Research Highlights
(Researcher are responsible for their Research and Evaluation)

Children's access to pre-school education in Bangladesh

Using the Education Watch household survey database, this paper explores children’s access to preschool education in Bangladesh. Participation in pre-school education has been increasing in Bangladesh at the rate of 0.6% per year and the net enrolment rate was found to be 13.4% in
2005. Enrolment of over-aged children in pre-school education made the gross enrolment ratio as high as 30.5%. However, over half of the four to five year olds at school were actually enrolled in primary school and not in pre-school. Moreover, 71% of the four- to five-year group were out of
school. Only a third of the four- to five-year-old children enrolled in schools had the opportunity to attend the English-medium kindergartens or NGO-run non-formal schools, both of which provide better quality pre-school education. Urban children, especially those with educated parents and
from more privileged socio-economic backgrounds, were more likely to have access to pre-school education. The lack of a common pre-school curriculum seems to have created further inequity among children at this very early age. An educational policy targeting poor and socially disadvantaged children with support from both the state and current pre-school providers is urgently needed to provide four- to five-year-old children appropriate education for their needs.

[ Full report is available on request at BEN Secretariat (email: info@ecd-bangladesh.net) ]

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Early Childhood Development: Child-to-child approach Baseline Survey 2003

In Bangladesh, programs for children up to five years have been directed to ensure their survival, physical growth and good health. There is no nation wide structured program that addresses the cognitive, emotional, and social development of young children, resulting in lost opportunities to develop full potential of the child during the early years. Taking this into consideration, the Early Childhood Development (ECD) program has been initiated in the current country program cycle (2001-2005) of the Government and UNICEF. One of the strategies is to accomplish this through "Child-to-child approach", a time honoured system by which older children is taking care of their younger siblings. The objective of the child-to-child approach is to provide adolescents with the knowledge and skills to interact creatively and effectively with the young children, and to develop skills of critical-thinking and problem solving.

[ Full report is available on request at BEN Secretariat (email: info@ecd-bangladesh.net) ]

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A literacy intervention for preschool children in Bangladesh: the benefits of dialogic reading.

The purpose of the study was to examine the efficacy of a 4-week dialogic reading intervention with rural Bangladeshi preschoolers with the intention of increasing their expressive vocabulary. Eighty preschoolers randomly selected from five preschools participated in the program during four weeks in the summer of 2006. Their expressive vocabulary was tested on 170 challenging words before and after the program and compared with that ofcontrol children who participated in the regular language program. Both groups were read eight children's story books with illustrations, but the dialogic reading teacher was given a set of "wh" and definitional questions to enhance children's verbal participation during reading. Results confirmed that the mean vocabulary scores of dialogic program children increased from
26% to 54% whereas the control children remained at the same level. In conclusion, the dialogic reading program which can be tailored to suit the skills of paraprofessional teachers allows children to quickly improve their
vocabulary with the help of challenging stories.

	[Full report]

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Playing with mathematics: a pilot intervention to develop basic mathematical skills among preschoolers in Bangladesh

The purpose of the study was to examine the efficacy of a 6-weeks mathematics intervention with rural Bangladeshi preschoolers with the
intention of increasing their basic mathematics skills. Eighty preschoolers randomly selected from five preschools participated in the program during six weeks in the summer of 2006. Their mathematics skills on counting, patterns, shapes, measurement, sorting, comparing, and operations were tested on 77 items before and after the program and compared with that of control children
who participated in the regular program. Both the groups attended daily 40- minute math classes over 6-weeks using a math bag to practice teacherintroduced math concepts. The intervention group participated in math games while the control group did the same tasks in a more teacher-directed way.Results confirmed significantly greater achievement of math skills by the intervention children compared to the control group. The score of the intervention children increased from 24.74% to 59.69% while the control group
increased from 29.73% to 42.56%. In conclusion, paraprofessional teachers with little training were able to implement activities that helped children learnbig mathematical concepts.

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Effectiveness of a community-based child stimulation program in rural Bangladesh

Parenting programs are frequently offered to help promote practices that help children develop to their full potentials. In Bangladesh, these programs have entailed largely the transfer of knowledge to groups of mothers with young children. Frequently, the mothers acquire knowledge but do not translate it into behaviour. This study examined a behaviour-change strategy in a 5-session weekly program delivered to groups of mothers and their children 18-40 months of age. The strategy involved a demonstration by the peer educator followed by mothers' practicing the behaviour and receiving coaching. Mothers brought materials from home and practiced using responsive stimulation in the course of verbal and toy games. There were also discussions about the benefits of two-way stimulation. The pre-post intervention-control design allowed us to compare mothers who received the Responsive Stimulation program with those who received the Regular program. Results indicated that Responsive Stimulation mothers' scores on the HOME Inventory and their responsive conversations with their child while talking about pictures were significantly higher than the Regular group, controlling for baseline scores and sociodemographic variables. The benefits of this behaviour-change strategy and responsive stimulation are both discussed.

	[Full report]

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A National Case Study on Delivery of Early Childhood Services Bangladesh

The child as a focus of attention from development planners, political leaders and development activities emerged very slowly and finally captured a place among numerous pressing developmental needs of adult men and women in Bangladesh. Traditionally the Bangladesh society shows more concern for matters related to adult life compared to children’s childhood needs and care. Childhood, especially in poor, disadvantaged homes, slips into adulthood as early as 7/8 years of age when these children start taking responsibility of different domestic chores including looking after the younger siblings and working for earning income to help parents. However, child development activities started modestly just after Bangladesh’s independence in 1971 with the establishment of the ‘Shishu Academy’ (Children’s Academy) and adoption of a policy for the children. Presently, major government childhood service providers are: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, Ministry of Social Welfare and Primary and Mass Education Division. They are addressing a number of diversified developmental needs of 0-8 years old children of the country.

[ Full report is available on request at BEN Secretariat (email: info@ecd-bangladesh.net) ]

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Implementing Changes in the Preschool Classroom An Action-based Case-study July –October 2004

Plan International, is an international, humanitarian child centered development organization without religious, political and government affiliation. Plan works around 42 developing countries with the fundamental principal “children are at the heart of everything we do.” Plan Bangladesh, started its operations in Bnagladesh in1994. Today Plan works in five districts (Dinajpur, Nilphamari, Lalmonirhat, and Gazipur) and Metropolitan City (Dhaka) with a commitment of reaching poor people deprived from their rights through a highly participatory process called Child Centered Community Development (CCCD), the core work process for Plan Programs in Bangladesh. Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) is one of the key program package of Community Learning Program (CLP). Preschool interventions Plan started in 1997 following a curriculum developed by Early Childhood Development (ECD) Unit (a joint project of Plan Bangladesh and Save the Children-USA). In the year 2001 when ECD Unit evloished then Plan designed a curriculum for their own. After two years of running the preschools using the curriculum the evaluation took place and there were some strong recommendations in some specific areas for improving the quality of the program.

[ Full report is available on request at BEN Secretariat (email: info@ecd-bangladesh.net) ]

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Evaluation of Early Childhood Parenting Programs of Plan Bangladesh

The synergistic effect of nutrition and psychosocial stimulation is now well accepted (Walker et al., 1991, 2000). This is most clearly demonstrated in the first three years of life when the child's brain is prepared to make its greatest gains in language acquisition and social-emotional development, but requires energy, proteins and micronutrients to consolidate learning. With 50% of children under-5 years in Bangladesh experiencing moderate to severe levels of malnutrition, and mothers largely illiterate and uninformed about the need for stimulation, there is concern that children may not be developing optimally. Without the necessary cognitive, language and social skills, children are less able to solve problems, cope with novelty, persist in overcoming obstacles, and actively engage in social interactions. They are less likely to benefit from schooling, and consequently achieve less productivity and health than would be possible with an education. To overcome the cycle of poverty and illiteracy, international and national organizations are developing guidelines and implementing programs to promote early childhood care and education (Evans, Myers, & Ilfeld, 2000). While a number of programs exist, few have been systematically evaluated. This report describes the evaluation of a parenting program for mothers of under-3 children implemented by Plan Bangladesh in three rural districts.

[ Full report is available on request at BEN Secretariat (email: info@ecd-bangladesh.net) ]

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Evaluation of Early Childhood Preschool Programs of PLAN Bangladesh

PLAN Bangladesh has a series of programs designed to support children from birth to the end of elementary school. This report focuses on the preschool program for children of 5 years of age. The objectives of the research were: 1. to examine the impact of the preschool intervention on children and their mothers, and 2. to assess the method of implementation of preschool activities along with the relevance and appropriateness of materials and training of field-level implementers. To this end, 401 preschool children and matched controls from three sites were randomly selected and compared on indicators of cognitive, social and physical development. They were administered four cognitive tests to assess their vocabulary, verbal reasoning, non-verbal reasoning and school readiness skills. Social development was observed in the context of play. Physical growth was examined in terms of nutritional status, disabilities, and preventive health practices. Mothers were interviewed for information on the family's socio-demographic status, her decision-making power, and knowledge about her child's needs and child development more generally. Finally, the quality of the preschool program was assessed using the international Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale and a South Asian version of the scale along with more detailed observations of materials and child-adult communication. Teachers, supervisors, and PLAN staff were interviewed to gather information on the curriculum, teacher guides and training.

[ Full report is available on request at BEN Secretariat (email: info@ecd-bangladesh.net) ]

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Follow-up of Children who attended PLAN Preschool Programs in Grade 1

The aim of preschool is to prepare children, socially and cognitively, for the demands of formal schooling. Children who attend preschool are required to interact and communicate with other children and adults; they have experience of being away from their family and placed in a classroom situation. They are also introduced to important concepts in core subjects and benefit from the opportunity to play with other children using play and learning materials that may not be available at home. These experiences should smooth the transition to formal schooling. Studies in developing countries have shown that children with preschool experience perform better in Grade 1 compared to children without preschool experience. In Nepal and Myanmar preschool children were more likely to start school, were better equipped socially and academically, had better attendance rates and did better in year end examinations (Save the Children, 2004). In Botswana, Taiwo and Tyolo (2002) interviewed Grade 1 children on key skills relating to Math, English and Science - expert teachers rated their performance. They found that children who had attended preschools significantly outperformed those who had not. The objective of this research was evaluate whether children in Grade 1 who had attended PLAN preschools performed better, according to teacher ratings of children’s academic performance, work habits and social behaviour, than children who did not have preschool experience.

[ Full report is available on request at BEN Secretariat (email: info@ecd-bangladesh.net) ]

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Responsive complementary feeding in rural Bangladesh

It is now widely recognized that malnutrition can partly be attributed to caregiver–child interaction during feeding episodes. Current conceptual frameworks emphasize the importance of responsiveness (including active and social behaviour), psychomotor abilities of the child to self-feed, and a non-distracting feeding environment. The present observational study had three main objectives: (1) to define operationally key terms such as responsive and active feeding and observe their frequency in a rural Bangladesh sample; (2) to examine whether self-feeding, responsive and active behaviours of the mother and child varied with child’s age and amounts eaten; and (3) to determine associations between mother and child behaviours. Fifty-four mother–child pairs were observed during one feeding episode and behaviours were coded for 5 categories, namely self-feeding, responsive, active, social and distracting behaviours. Children were between 8 and 24 months of age. Results indicated that the five behaviours could be observed and reliably coded. Two-thirds of mothers had an active feeding style but only a third were responsive; the two styles did not overlap. With older children, mothers encouraged more eating and more self-feeding, but children did not feed themselves more; instead older children were more negatively responsive (refusing offered food). Positively responsive mothers tended to have active children who explicitly signaled their desire for food or water, and who ate more mouthfuls of food. Positively active mothers adopted different strategies to encourage eating, such as verbally directing the child to eat, focusing, and temporarily diverting. These mothers tended to have children who were negatively responsive and refused food. Children accepted on average 5.31 mouthfuls of food and rejected 2.13. Mothers who used intrusively active strategies (e.g. force feeding) tended to have children who were both positively and negatively responsive, thus partially reinforcing her forceful behaviour. Thus, the responsive feeding framework, once operationalized, has the potential to identify specific behaviours that support or impede mother–child interaction during complementary feeding.

[ Full report is available on request at BEN Secretariat (email: info@ecd-bangladesh.net) ]

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