Officials at an orientation meeting have stressed on engaging comprehensive efforts to bring dropped out urban school children under non-formal educational programmes for ensuring their proper development.
Rangpur City Corporation (RpCC) and Eco Social Development Organisation (ESDO) jointly organised the event recently in collaboration with the District Non-Formal Education (NFE) Bureau at the conference room of RpCC .
The event was arranged under the Out-of-School Children Education Programme of the NFE to implement the Sub-component 2.5 of the Fourth Primary Education Development Programme (PEDP-4) in the RpCC areas.
Mayor of Rangpur Mostafizar Rahman Mostafa attended the meeting as the chief guest with Chief Executive Officer of RpCC Md Ruhul Amin Miah in the chair.
Executive Magistrate of RpCC Ferozul Islam, Assistant Director of the District NFE Bureau Musfikur Rahman, Panel Mayor of Rangpur Shamsul Alam, ESDO officials Aiyub Hossain Sujan, Haider Ahmed, Eti Rani Sarker, among others spoke.
The officials working in the education sector, City Councilors, representatives of ESDO and educational institutions, teachers, guardians, civil society members and local elite attended the event.
The speakers said many urban children living in slums areas have fallen out of primary schools during the Covid-19 pandemic and their overall developments are being hampered.
They stressed on the importance of engaging combined efforts of teachers, guardians and public-private-level initiatives to bring the dropped out children under the non formal education programme for maintaining their normal educational life.
Mayor Mostafa said there is no alternative to ensure life-skill oriented quality education by adopting an alternative education system for out-of-school children in backward urban slum areas.
“The government and non-governmental organisations, teachers, guardians and conscious citizens should engage comprehensive efforts to protect the rights of education for the children in urban slums areas through bringing them under the NFE programme,” he added.
