BRAC Efforts
Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (now revamped as Building Resources Across Communities), or BRAC - as it is known popularly through the acronym - is an organization that primarily aims at the reduction of poverty. It does so by the empowerment of the poor so that they can take the helm of their own lives. In such a scenario, BRAC offers a range of low-cost programmes dedicated to educating the impoverished. There are non-formal pre-primary and primary education facilities provided by the organization. Also, it provides support to formal schools, conducts programmes for adolescents and engages people in free community learning centers.
In 64 districts all over Bangladesh, BRAC is present through 23,000 schools - by which it reaches out to around 700,000 students. This massive undertaking is possible for the organization's partnership with Educate a Child (EAC). In the current endeavors regarding the underprivileged children, BRAC is trying for the betterment of the students' life through the following projects:
BRAC Urban Slums Schools: BRAC has the co-funding of the EAC to create 2,000 single classroom schools in the urban slum areas of the country. It plans to enroll 62,000 out of school children in and around major cities of the country, such as - Dhaka, Sylhet, Chittagong, Rajshahi, Khulna, Barisal, Rangpur, Jessore, Mymensingh, Comilla, Gajipur and Narsingdi.
Boat Schools for Rural Children : In remotely rural and disaster-prone areas where it is difficult for students to access schools. This pilot program aims to reach the haor basin flood plain and enroll 13,000 children in the non-formal setting, with 400 boats and 500 teachers.
Bridge School Program for out of school children (OOSC): Aimed at reaching difficult areas and urban slums, where dropouts range from grades 2 to 4. BRAC intends to implement this program nation-wide, through enrolling 60,000 over the course of five years. It aims to ensure the completion of a student's primary education through quality education and holistic development.
In addition, BRAC is also actively providing nonformal primary-level education to forcibly displaced Myanmar citizens (popularly known as the Rohingyas), where 18,000 children are taught in 9 refugee camps.
Mansura Amdad
Dhaka, Bangladesh
