Partnerships & Projects
Bangladesh-Canada Collaboration in Public Policy Research
Dr. M.A. Miyan, Vice-Chancellor, IUBAT (left) and Mr. B.D. Rahmatullah, Director of Training, Rural Electrification Board (right) launching the latest SFU-IUBAT policy monograph.
Partners
IUBAT - International University of Business Agriculture and Technology, Centre for Policy Research, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Public Policy Program, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, British Columbia
Description
SFU and IUBAT are collaborating on public policy research of relevance to Bangladesh via the Centre for Policy Research, an institute linked to IUBAT - International University of Business Agriculture and Technology. Research results are communicated widely in an accessible and non-partisan form, in both English and Bengali.
Simon Fraser University has entered into a memorandum of understanding with IUBAT. By this agreement, SFU encourages participation by its faculty and students in projects of the Centre.
Results
The three most recent results are the following:
1) A New Mandate for the Rural Electrification Board
A lack of reliable electrical power is severely impeding Bangladesh economic development. Seventy-eight percent of Bangladeshi firms cite poor electricity service as a "major" or "severe" obstacle to expansion. Successful reform requires building on a foundation of administrative credibility. The most credible of the major agencies in the power sector is the Rural Electrification Board (REB). Over the last decade, it has doubled the number of customer connections, and now distributes 40 percent of all power generated in Bangladesh. The authors of this monograph recommend an expansion of the REB mandate to enable the REB and its network of rural cooperatives (Palli Biddyut Samitee) to create generating capacity independent of the national grid, capacity whose power would be distributed on a priority basis to customers in the local participating PBS.
2) A Survey of School Quality Among Parents in Uttara, Suburban Dhaka, Bangladesh
As of 2004, there were 18 million children enrolled in 110,000 primary schools in Bangladesh, an enrolment increase of one third since 1991. Many parents choose to enrol their children in private schools where parents pay, in nonformal schools run by NGOs such as BRAC, and in madrasas. The popularity of school types other than government-run schools suggests that parents have concerns about school quality. This study surveys attitudes toward school quality among parents of primary school age children in Uttara, a suburban neighbourhood of Dhaka, Bangladesh.
3) A Survey of Barriers to Girls' Secondary School Participation in Rural Bangladesh
Over the last 15 years, secondary school enrolment rates among both boys and girls have risen dramatically. However, girls' rates of progression and completion of the secondary cycle (from grades six through ten) are distrubingly low - albeit the comparable rates for boys are also low. At grade six there is near parity between the number of boys and girls enrolled. By grade ten, boys are significantly ahead of girls in participation in public examinations and promotion to higher secondary school. Only 13 per cent of girls who complete the tenth grade transition to the higher secondary grades of eleven and twelve. There are powerful forces at work within schools, families and the broader society that dissuade girls from staying in school. Based on interview responses among teachers, students and parents in four rural schools, this study analyses why girls drop out of school, and offers policy recommendations to increase completion rates.
Contact
Dr. John Richards
Public Policy Program
Simon Fraser University, Harbour Centre
Room 3273, 515 W. Hastings Street
Vancouver, BC
Telephone: 778-782-5250
Email: jrichard@sfu.ca