A Training of Trainers (ToT) on Right to Education was organized by Campaign for Popular Education (CAMPE) under the Civil Society Education Fund (CSEF) Project from 29 to 31 January at CAMPE Training Centre, Mohammadpur, Dhaka. The Specific purpose of the three days training program was the capacity building of Teachers’ Union and Partner organization on Right to Education which would contribute to (i) better understanding of the concept related to Right to Education, (ii) strengthen education advocacy capacity, and (iii) enhancing the negotiation power of teacher union and partner organizations. 28 participants representing Teachers Association, Partner NGOs of CAMPE, representative of NGOs working for ethnic minority groups along with CAMPE staff participated in the ToT.

Dr Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad, Chairman, Governing Council, Dhaka School of Economics & Chairmen of PKSF and Ms. Tasneem Athar, Deputy Director, CAMPE was present in the opening ceremony as chief guest and special guest respectively. DR. Ahmad mentioned that education is the responsibility of the state but still it is not the right according to the Constitution of Bangladesh. As Co-chair of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2010 formulation Committee, he emphasized on four important issues namely (i) inclusion of all children, (ii) ensuring quality education, (iii) creating an equal citizen base, and (iv) promoting humanity. He also discussed that teachers, parents and students are the major actors involved with the education process and suggested to include community in the process for ensuring quality education. Dr. Ahmad raised the issue that for enacting Right to Education separate Act needs to pass in the Parliament and the constitution also needs to be revised /amended. With regard to financing education, he opined that if the government allocate the committed amount i.e. 6% of GDP, education sector may not be dependent on external resources. However, considering the current absorption capacity, the allocation can be raised phase by phase. In this regard government need to allocate 3% to 4.5% of GDP by next 2 to 3 years towards reaching the ultimate target. Ms. Tasneem Athar emphasized on collaboration of different citizen group in particular, Teacher Associations and NGOs, for raising collective voice for realizing the Right to Education.

The workshop activities were guided by "Education Rights: A guide for practitioners and activists" which was jointly published by ActionAid and the Global Campaign for Education (GCE). Both external and internal resource person was involved with different session in the training program. The resource persons included (i) Sirazud-Dahar Khan, Chief Executive, Interaction, (ii) Jyoti F Gomes, Director Education, Caritas Bangladesh, (iii) S A Hasan Al Farooque, Capacity Development Officer, ASPBAE, (iv) Tapon Kumar Das, Program Manager, CAMPE, and (v) K. M. Enamul Hoque, Program Manager of RMED Unit and National Coordinator, CSEF, CAMPE.

In the working session, the facilitators used different methods for easy understanding of right to education such as discussion, group work, presentation and question-answer session. In all the session, participants were actively participate and openly discussed about the challenges faced by them and improvements required to make education system effective. At the end session, the participants prepare work plan incorporating the knowledge and experience throughout the training program and transfer of knowledge among the union members.

Ms. Rasheda K. Choudhury, Executive Director of CAMPE was the Guest of Honour in the closing session. She acknowledged teachers as the main driving force inside the classroom and also encourage changing the situation of the classroom for securing education right. She also stated that this program create an opportunity through which the participants could contribute and facilitate in the advocacy process which is essential for achieving Education for All (EFA). The overall training program was moderated by K. M Enamul Hoque, National coordinator, CSEF Project and Program Manager, CAMPE who was supported by Mirza Quamrun Naher, Deputy Program Manager and Maksuda Afroz, Program Officer, CSEF Project, CAMPE.