Investment in girls’ education that Bangladesh started nearly three decades ago has paid off enormously – not only in increasing female enrolment but also in deterring early marriages. A recent study that used four rounds of surveys on over 1,700 households over a span of 26 years, has come up with findings that the stipend introduced for secondary-level girl students in Bangladesh has improved education outcomes in the short run. More importantly, in the long run, the Female Secondary Stipend and Assistance Program (FSSAP) has been successful in delaying marriage, increasing the probability of self-employment and non-farm employment among employed women, and increasing the probability of their marrying men who are more educated and employed.
These study results have come light at a time when Unesco estimates that more than half of the world’s students are struggling to learn due to full or partial school closures. It was feared that 11 million girls might not return to schools in 2020 and 2021, and school closures increase risks for girls on multiple levels. The study finds that the development benefits of the stipend program outweigh its cost by more than 200 per cent. Over the years, it contributed on multiple fronts to women’s welfare-schooling attainment, employment, selection of spouse and reproductive behaviour. It introduced uniform stipend and tuition subsidy programme for girls attending secondary schools in rural areas if certain conditions were met: attend 75% of school days; attain some level of measured academic proficiency (45% in class-level test scores), and remain unmarried until completion of secondary school.
Bangladesh introduced the stipend in 1994 with the support of development partners to increase female secondary school enrolment. All subsequent governments have continued and further expanded the program, resulting in girls’ enrolment now surpassing that of boys at the secondary level. After Bangladesh pioneered the large-scale female-targeted conditional cash transfers, it was replicated in Pakistan and some African countries, such as Rwanda and Ghana. The program achieved success well beyond its aims through modest financial support for education. The present year-long closure of schools might cast a negative shadow on this positive trend. The schools concerned and education authorities should devise a plan well in time how the stipend programme can be used to bring recipient girls back to the classroom.
