• How to invest in post-primary education

How to invest in post-primary education

The Female Stipend Programme (FSP), widely acclaimed as a model for achieving gender parity of enrolment, was created in 1982 in Bangladesh to help increase the enrolment and retention of girls in secondary schools, delay their marriage and motherhood, and increase girls’ income-earning potential. This paper is based on a desk study of the FSP for the Bangladesh office of the Department for International Development to evaluate the programme’s effects.

This evaluation finds that, while FSP has clearly had impact in terms of increasing enrolment, a lack of rigorous impact assessment means that little is known of its impact beyond access to schools. The study also identifies a number of shortcomings with the programme, particularly in meeting the needs of the poorest girls.

Key conclusions of the evaluation include:

• there is not yet sufficient evidence of impact in terms of fertility control or delayed marriage, or of "being schooled" leading to "being employed" or "being self-sufficient", or of equality and empowerment. Rigorous impact studies are needed
• there is a need to look beyond access to quality and gender/inclusion issues such as educational processes and achievements
• closer targeting is needed to reach poorer families because existing criteria actually discriminate against them
• obstacles for poorer families could be alleviated by making the criteria more realistic, making provision for extra tuition where needed, by enforcing the use of low-cost government-approved textbooks, and by ensuring timely disbursement of stipends
• stipend programmes are expensive and may not be needed by the majority of beneficiary families; the money might be better spent elsewhere. Parents should have more than just financial motivation for sending girls to school, there should be strong advocacy campaigns raising awareness of the potential benefits of sending girls to school
• close monitoring and evaluation are needed to see that the Programme is meeting its objectives, that the objectives are having the desired impact, and that the strategies used help meet the objectives.

Therefore, while stipends can help reduce disparities in enrolment, far more information is required for governments and development partners to consider the FSP as a model for development or to consider what changes might be made in programme design to make it more effective.

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