Creating Child-Friendly Schools in Bangladesh | Good Neighbors’ Journey to Achieve SDG 4

What is a Child-Friendly School Environment?

A child-friendly school environment is the cornerstone of quality education. It’s a place where children feel safe, respected, and actively engaged—essential elements that fuel their learning and development. Such environments champion holistic growth, significantly reduce dropout rates, and foster genuine inclusion, especially for children from marginalized communities. Access to health services, strong community involvement, and the use of positive discipline are also vital. When children are heard, protected, and supported, they are not only more likely to stay in school but to thrive and succeed. A child-friendly school nurtures not just academic learning, but the overall well-being of every single child.

The Challenge: Barriers to Quality Education in Bangladesh

In many rural and marginalized urban areas of Bangladesh, schools face multiple challenges:

·        Poor sanitation and hygiene

·        Overcrowded classrooms and inadequate infrastructure

·        Lack of inclusive practices and safety measures

·        Disengaged school governance structures

These issues disproportionately affect girls, children with disabilities, and those from underprivileged backgrounds, making school an unwelcoming or even unsafe space.

Our Commitment: Aligning with Global Goals for Local Impact

Good Neighbors Bangladesh (GNB) is dedicated to transforming these challenges into opportunities. Our work is deeply aligned with Sustainable Development Goal 4 (Quality Education), which strives to eliminate discrimination in education and ensure equal access for all vulnerable children. We believe that access to quality education must go hand-in-hand with access to health, hygiene, and emotional well-being.

GNB’s Comprehensive Strategy for Child-Friendly Schools

GNB launched a multi-faceted approach to promote Child-Friendly School Environments (CFSE). This strategy includes:

• Strengthening School Management Committees (SMCs)
• Implementing the Participatory School Monitoring (PSM) system
• Promoting inclusive learning through the WordMaster Competition
• Establishing girls’ schools and improving menstrual hygiene management (MHM)
• Providing Education Materials and supporting Back-to-School initiatives
• Offering Teacher’s Training and organizing Seminars on Quality Education

Strengthening School Foundations

1. Empowering School Management Committees (SMCs)

Weak SMCs were identified as a major barrier to quality learning environments.

Our Action: GNB partnered with government and non-government primary schools, launching a focused initiative to strengthen SMCs. This involved:

Extensive training for SMC members on their roles, responsibilities, child rights, and child-friendly governance.

ü  Regular follow-up meetings to ensure engagement and accountability.

ü  Improving school governance, sanitation, classroom facilities, and inclusiveness.

ü  Installing billboards promoting child rights to raise community awareness and support.

ü  Impact:

ü  By 2016, several targeted schools were declared child-friendly.

ü  Significant positive changes among SMC members, teachers, students, parents, local government, and the wider community.

ü  Improved student retention and school transition rates.

2. Sustaining Progress with Participatory School Monitoring (PSM)

To sustain improvements and address inactive SMCs, poor child rights awareness, weak infrastructure, limited local education authority engagement, and declining sponsorships.

Our Action: Introduced in 2018, PSM is a self-monitoring, community-centered system built on three pillars:

§  Communication: Enhancing governance through regular meetings, targeted SMC training, and post-exam evaluations.

§  Recognition: Monitoring school performance based on enrollment, attendance, and pass rates.

§  Support: Improving infrastructure, including classrooms, libraries, and WASH facilities.

§  GNB forms or strengthens PSM committees (parents, teachers, local leaders, government representatives), training them in child rights, school governance, and participatory tools. They use simple checklists to assess conditions and develop actionable school improvement plans.

Impact:

ü  319 partner schools now operate under the PSM system.

ü  Improved school governance and accountability of SMCs and teachers.

ü  Enhanced community ownership and participation in school management.

ü  Reduced dropout rates and improved student attendance.

ü  Safer, more inclusive, and child-friendly school environments.

Enhancing Learning & Engagement

3. Fostering Dialogue: Seminars on Quality Education

Our Aim: To create platforms for constructive and open discussions among stakeholders (community levels, government partners, Teachers, Guardians, Students) about quality education.

Our Approach: Through root-level seminars, GNB emphasizes how contest-based education can inspire children to become self-motivated learners, contributing to SDG 4 targets.

4. Investing in Educators: Teacher Development Initiatives

The National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) curriculum pose challenges for teachers, especially in rural areas, due to lack of training and resources.

Our Commitment: GNB is dedicated to improving education quality by building teacher capacity. We operate four rural and two urban schools under the NCTB curriculum and collaborate with 319 partner schools through PSM.

Our Focus:

ü  Enhancing teacher capacity in education-friendly settings.

ü  Strengthening classroom management and technology integration skills.

ü  Expanding knowledge for lifelong learning.

Our Methods: Child education seminars, subject-specific workshops (English, Mathematics), need-based teacher training, monthly head teacher meetings, and weekly classroom performance monitoring.

Recognition: Good Neighbors Bangladesh was awarded the UNESCO-Hamdan Prize for Teacher Development in 2024 for these efforts.

5. Igniting a Passion for English: The WordMaster Competition

Rural students often struggle with English due to limited exposure, putting them at a disadvantage.

Our Solution: Launched in 2016, WordMaster is a flagship initiative making English learning engaging and accessible.

Benefits:

ü  Promotes quality and equitable education, bridging rural-urban divides.

ü  Enhances vocabulary, reading, writing, and public speaking skills.

ü  Boosts student confidence through interactive, contest-based learning.

ü  Turns English from a subject of fear into a source of enjoyment.

ü  Contributes to lowering dropout rates by addressing language barriers.

ü  Develops critical thinking and communication skills.

Reach & Impact: In its most recent cycle, WordMaster engaged 536 schools and 12,213 students, attracting educators, parents, and language professionals.

Focused Support for Vulnerable Groups

6. Championing Girls’ Education: Child-Friendly Girls’ Schools

Our Goal: To promote quality education and empower girls, aligning with GNB’s global objective of ensuring the right to education.

Flagship Example: The “GNB Bochaganj Asha Girls’ School,” constructed with strong community participation, operates under GNB’s Education Sector.

Achievements at GNB Bochaganj Asha Girls’ School:

ü  Enrollment surged from 47% to 95%.

ü  Pass rate improved from 85.83% to 100%.

ü  Dropout rate successfully reduced to 0%.

Directly benefited 300 girls (100 sponsored, 200 non-sponsored) and indirectly impacted 250 parents and community members.

7. Ensuring Access: Education Material Support

Our Focus: Helping deprived children and their families by ensuring access to education and reducing learning barriers.

Our Support: Provision of comprehensive educational materials:

ü  Notebooks, schoolbags, pens, pencils.

ü  Umbrellas and rechargeable lamps (especially for off-grid rural areas).

ü  Uniforms and hygiene kits for dignity and well-being.

Target: For our 20,000 target children, we aim for regular transition with zero dropout, combating child marriage and child labor.

8. Promoting Dignity & Health: Reproductive Health for Adolescent Girls

Our Aim: To create a girl-friendly environment by improving Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) in schools (initiated in 2017).

Key Actions:

ü  Renovating washrooms.

ü  Training teachers on MHM.

ü  Holding educational sessions for adolescent girls.

ü  Distributing dignity kits (sanitary napkins, soap).

ü  Organizing community awareness campaigns and publishing MHM materials.

ü  Establishing adolescent corners in five partner schools—dedicated, decorated spaces with seating and washrooms for privacy and support.

Goal: Ensure clean, safe, and supportive school environments for girls’ health, dignity, and continued education.

9. Overcoming Crisis: Back-to-School Initiatives for Girls Affected by COVID-19

Bangladesh faced one of the world’s longest school closures (approx. 82 weeks) during the COVID-19 pandemic, causing severe learning loss, especially among vulnerable girls.

Our Response (2020): GNB launched the “Back to School” pilot project.

Provided commuting assistance, school materials, and teacher training.

Results:

ü  Girls’ enrolment increased from 71% to 85%.

ü  School attendance rose from 52% to 91%.

ü  Public exam pass rates improved from 83% to 100%.

Ongoing Commitment: GNB continues to support through child vulnerability assessments in Focus Zones to prevent dropouts and ensure sustained educational engagement for marginalized girls.

Join Us in Building Brighter Futures

At Good Neighbors Bangladesh, we believe every child deserves a school environment where they can learn, grow, and realize their full potential. Our Child-Friendly School Environment initiatives are making this a reality across Bangladesh