Experts recommend a strategic plan and make investments in it to address the issue
Published : 18 May 2024, 03:22 AM
Sharif from Ulania of Barishal’s Mehendiganj would have taken the SSC exams this year, like 2 million other students, had he continued his studies. Instead, while his classmates are contemplating exam results and higher secondary admissions, he is working at a garment factory in Dhaka's Mirpur.
His mother, Surma Begum, a domestic help, said Sharif, who was identified with a single name, attended Capital Model School in Mirpur but had no interest in studies.
"You can't teach if someone doesn't want to learn. I tried, but it didn't work," Surma said.
She added her other son also does not pay attention to studies.
She is optimistic about her daughter, who is in Class Six.
"Girls don't need to be told to study. But the boy didn’t want to go to school and instead roamed around; he didn't attend private tuition. I had to rebuke, drag him to school."
Despite boys outnumbering girls in the country, their participation in the education system is low, and they also lag behind in exams.
The recently released results of Secondary School Certificate exam results reflected the disparity among the boys and the girls.
It did not escape Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s notice that the male students were failing to keep up with their female peers year after year.
After releasing a summary of the results, she directed authorities to investigate the reasons for the decrease in male students.
Hasina had expressed similar concerns during last year's announcement of the Higher Secondary Certificate exam results.
Experts suggest that economic crises and social changes are driving some boys away from education.
They have called on the government to make a strategic plan and invest in it to address the issue.
STATISTICS OVERVIEW
Bangladesh has a larger population of women than men. However, boys outnumber girls in terms of age-based population distribution.
According to Census 2022, boys outnumber girls in the age groups of 0-4, 5-9, and 10-14 years, while girls outnumber boys in the 15-19 age group.
Despite comprising a larger population, boys significantly lag behind girls in school attendance.
According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, 84.3 percent of school age boys and 90.1 percent of girls attend school in the country.
According to 2023 data from the Bangladesh Bureau of Educational Information and Statistics, 55 percent of students in the country's secondary schools are girls.
Around 54 percent of madrasa students are also girls. However, female students are significantly behind with only 29 percent in technical education.
PERFORMANCE OF MALE STUDENTS IN SSC
Of the 2,013,597 students who took the exams this year, 988,794 were boys and 1,024,803 were girls.
This year, the pass rate for girls was 84.47 percent, while the rate for boys was 81.57 percent.
A total of 182,129 students received a GPA of 5.0 this year, 98,776 of whom were girls and 83,353 of whom were boys. This means 15,423 more girls received a GPA of 5.0.
Girls have outperformed boys for the past seven years in the school competition exams.
In 2023, the pass rate was 81.88 percent for girls and 78.87 percent for boys. Of the 183,578 who received a GPA of 5.0, as many as 98,614 were girls and 84,964 were boys.
From 2020 to 2022, there were more male participants, while in 2018 and 2019, female participation was higher.
Overall, female students consistently achieved a higher pass rate throughout the last 8 years.
WHY BOYS LOSE INTEREST IN EDUCATION
Belayet Hossain from Narsingdi supports his family by driving an autorickshaw instead of taking the SSC exam, which he was supposed to sit for.
Belayet explained that he had to drop out of school after completing ninth grade in 2022 due to financial hardship and school expenses.
"The pandemic disrupted education a lot. There were many gaps. After finishing ninth grade, I couldn't afford private tuition, and there were family issues. So, I had to stop going to school,” he said.
“It would have been better to continue studying, but supporting my family financially was also important. My parents were going through a lot."
At Joynagar High School in Manikganj Sadar, there were 122 SSC examinees, with 67 girls and 55 boys. The female students also achieved a higher pass rate.
Abdur Razzak, the school’s headmaster, said that more male students were dropping out, especially from primary school. Their attendance in all classes is comparatively low.
"Boys are reluctant to study. They are preoccupied with mobile phones and often skip school. Many are involved in juvenile gangs and drugs. In my classes, eight out of the top 10 students are girls. They are more focused on their studies than the boys are," he added.
At Abdur Rahman Khan High School in Saturia, 60 percent of the SSC examinees are girls, said its Headmaster Ataur Rahman.
"In my school, girls have better attendance and achieve good results. Nowadays, boys are less receptive to advice. The main issue is their excessive addiction to mobile phones. Girls use mobile phones less frequently. However, every boy of this age has a mobile phone,” he said.
“Parents need to be more vigilant. As teachers, even with our best efforts, we struggle to control them."
Mohammad Emam Hossain, acting principal of Ideal School and College in Dhaka, noted that boys have performed well in certain subjects, whereas girls have excelled in others.
He believes that boys' decreasing attention span is because of mobile phone addiction and the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
"It appears that girls tend to stay indoors and listen to their parents more, whereas boys may hang out or spend more time doing other things," he said.
At Mirpur Bangla School and College, although there are more male students, the female students have achieved better results, according to Mohammad Mustafa Khosnabish, the principal.
He attributed the boys' lagging behind to hanging out instead of joining classes and not paying attention during school hours.
"Girls attend school regularly. They spend more time studying at home. Boys, on the other hand, tend to avoid staying home. Many of them wander outside, often join juvenile gangs or get involved in drugs. They also show a higher addiction to mobile phones."
The teacher credited initiatives like stipends for girls for their academic success.
Jahangir Alam Sheikh, headmaster of Rajbari Adarsha High School, sees the government's stipend programme as crucial in maintaining students' interest in education.
"Once, there were fewer female students in our school. However, after the government introduced stipends, their number and attendance increased. Girls show more dedication to their studies than the boys do, and their academic results are also better."
Matiur Rahman, assistant headmaster of Saraker Bazar High School in Sylhet’s Kanaighat, attributes boys' distraction from education to the financial crises faced by their families.
"Our school had more girls taking the SSC exam because many boys are forced to work for money," he said.
Matiur said, "Enrollment numbers in all nearby schools have decreased. In areas with high economic crises, parents send their sons to work, sometimes even abroad, between the ages of 14 and 20. By the eighth or ninth grade, many stop studying, including those who fail.”
This situation is reflected in the National Child Labour Survey-2022 published in March, which reported over 1.37 million male child labourers and 401,943 female child labourers in the country.
This year's secondary examination statistics suggest a trend of boys being more oriented towards work. For instance, the Technical Education Board had 92,169 male students compared
to 30,369 female students.
Furthermore, in the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Rajshahi alone, there were 6,000 more male students than female students. However, in the other nine education boards, male students were fewer.
The Dhaka board had 28,317 more female students than male students. In the Cumilla board, the gap widened further, with 29,865 more female students participating in the exam.
Md Asaduzzaman, controller of examinations at the Cumilla board, said that boys have shown lower participation and pass rates in recent years.
"This could be due to several reasons. One major factor may be that boys are increasingly involved in work due to socioeconomic conditions, particularly exacerbated after the COVID-19 pandemic. Many are migrating abroad, and boys from this region are largely focused on opportunities overseas. Additionally, the lack of attention among boys of this age group could also be a significant factor."
Asaduzzaman also noted that the girls’ attendance was significantly higher than that of boys in a recent school visit.
Another factor contributing to this trend is the higher demographic presence of girls, he said.
Tapan Kumar Sarkar, chairman of the Inter-Education Board Coordination Committee and Dhaka board, expressed concern over the declining number of male students.
He emphasised the need for in-depth research and analysis to understand the reasons behind this decline and to take appropriate actions accordingly.
FINDING SOLUTIONS IS ESSENTIAL
Global crises like the pandemic and conflicts, coupled with poor economic management, have significantly strained many families in Bangladesh over the years.
Professor SM Hafizur Rahman from the Institute of Education and Research at Dhaka University observed that the gender ratio of students in classrooms is being affected by the increasing cost of living compared to people's incomes.
He is concerned that this disparity will continue to widen.
"Parents are sending 14-15-year-olds to work. In areas where economic zones are developing, they can easily find jobs. Girls are receiving stipends and are focusing on their studies – this is why girls are being educated."
Citing a lack of opportunities for social development, the educator said, "Nowadays, boys are often seen joining juvenile gangs. As they go out, they engage in hanging out and are busy with their mobile phones because they have nowhere else to play."
Rasheda K Choudhury, a co-founder of Global Campaign for Education (GCE), a civil society movement operating in more than hundred countries, identifies three reasons why female students are ahead of boys:
Firstly, there is greater state investment in women, with stipends and free education playing a decisive role.
Secondly, girls build confidence as they face significant risks such as child marriage and insecurity. The fear of marriage for poor performance motivates them to excel.
Thirdly, boys often face distractions and addictions at this age, while girls are less involved in these, allowing them to devote more time to studying.
Rasheda, a former primary and mass education adviser to a caretaker government, proposed making state investment in education universal, not limited to girls, to encourage boys to participate more actively in education.
"We should invest based on demand. State investment should be directed towards making boys education-oriented in areas where it is needed. Local investment is crucial, especially in tea gardens, river islands, and flood-prone areas, rather than just in urban areas like Dhaka. In such a vast education system, central decision-making alone cannot provide the necessary investment."
She said, "The progress of girls is part of a global trend supported by stipends and free education. However, the same level of support is not available for boys, leading them to engage in labour.
"Boys are also prone to addiction and gang activities. Educational institutions must take responsibility to steer them away from these things. With skilled and student-friendly teachers, the situation could improve," she said.
Sociologist Anupam Sen feels that lack of quality education and employment, among other things, is holding back male students.
He said, "Schools are not teaching well now. Quality education must be ensured. Lack of quality education also reduces participation of boys. Despite studying, many boys remain unemployed due to lack of employment. This is also one of the reasons why boys are falling behind.”
He recalled that girls started going to school in large numbers after primary education was made free for girls.
“Now girls are getting involved in the workplace in a big way. From pilots to the army - women are now everywhere.
“At the time of independence, the number of girls in schools and colleges was very less. Later, the women's liberation movement started. Now girls are going much further,” he said.
“Boys don't stay at home. They want to play, hang out. They need a playground. But they're not getting it."
[Writing in English by Arshi Fatiha Quazi]