Write a letter to the editor of a famous English daily about your concern about the drop out of school students due to the pandemic.
09 December, 2020
The Editor
The Daily Star
64-65 Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue
Dhaka-1215
Sub: Request for publishing the article in the letter column.
Sir,
I shall be highly glad if you kindly publish the following article in your renowned newspaper.
Yours faithfully
Sayma Ahmed
10 Mirpur, Dhaka
Take actions to stop school dropout
All educational institutes have been closed since mid March due to the coronavirus pandemic and the possibility of further ongoing closure of these institutes has been created as the second wave is going on and the number of Covid-19 patients and death is on the rise in winter season. An increase in school dropout is most likely to be linked to increased incidences of early marriage, adolescent fertility, and child labour. The ongoing closure of schools due to the coronavirus pandemic is increasing chances that thousands of marginalized students across the country might have to drop out and engage in child labour. Among the students, girls are more likely to discontinue studies, which can also lead to gender-based violence and risk of child marriages. In many countries including Bangladesh children are at moderate and high risk of drop out. Though the government's efforts including providing stipends to students, free distribution of textbooks up to secondary level and other rigorous campaigns helped check dropout and child marriage in recent years, this time educationists and rights group show their concern about the drop out. Meanwhile there has been the rise of child marriage due to closure of school, social insecurity and poverty during the pandemic. Many parents cannot send their children to school as many of them have lost their jobs and been in trouble for lack of money. In this regard, the educationists and rights group warn that the dropout of school from the next academic year will cross all other previous records in the recent past. The current dropout rate, according to Bangladesh Bureau of Educational Information and Statistics (BANBEIS), is 36% at the secondary level which can reach more than 45% next academic year. So the government from now should start taking actions to stop this drop out of school students. For this the government should strengthen monitoring mechanism and track and bring children to school to prevent dropout. Re-enrollment campaigns, including participatory community actions and awareness-raising programs, should be launched. Besides the head teachers and other teachers should maintain contact with such vulnerable students who have dropped out or are at risk of dropping out. Above all, all concerned authorities and able people should join the government to prevent the drop out and contribute in providing the vulnerable students with bright and prosperous future.
Sayma Ahmed
10 Mirpur, Dhaka
Collected from Facebook