Despite significant improvement in 10 years, nearly 38 percent of students dropped out from high schools in Bangladesh in 2018, the parliament was told on Tuesday (Jun 11).
During the question-and-answer session, Education Minister Dipu Moni told the House dropout rate at the high school stands at 37.62 percent.
Responding to a supplementary question by Chattogram-11 MP M Abdul Latif, the minister provided dropout figures for the last 10 years.
Year | Dropout Rate (in percent) |
2009 | 55.31 |
2010 | 55.26 |
2011 | 53.28 |
2012 | 44.65 |
2013 | 43.18 |
2014 | 41.59 |
2015 | 40.29 |
2016 | 38.30 |
2017 | 37.81 |
2018 | 37.62 |
An analysis of figures provided by Dipu Moni shows, girl dropouts outnumbered their boy counterparts. The difference significantly came down in the last decade.
In 2009, 63.93 percent girls dropped out against 42.15 percent boys while in 2018, 40.19 percent girls dropped out against 36.01 percent boys.
Primary level dropout rate 18.6 percent
In response to a query, State Minister for Primary and Mass Education Zakir Hossain said that a 2018 survey found 18.6 percent pupils left schools in 2018.
Poverty along with lack of awareness among parents, child labour are among the reasons for children leaving schools, he said.
