions and costs for implementing the interventions to achieve the MDGs in Bangladesh.

Disclaimer
The analysis, findings & recommendations of this situation analysis report on the MDG 3 (Gender) do not necessarily reflect the views of General Economics Division, Planning Commission and United Nations Development Porgramme, Bangladesh, rather with which the duly author is concerned.

INTRODUCTION

Women in Bangladesh are becoming increasingly visible in economic spheres. Practically in all spheres of the development women are contributing to the growth of economy. Womens increasing involvement in both agricultural work and in non farm activities has provided with increased opportunities for wage work and certain economic independence. Despite the large-scale involvement of women in economic activities, women are ignored socially, politically, deprived legally, exploited economically. It is against this context this inception report presents girls and womens socioeconomic and political status in Bangldesh. 1. Achieving independence in 1972, Bangladesh home to around 150 million people. In February 2005, Bangladesh presented its first MDG Progress Report which was prepared jointly by the Government and the UN Country Team in Bangladesh in consultation with other stakeholders. This report attempts to provide situational analysis of MDG 3 targets and examines the indicators performance in order to achieve the desired gender parity by 2015. 2. Bangladesh has made considerable progress in terms of reducing the discrimination between men and women. Bangladesh has enhanced number of laws at the national level to protect equality of rights and opportunities. The Constitution of Bangladesh grants equal rights to women and men in all spheres of public life (Articles 27, 28(1) 28(2), 28(3), 28(4), 29(1), 29(2) and 29(3) and has been supplemented by number of Acts and Ordinances to safeguard womens equal rights such the Dowry Prohibition Act of 1980, the Child Marriage Restraint Act (amended in 1984) and the Family Court Ordinance of 1985. At the international level, Bangladesh has ratified the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against women (CEDAW) agreeing to the optional Protocol in 2000. However, reservations on articles 2 and 16 pertaining to marriage, divorce and inheritance remain in force. 3. The Ministry of Womens and Children affairs (MWCA) established in 1978 has the mandate for protecting womens interest and further the rights of children and working in 64 districts of the country. The National Policy for the Advancement of Women was adopted in 1997 and amended (2004,2008) includes commitments to eliminate discrimination against women in all spheres. A National Action Plan (NAP) for implementing the policy as well as meeting commitments under the Beijing Platform for Action (PfA) was approved in 1998. Following the PFA Gender Focal points were appointed in all central government ministries and committees as early as 1990. Bangladesh Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) finalized in October 2005 and PRSP 2 in 2008 also provides comprehensive gender analysis with policy guidelines.

Millennium Development Goal 3 Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women Target 4 Eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education preferably by 2005 and to all levels of education no later than 2015 Indicators 9. 10. 11. 12. Ratio of girls to boys in primary, secondary and tertiary education Ratio of literate females to males of 15-24 year olds Share of women in wage employment in the non-agricultural sector Proportion of seats held by women in national parliament

2.

METHODOLOGY

The preparation of this report is an outcome of a consultative process that included MWCA, GED, UNDP and other relevant organizations like BBS and BANBEIS. The reporting process also involved Gender Thematic Working Group (TWG). During the preparation of the report, there was considerable focus on reaching a consensus regarding not only the data to be used to regularly monitor the progress of the MDGs but on the identification of baseline or benchmark data against which progress could be measured over the long terms. At the outset, it is worthwhile to provide some methodological notes about the databases used in this study. The salient methodological issues are as follows: 1. Primary enrollment: Data obtained relate to the period between 1995 and 2005. Trends have been shown with a 5 year gap, namely for 1990, 1995, 2000, and 2005. The annual growth rate shown five year blocks, namely 1990-95, 1995-2000 and 2000+05. Davison-wise data, due to non-availability, have been shown for the period since 2000. The annual growth rate and projection of growth have been estimated using standard formula (shown in Box). Box: Population growth rate formula Pt= Poert Or r= log (Pt/ Po)/t Where Pt= Current year population Po= Base year population t= Time interval r = Growth rate

2. Secondary enrollment: Data on secondary enrollment including junior secondary, higher secondary and intermediate college. Such data were available for the period between 1991 and 2005. However, division-wise and urban/rural location-wise such data were available for the period between 1995 and 2005. The formula used for the estimation of annual growth rate as well as to project future has been same as that shown in the box.

3. Tertiary enrollment: Data on tertiary enrollment were found for the period between 1997 and 2006, however, no such data were found by male-female for 2000, 2004, and 2006. The formula used for the estimation of annual growth rate and projected future has been the same as shown in the box.

4. Adult literacy (15-24 years): Data on adult literacy has been found for the time between 1991 and 2006 except for 1993, 1996, 1997, and 2001, with non-availability of urban-rural for 1991-1994. The division-wise adult literacy rate was found for 2006.

5. Share of women in wage employment in non-agricultural sector: Time series data on this were not available. Data on this indicator were available for the FY 1991-92, 1995-96, 19992000, 2002-03, and 2005-06.

6. Proportion of seats held by women in National Parliament: Data on this indicator were available for 1991, 1996, and 2001. This data show total number of seats held by women which include both seats through election and through selection (proportional allocation of 30 reserved seats).

3.

PRIMARY EDUCATION

The target was set for 2005 to achieve gender parity in primary enrollment and it has been achieved. During the last 15 years, the primary school enrollment has increased 1.4 times from 11.9 million in 1990 to 16.2 million in 2005. Total primary education enrollment was 11.9 million in 1990 with 6.6 million boys and 5.4 million girls and it has reached 16.2 million in 2005, of whom half of the enrollment was girls. The gender parity of primary enrollment has been attained in 2005. Table: Primary education enrollment, 1990-2005 Year 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 Total 11939949 12635419 13017270 14067332 15180680 17280416 17580416 18031673 18360642 17261713 17667985 17659220 17561828 18431320 17953300 16225658 Boys 6574633 6910092 7048545 7525862 8048117 9090748 9219358 9364899 9576942 8705001 9032698 8989795 8841648 9358757 9046433 8091221 Girls 5365316 5,725,327 5,968,725 6,541,470 7,132,563 8,189,668 8,361,058 8,666,774 8,783,700 8,556,712 8,635,287 8,669,425 8,720,180 9,072,563 8,906,867 8,134,437 % of students Boys 55.06 54.69 54.15 53.50 53.02 52.61 52.44 51.94 52.16 50.43 51.12 50.91 50.35 50.78 50.39 49.87

Girls 44.94 45.31 45.85 46.50 46.98 47.39 47.56 48.06 47.84 49.57 48.88 49.09 49.65 49.22 49.61 50.13

Source: Ministry of primary and mass education

Figure 1: Trends in primary education enrollment, 1990-2005

Girls enrollment in primary education in 1990 was 45 percent and reached at 47 percent in 1995. In subsequent the trend shows that in five years a gradual increase in the girls enrollment whch is 49 percent in 2000 and gender parity has been achieved in 2005. The achievement is largely the result of The First Primary Education Programme (PEDP-I) implemented in 1990 and the Second Primary Education Development Programme (PEDP II) between 2004 and 2009 through several projects.

Figure 2: Annual growth rate of primary enrollment (1990-2005)

The overall annual growth rate of primary school enrollment between 1990s and 2000 shows relatively high rate for girls as compared to that of boys, 8.46 percent vs 6.48 percent. This high positive growth rate of primary enrollment with higher for girls than that for the boys is most likely attributable to the vigorous government emphasis on primary education for the girls aiming at reaching gender parity in primary education. On the other hand a negative growth rate has occurred between 2000 and 2005 with -1.2 percent for girls and -2.2 percent for boys. This declining growth rate in enrollment after reaching gender parity is attributable to the declining total fertility rate (TFR) and crude birth rate (CBR) which has changed the population pyramid of Bangladesh with the relatively less addition of new born babies every year. Table 2: Projected Primary enrollment 2006, 2007(Base year 1995) Year 2006 2007 Boys 7997523 7904910 Girls 8128934 8123436 Total 16123790 16022561 % of students Boys Girls 49.6 50.4 49.3 50.7

The base adoption of year for the projected primary enrollment is 1995. Projection of primary enrollment shows 50.4 percent and 50.7 percent girls in 2006 and 2007 respectively. Bangladesh nationally has already reached gender parity in primary enrollment by 2005. Over the period consistently compared to boys girls growth rate has improved because of particular emphasis on girls education. However, the division-wise boys-girls trend in primary enrollment shows a disturbing scenario (see Figure 3-8), with Barisal division has yet to reach the gender parity. This disturbance further multiplies with the fact that the Barisal division possesses the highest literacy rate out of the six divisions in Bangladesh. The division-wise annual growth rate of primary enrollment has been estimated for three different time periods, namely for 2002-03, 2003-07, and 2000-07. Interestingly, for 2000-03 period the annual growth rate of primary enrollment in all divisions has exceeded 22 percent with highest at about 26 percent in Barisal and lowest at 22 percent in Chittagong. However, in the next period, i.e; between 2003 and 2007, all divisions except Barisal have shown a negative annual growth rate with highest negative growth rate of 48 percent in Rajshahi. More interesting is the fact that the annual growth rate for a larger period between 2000 and 2007 shows positive rate for Barisal (17.2%) and Khulna (7.9%), but negative for Rajshahi (17.9%), Chittagong (-11%) and other divisions.

Table 3: Division-wise annual growth rate of primary enrollment Year Growth rate Rajshahi 23.58 -47.64 Sylhet 23.12 -17.36

Barisal Chittagong Dhaka Khulna 2000-2003 25.69 22.15 24.07 22.97 2003-2007 11.11 -35.08 -18.23 -2.29 Figure 3: Trend in primary enrollment between 2000 and 2007, Barisal

Figure 4: Trend in primary enrollment between 2000 and 2007, Chittagong

Figure 5: Trend in primary enrollment between 2000 and 2007, Dhaka

Figure 6: Trend in primary enrollment between 2000 and 2007, Khulna

Figure 7: Trend in primary enrollment between 2000 and 2007, Rajshahi

Figure 8: Trend in primary enrollment between 2000 and 2007, Sylhet

Figure 9: Annual growth rate in Primary Enrollment by division

Therefore, more nationally ongoing interventions are needed to be implemented in those divisions which are experiencing negative growth rate to reduce the regional disparities. 4. SECONDARY EDUCATION 1

The target to achieve gender parity in secondary enrollment was set for 2005; however reached desired goal by 1999. During the last 15 years, the secondary school enrollment (including junior, higher secondary and intermediate college combinedly) has increased 2.8 times from 2.9 million in 1991 to 8.2 million in 2005 (Table 4). During this 15 years period, the male enrollment has increased 2.1 times but girl as high as 4.2 times. This increase in girls enrollment during the past 15 years has been a significant phenomenon in Bangladesh. Table 4: Education enrollment in Secondary Level (Junior+ Higher Secondary + Intermediate College) 1990-2005 Total 2943473 NA 3371087 4692388 6026334 6378855 7007851 7671462 8189789 8678968 8838757 9132513 9135634 8271036 8232329 Male 1938526 NA 1861595 2544184 3303787 3501883 3773600 3870192 4045851 4221472 4254407 4372261 4400994 4019461 4036803 Female 1004947 NA 1509492 2148204 2722547 2876972 3234251 3801270 4143938 4457496 4584350 4760252 4734640 4251575 4195526 In percentage Male 66 NA 55 54 55 54 54 51 49 48 48 48 49 49 49

Year 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
1

Female 34 NA 45 46 45 46 46 49 51 52 52 52 51 51 51

The secondary enrollment has been analysed including intermediate college. The urban rural variation has been analysed excluding intermediate college because the BANBEIS survey on urban rural did not include intermediate college.

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In 1991, the total secondary education enrollment was 2.9 million with 1.9 million male and 1 million girls. This enrollment reached to 8.2 million in 2005 with 4 million male and 4.2 million female. The significant increase in enrollment and higher completion rates at the primary level since 1980s, led to higher enrollments at the secondary level in 1990s. The gender parity has been attained in 1999 due to mainly to Female Secondary School Assistance Program (FSSAP) launched in late 1980s. Figure 10: Enrollment (in percentage) in Secondary Level (Junior+ Higher Secondary + Intermediate College) by sex, 1991-2005

The secondary education system in Bangladesh consists of two levels secondary education (grades 6-10 of which 6-8 is junior secondary) and higher secondary education (grades 11-12). Between 1991 and 2000, the secondary education enrollment for female students depicts sharp increase (34% in 1991, 45% in 1995) whereas the enrollment of boy students substantially decreased (from 66% in 1991 to 55% in 1995). In 2000, girls enrollment surpasses than boys (51% for girls and 49% for boys). The similar pattern of enrollment for both sexes could be seen in 2005. All these impressive enrollment of girls in secondary school is the consequence of a government initiative the Female Secondary School Assistance Program (FSSAP) launched in late 1980s and nationally covered in early 1990s. Under the FSS, the government provides a cash incentive or stipend to secondary school girls to cover a large portion of direct school expenses incurred by girls in grades 6-10. The FSS programme also provides tuition assistance, through this part of the financial assistance is paid to the School where the girl is enrolled, rather than to the girls directly. The coverage of other costs rises with grade because extra incentive is needed in the upper grades to reduce high dropout rates. The program with twin objectives seems to be successful-increasing the number of girl students entering secondary school as well as keeping them in school until graduation. Thus this type of stipend programme which is pioneer in South Asia need to be continued for increasing secondary enrollments and in addressing narrowing gender disparities at the secondary level. Table 5: Annual growth rate of secondary (Junior+ Higher Secondary + Intermediate College) Education Enrollment by sex Growth rate Male 13.3 4.9 -0.9

Year 1991-1995 1995-2000 2000-2005

Female 24.9 9.9 -1.2

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Figure 11: Annual growth rate of secondary (Junior+ Higher Secondary + Intermediate College) Education Enrollment by sex, 1991-2005.

Although, there is declining trend of growth rate for the both sex is experienced during 2000-2005, the trend for girl students is more discouraging than that for the boys. During 1991-1995, it was 13 and 25 percent for boys and girl students respectively. For the both sex, it has declined by almost three times in 1995-2000. Table 6: Projected secondary enrollment 2006, 2007(Base year 2000) Year 2006 2007 Boys 4000850 3965217 Girls 4145009 4095101 Total 8145798 8060177 % of students Boys Girls 49.12 50.88 49.20 50.80

The base year of projected secondary enrollment is 2000. The projected enrollment status of girls student is near about 51 percent for both 2006 and 2007. Table 7: Division wise Secondary education (Junior+High+Intermediate College) enrollment In percentage Year 1995 1999 2005 Barisal 7.78 7.1 7.04 Chittagong 20.13 20.51 19.49 Dhaka 30.37 28.63 28.28 Khulna 12.87 13.11 13.94 Rajshahi 24.53 27.11 26.73 Sylhet 4.28 3.54 4.53

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Figure 12: Percentage of division wise Secondary education (Junior+High+Intermediate College) enrollment.

The changing scenario of divisionwise secondary education enrollment is shown in Table 7. During 1995 to 2005 the relative share of secondary enrollment has increased in Rajshahi, Khulna and Sylhet division, but it has decreased in Dhaka, Chittagong and Barisal divisions. A more vivid picture of this changing situation is depicted in Figure 12 (see Annex Table 1). Table 8: Annual growth rate of division wise secondary education (Junior+High+Intermediate College) enrollment. Year 1995-1999 1999-2005 Growth rate Barisal 10.28 -3.11 Chittagong 13.19 -3.82 Dhaka 11.24 -3.17 Khulna 13.19 -1.94 Rajshahi 15.22 -3.19 secondary Sylhet 7.94 1.18 education

Figure 13: Annual growth rate of Division wise (Junior+High+Intermediate College) enrollment.

The division-wise annual average growth rates in secondary enrollment is shown in Figure 13. During 1995-1999, the highest annual average growth rate was registered by Rajshahi division (15-22%) followed by Chittagong and Khulna (13.1% each), Dhaka (11.24%), Barisal (10.28%) and Sylhet (only 7.94%). However, the situation has somehow reversed during the next five years between 1999 and

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2005, with Sylhet showing the only positive annual growth of 1.18 percent, and all other divisions show negative growth with over -3 percent annual growth for Barisal, Chittagong, Dhaka and Rajshahi divisions (Figure 13). Table 9: Percentage of secondary education (excluding Intermediate) enrollment by area/ location (rural and urban) 1995-2005 In percentage Urban 20.7 17.26 19.56 Trends in secondary education (excluding area/location (rural and urban) 1995-2005

Year 1995 2000 2005 Figure 14:

Rural 79.3 82.74 80.44 Intermediate) enrollment by

The share of secondary enrollment, excluding intermediate college, in rural areas has increased from 79 percent in 1995 to 83 percent in 2000. However in 2005 it declined by 3 percentage points. On the other hand, the urban share was 21 percent in 1995 which has increased slightly reaching 20 percent in 2005. Table 10: Annual growth rate of secondary education (excluding Intermediate) enrollment by area/location (rural and urban) 1995-2005 Year 1995-2000 2000-2005 Growth rate Urban 4.4 1.85 Rural 8.89 -1.23

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Figure 15:

Annual growth rate of secondary education (excluding Intermediate) enrollment by area/location (rural and urban) 1995-2005

. Between 1995 and 2000, the annual growth rate of secondary enrollment in rural areas was 9 percent; however during 2000- 2005 it experienced negative growth rate at -1 percent. In urban areas between 1995 and 2005 it declined from 4 percent to 2 percent. Therefore, in terms of secondary enrollment more concentration on rural areas is necessary. Table 11: Percentage of secondary education (excluding Intermediate) enrollment in rural area by sex 1995-2005 In percentage Girls 46 53 52

Year 1995 2000 2005

Boys 54 47 48

Figure 16: Trends in secondary education (excluding Intermediate) enrollment in rural area by sex 1995-2005

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The secondary education enrollment of girls in rural areas has increased gradually, from 46 percent to 53 percent during 1995 to 2000, whereas it has declined to 52 percent by the next five years. Boys enrollment has declined gradually from 54 to 47 percent between 1995 to 2000, however, it has increased by 1 percent in the next five years. Table 12: Annual growth rate of secondary education (excluding Intermediate) enrollment in rural area by sex 1995-2005 Year 1995-2000 2000-2005 Figure 17: Growth rate Girls 11.54 -1.47

Boys 6.28 -0.95

Annual growth rate of secondary education (excluding Intermediate) enrollment in rural area by sex 1995-2005.

The figure 17 shows the annual growth rate of secondary education (excluding intermediate) enrollment in rural areas by sex during 1995-2005. The general trends of growth for the both sex has experienced a negative rate. In 1995-2000 the growth rate of girls was 12 percent while it reached 1.47 percent in 2000-2005. At the same time, it was 6 and -1 for boys in 1995-2000 and 2000-2005 respectively. Table 13: Percentage of secondary education (excluding Intermediate) enrollment in urban area by sex 1995-2005 Year 1995 2000 2005 In percentage Girls 49 51 52

Boys 51 49 48

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Figure 18:

Trends in secondary education (excluding Intermediate) enrollment in urban area by sex 1995-2005

The share of secondary education (excluding intermediate) enrollment in urban areas by sex shows a positive trend for girls enrollment from 49 to 52 percent during 1995 to 2005. On the other hand the enrollment rate of boys has declined from 51 percent 48 percent during the same period. The annual growth rate of secondary enrollment shows a declining trend for both the boys and girls during two time periods, namely 1995-2000 and 2000-2005. However, the relative share of declining growth has been less pronounced for the girls than that for the boys: the annual average growth for girls has declined from 5.04 percent in 1995-2000 to 2.38 percent in 2000-2005, the same for the boys has been 3.76 and 1.28 percent respectively. There are several factors which could be attributed to the decline growth of girls enrolment. Social and cultural attitudes still reinforce girls /womens subordinate position in the society. Various forms of violence , acid throwing, sexual harassment on the street & in educational institutions , early marriage (despite The Child Marriage Restraint Act , 1984 which raised the legal age of marriage of girls from 15 to 18) are hindering girls to take opportunities to continue education smoothly. Thus to maintain the gender parity the government secondary education projects need to be continued. In addition important to ensure good quality education, improvement in the course curricula and learning needs of diversified groups of students (taken as actions in PRS II, pg 400) need to be effectively implemented. Figure 19: Annual growth rate of secondary education (excluding Intermediate) enrollment in urban area by sex 1995-2005

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5. TERTIARY EDUCATION The target was set to achieve no later than 2015; however only 24 percent has been reached by 2005. During the last ten years, the enrollment of students at the tertiary level has increased 4.5 fold from 62,125 in 1997 to 280,516 in 2006. During 1997-2005, female enrollment in tertiary has increased 2.6 times and male 3.6 times. This implies low rate of tertiary enrollment among females as compared to that of the males. Table 14: Year wise Students enrollment at Tertiary Year 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 Total 62125 66611 76535 78192 116079 126584 149340 175183 205066 280516 Female/Male Female 19476 15805 15163 NA 28677 32685 33607 NA 50096 NA % total Female 31 24 20 NA 25 26 23 NA 24 NA

Male 42649 50806 61372 NA 87402 93899 115733 NA 154970 NA

Male 69 76 80 NA 75 74 77 NA 76 NA

Figure 20: Percentage of year wise Students enrollment at tertiary

As shown in Figure 20, in general, the female enrollment in tertiary education has declined from 31 percent from 1997 to 24 percent in 2005. During the same period the male enrollment has increased from 61 percent to 76 percent. This implies prevalence of a huge male-female gap in tertiary enrollment, gap being 82 percentage point against females. Although primary and secondary education is free in the country, however increase enrollment in the tertiary sector is yet to reach the desired gender parity. The experience of accelerated attainment of gender parity in secondary education through implementation of FSSAP tells us that in order to reach such parity at the tertiary level of education, similar stipend-related interventions must be designed and implemented.

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Table 15: Annual growth rate of year wise Students enrollment at Tertiary Year 1997-2001 2001-2005 Female 9.67 13.95 Male 17.94 14.32

Figure 21: Annual growth rate of year wise Students enrollment at Tertiary

Although the annual growth rate in tertiary level has increased from 10 percent to 14 percent during 1997 - 2001 to 2001-2005 however for male it has decreased from 18 percent to 14 percent. In general the annual growth rate in tertiary education for males was always higher than females during 1997-2005. Table 16: Projected tertiary enrollment 2006, 2007(Base year 1997) Year 2006 2007 Male 182092 213960 Female 56376 63442 Total 238080 276408 % of students Male Female 76.48 23.68 77.41 22.95

The projection of tertiary enrollment by gender shows unacceptable situation. The projected tertiary enrollment for females will be 24 percent in 2006 and further declines to 23 percent in 2007.

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6. ADULT LITERACY By 2015 equal male female ratio is suppose to be achieved; however in 2005 the rate of male literacy is 58 percent and 48 percent for female. Table 17: Adult Literacy Rate of population 15+ years and over Adult rate 35.3 NA 47.3 45.3 52.6 52.7 52.8 49.6 50.3 51.6 52.3 52.8 literacy Male 44.3 42 55.6 55.6 59.4 60.7 61 55.5 56.3 57.2 57.6 58.2 Female 25.8 65 38.1 38.1 42.5 42.8 43.2 43.4 44.2 45.8 47.9 48.4 Rural NA NA NA 42.9 48.2 48.4 48.7 45.3 46.1 47.4 48.6 49.3 Urban NA NA NA 63.5 68.3 68.9 69.3 66.5 67.1 68.3 68.3 69.4

Year 1991 1992 1994 1995 1998 1999 2000 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006

Source: BBS report on Registration System BBS-2006

Figure 22: Annual growth rate of year wise Students enrollment at tertiary

The adult literacy rate (15 years and above) has increased from 35.3 percent in 1991 to 52.8 percent in 2006. In 1991 the rate was 44.3 percent for males and 25.8 percent for females, i.e; an 18.5 percentage points less for females. In 2006, this rate has increased to 58.4 percent for females, gap being 9.8 percentage points against females. Therefore, despite the general improvement in school enrollments, a large disparity continues to exist between male and female literacy rates. While no data for 1990, 1993, 1997 and 2001 is available for the suggested global indicator - ratio of literate females to males of 15-24 year olds literacy rates by age cohorts help to give an indication of the youth literacy rates. The literacy rate of 15 and over show substantial increase with male rates at 66 percent to 68 percent between 2002-2006 and female 43 percent to 48 percent. From 1998-2002 the adult literacy rate was 53 percent however from 1998 onwards the gap between male and female literacy has increased from 16 to 18 percent.

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Figure 23: Adult Literacy Rate of population 15+ years and over

The adult literacy rate by rural-urban shows a distinct urban bias during 1995-2000 (Figure 24). This should be reverted through higher efforts and investment towards adult literacy in the rural areas (as part of PRSP). Also, the division-wise adult literacy situation (Figure 25) shows relatively low literacy in Sylhet, Rajshahi and Dhaka divisions implying need for more vigorous public-private efforts in these divisions towards promotion of adult literacy. Figure 24: Adult Literacy Rate of population 15+ years and over by sex (Male and Female)

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Figure 25: Adult literacy rate of population 15+ years and over by area (urban and rural)

7.

WOMEN IN NON-AGRICULTURAL EMPLOYMENT

During the last ten years population aged 15 years and above engaged in non-agricultural employment has increased 1.4 fold, from 17,999 in 1995-96 to 24,431 in 2005-06. During the same 10 years the increase in male engagement has been 1.5 fold while the same for females has not been changed and remained at low level (estimated based on data in Table 18). The male-female ratio of engagement in non-agricultural employment has been 80 : 20 in 1995-96 which went up to 85.4 : 14.6 in 2005-06 implying relative decline of females share in the nonagricultural employment (Figure 27). The more revealing anti-female bias is evident in the annual growth rate: for males the annual growth rate in engagement of non-agricultural employment has increased from 2.15 percent during 1995-99 to 4.94 percent during 1999-2005, to the contrary, for

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females this has decreased from 3.62 percent to 2,39 percent during above two periods (Table 19). Therefore, in order to expedite the process of women employment it is imperative to undertake vigorous economic empowerment efforts for the females. Table 18: Population Aged 15 Years and Non-Agricultural Employment Year 1995-1996 1999-2000 2002-2003 2005-2006 Total 17799 19636 21558 24431 Male 14231 15510 17486 20859 Female 3568 4124 4072 3572 % Male 80 79 81 85 % Female 20 21 19 15

Source: Report on Labour Force Survey in Bangladesh, BBS, 1996, 2004, 2008

Figure 27: Population Aged 15 Years and above Non-Agricultural Employment

Table 19: Growth Rate of Population Aged 15 Years and above Non-Agricultural Employment Year 1995-1999 1999-2005 Growth rate Male 2.15 4.94

Female 3.62 -2.39

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Table 20: Projected population aged 15 years and above non-agricultural employment 2006, 2007 Year 2006 2007 Total 25217 26029 Male 21672 22517 Female 3572 3573 % total Male 85.8 86.3

Female 14.2 13.7

The projection of women in non-agricultural employment (using 1995 as base year) shows much discouraging situation (Table 20). The share of women in non-agricultural employment is projected to decline from the current 14.6 percent to 14.2 percent in 2006 and further down to 13.7 percent in 2007. This declining share of women in non-agricultural employment implies that in order to ensure further improvement in the livelihood of women and empower women their share in non-agricultural employment, especially in various income generating activities and wage employment should be pursued by the public and private sector as proposed in the PRSP II and in the National Policies for the Advancement of Women 2008. In other areas of decision-making such as the bureaucracy and high level jobs, which entail visibility and exercise of authority, womens presence is negligible2.

8.

WOMEN IN PARLIAMENT

The situation of women empowerment and gender equality is most deplorable when one looks into the share of women in the highest policy making elected body the National Parliament. During 1991-2001, there have been 30 out of 330 seats in the National Parliament reserved for women. The other (non-reserved) seats (300) are those where either men or women can contest the election. The situation of women in the National parliament in terms of their numbers in the parliament shows a lowlevel static situation with only 42 seats (out of 330 including 30 reserved seats) in 1991, 43 in 1986, and 41 seats in 2001 (Table 21). In fact womens share of seats in the National Parliament depicts a downward trend during the last three governments of parliamentary democracy with 12.7 percent in 1991-95, 13 percent in 1996-200, and 12.4 percent in 2001-06. Attaining gender equality in the National Parliament will mean necessity of increase of elected women parliamentarians from 11 to 150, an about 14-fold increase. This is a subject of unprecedented political and parliamentary reform in future Bangladesh. Figure 28: Proportion of female member in the parliament

Millennium Development Goals: A peoples progress report, BANGLADESH, Overview, September 2005

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Figure 29: Share of female member in the Parliament

Table 21: Proportion of female member in the parliament Year 1991 1996 2001 Female member (30+12) = 42 (30+13) = 43 (30+11) = 41 Total seats 330 330 330 Percentage 12.73 13.03 12.42

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Challenges National level primary enrollment shows that Bangladesh has achieved gender parity by 2005. However, regional variation in terms of primary enrollment exists; Barisal is yet to achieve desired position while negative growth for Rajshahi and Khulna exists. Thus more concentration is required to strengthening primary education projects, programmes in above mentioned divisions. In addition, strengthen opportunities for post primary education for girls while meeting commitments to universal education. Girls increased enrollment in secondary schools has been a significant phenomenon in Bangladesh. The challenge is to sustain the twin objectives of the FSSAP in keeping increasing number of girl students in secondary schools and retain them until graduation. Regional and urban rural variation in terms of secondary enrollment requires special attention. To maintain the impressive enrollment of girls in secondary school effective continuation of secondary education projects are required. The accelerated attainment of gender parity in secondary through successful implementation of FSSAP points us that in regard to achieve such success in tertiary level of education the major challenges is to initiate similar type of stipend programmes to reach gender parity by 2015. Despite much improvements in primary and secondary school enrollments a large disparity exits between male and female literacy rate more in rural areas, and division like Sylhet. The challenge is to narrow the gap through intensive public and private initiatives. Extensive social mobilization programme need to be as well implemented. In addition various forms of violence need to be reduced to ensure girls safety while taking opportunities of FSSAP. The situation of women in non agricultural employment depicts much discouraging situation. The challenge is to involve women more in to productive income generating work to ensure improvement in livelihood to empower them. Further, actions in regard to womens employment mentioned in PRSPII need to be effectively implemented. Womens engagement in political leadership is also not encouraging. In the national arena, majority womens network lobbied throughout the 2003 for direct elections for women for Parliamentary seats. Mobilisation around the issue took great impetus after the existing provision for women members (allowing for 30 women to be nominated by elected members of parliament) lapsed in 2001. However, women demand for direct election was turned down and 45 seats have been given to women through selection by the majority in the parliament. The other factor which is hindering womens effective participation in politics is limited leadership positions; there is still limited involvement of women in party hierarchical structures. Female members are conveniently used during election campaign, organizing meetings, rallies, etc. The challenge is to have farsighted policy interventions. Therefore awareness, mobilization programmes to encourage direct involvement of women in mainstream politics is needed. Holistic policy interventions may include amendment of laws, promoting women candidates nominations by political parties.

Conclusion MDG 3 recognizes that the advancement of womens right to gender equality is critically necessary. The target of MDG 3 sees empowerment of women as an effective pathway for attacking the problems of poverty, inequality and gender discrimination and for stimulating truly sustainable development.

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Reference
Educational Institution Survey (Post Primary), 2003, BANBEIS, December 2004 Millennium Development Goals: Mid-Term Bangladesh Progress Report, December, 2007 Millennium Development Goals: A peoples progress report, BANGLADESH, Overview, September 2005 Statistical Profile on Education in Bangladesh, BANBEIS 2006. Bangladesh Educational Statistics BANBEIS 1991 Labour Force Survey 1995-96, BBS December 1996 Labour Force Survey 2002-03, BBS December 2004 Labour Force Survey 2005-06, BBS February 2008 Moving Ahead National Strategy for Accelerated poverty Reduction 2009-2011, GED, Government of the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh, May 2008

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ANNEX Table 1: Division wise Secondary education (Junior+High+Intermediate College) enrolment

% of students Barisal Chittagong Dhaka Khulna Rajshahi Sylhet Barisal Chittagong Dhaka Khulna Rajshahi Sylhet

Year

Total

1991 1993 1994 1995 1997 1999 2003

2943473 3371087 4692388 5313735 6370198 8836896 9575591

NA 339027 364880 415882 480018 627483 676614

728351 174090 967506 1069435 1212779 1812744 1862753

746462 1282010 1449527 1613753 1877439 2529669 2704006 2091945

738576 574494 604266 683881 791371 1158956 1269023 1031313

730084 1001466 1109053 1303359 1758033 2395562 2693355 1977692

NA NA 197156 227425 250558 312482 369840 335353

NA 10.06 7.78 7.83 7.54 7.10 7.07 7.04

24.74 5.16 20.62 20.13 19.04 20.51 19.45 19.49

25.36 38.03 30.89 30.37 29.47 28.63 28.24 28.28

25.09 17.04 12.88 12.87 12.42 13.11 13.25 13.94

24.80 29.71 23.64 24.53 27.60 27.11 28.13 26.73

NA NA 4.20 4.28 3.93 3.54 3.86 4.53

2005 7398552 520561 1441688 Bangladesh Educational Statistics 2006.