Shawdesh Desk:

Women are advancing in education and job remarkably in the country, thanks to different initiatives taken by the present government.

It has been possible as the Awami League-led government has taken different steps in ensuring women education after coming to power in 2009, experts said.

The government is also taking some dynamic steps so that they can achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), they mentioned.

Although 2015 was the deadline for achieving the MDGs, it was possible by the government a few years before the time frame.

According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Educational Information and Statistics (BANBEIS)-2019, the average participation of female students is 50.60 percent in the country.

Of them, 51.08 percent are in primary while 53.83 in secondary, 48.43 in college, 55.01 in madrasah, 54.09 in professional education, 46.12 in teacher education, 25.34 in technical-vocational education, 36.23 percent in universities, 43.39 percent in English medium.

Educationists said the participation of female students is increasing day by day for various initiatives taken by the government.

Distributing free textbooks among students on the first day of New Year, giving stipends and school feeding programme are contributing to the remarkable success of females in education.

The women are ahead compared to their male counterparts in academic results and pass rates.

The latest SSC and equivalent results published on December 30, 2021 showed that once again, girls outshone boys in both passing and getting GPA-5.

They took the lead in terms of pass rate for the fifth year in a row with 94.50 percent pass rate against 92.69 percent of boys in the public exams.

A total of 183,340 students scored a GPA-5 in the SSC and equivalent exams where 103,578 are girls and 79,762 are boys. This means 23,816 more girls got GPA-5 than their male counterparts.

In the last HSC and equivalent exams 2021 results published on February 13 this year showed that girls continued to outperform boys with a 96.49 percent pass rate, compared to 94.14 percent pass rate of boys in 11 education boards across the country.

Out of 715,516 male students who took part in the exams, 673,580 passed while 633,138 female students out of 656,165 passed the exams. Besides this, out of total 189,169 GPA-5 holders, 86,763 are boys and 102,406 are girls.

In February 26, 2020, a total of 172 meritorious students from public and private universities were awarded “Prime Minister Gold Medal 2018” for their academic achievements.

Out of the 172 students, 84 were male while 88 were the female students from 36 universities, who secured the highest marks or CGPA in their faculties.

The females are also performing well in job through their good academic results and performance. The number of female applicants and recommended candidates in BCS, the most competitive examination in Bangladesh is also increasing gradually.

The results of the recent BCS exams show a picture of women moving forward in the country. In the 34th BCS exam, 32.35 per cent of the applicants were women while 35.62 percent female got recommendation for the appointment.

The female applicant rate in the 35th BCS was 33.34 per cent and 27.92 percent women was recommended, 33.13 percent women participated in 36th BCS and 26.22 percent got recommendation, 34.82 per cent applicants was women and 24.60 per cent recommended in 37th BCS, 36.53 percent applicants was women in 38th BCS and 26.91 percent women candidates recommended in the BCS, and percentage of women applicants in the 39th BCS was 56.35 percent and 47 percent women recommended in the BCS exam.

Women’s participation in the employment has increased manyfold over time in the country.

Compared to 4 percent in 1974, the female participation in the labour force has increased to 36.37 percent in 2019.

This change is much faster than the growth of males’ participation in labour which increased to 81.51 percent in 2019 from 80.4 percent in 1974.

According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), the participation rate of female was 29.85 percent in work in 2010; it was 30.34 percent in 2011, 30.84 percent in 2012, 31.34 percent in 2013, 31.85 percent in 2014, 32.37 percent in 2015, 32.88 percent in 2016, 35.86 percent in 2017, 36.15 percent in 2018, and 36.37 percent in 2019.

Besides this, the participation of male was 83.19 percent at job in 2010 and it was 82.64 percent in 2011, 82.08 percent in 2012, 81.52 percent in 2013, 80.96 percent in 2014, 80.39 percent in 2015, 79.83 percent in 2016, 81.43 percent in 2017, 81.48 percent in 2018 and 81.51 percent in 2019.

According to Bangladesh Institute of Development studies (BIDS), the female employees was 28.5 percent in all sectors in 2016, 16.1 percent in industrial, 14.9 percent in manufacturing, 20.8 percent in service and 63.1 percent in agriculture sector.

Education Minister Dr Dipu Moni has said, “Women are moving forward in education as well as the every sector of the society for various initiatives taken by the present government.”

“Stipends for girl students, distribution of free textbooks and women-friendly environment in educational institutions encouraged parents to send their daughters to schools,” she added.

Dipu Moni, also joint secretary general of the ruling AL, said, “Now women are getting opportunities to work in every field because the government has created their scopes through formulating various laws and policies. We’ll build a world of equality where everyone will live with equal rights.”

“Our girls are carrying out good performance in football and also doing well in cricket. So we are proud of our women.”

She further said: “A society in which women do not progress can never come forward. So, we want a Bangladesh where both men and women will move forward equally.”