CAMPE serves as the secretariat of Education Watch. CAMPE as part of its commitment to effective implementation of EFA works as an umbrella for its partner NGOs.

Education Watch Bangladesh was set up in 1998 by a group of like-minded individuals and organizations concerned about educational development in the country. The need for embarking on such an initiative was expressed in the National Conference on Universal Primary Education two years earlier in 1996. The Conference, held in Dhaka, was organized by a cross section of civil society representatives and inaugurated by the then Prime Minister of Bangladesh. Weaknesses in monitoring the EFA effort, especially the lack of valid and reliable information necessary for developing policies and plans were identified as primary constraints to ensure proper implementation of the EFA. Education Watch was thus born with the initiative and support of interested individuals and non-government organizations.

The broad aim of Education Watch was to take on the role of an independent, research-based monitoring mechanism for assessing progress in EFA. The specific aims are as follows

1. Conduct periodic independent review of the state of primary and basic education through research, surveys and studies and publish annually a report on aspects of basic and primary education.
2. Disseminate the findings of the research to all stakeholders at various levels in order to enhance public awareness about education and promote public participation in educational policy dialogue.
3. Engage in advocacy in support of quality Education for All in the country.

At the beginning, two committees were formed to guide and oversee EW activities – the Advisory Board and the Working Group. Individuals with known professional expertise in their individual capacities were included in these bodies. Another body called the Technical Committee was also formed later. Distinguished people including researchers, academics, activists and education officials are members of the committees. There were 25 persons involved in these bodies of Education Watch in 1998; the number increased to 49 for Education Watch 2002.\

A new theme related to primary and basic education is selected for each year’s Education Watch research. An extensive participatory process is followed to get comments and feedback from concerned individuals and agencies on the selected issue. The Working Group is responsible for identifying the research questions, selecting the indicators, and finalizing the instruments. A Research Team is formed taking people from the Working Group and outside. This team is responsible for carrying out the fieldwork and writing the report. The Technical Team provides technical support to the Research Team.

1. The first Education Watch explored ‘internal efficiency’ of primary education in Bangladesh. The indicators considered were access/enrolment, drop-out, physical facilities in school, teacher training and qualifications, community/parental participation, mobility to higher grades, supply of books and learning aids, school supervision, and student achievement in nationally prescribed basic competencies.
    
2. In the second one, the learning achievement of students completing the primary cycle was the main focus. Student learning achievement was assessed on the basis of terminal competencies at the end of the primary education phase identified by the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB). The situation of teacher training was also explored in this study.
    
3. The third Watch revisited some of the internal efficiency indicators and collected information on private expenditure for schooling, school budgets, and self-rated literacy of the population.
    
4. The fourth one was an in-depth exploration of the literacy situation in the country

Firstly, the findings of Education Watch are based on primary data collected for the purpose. Secondly, instead of complete enumeration, sample surveys are done in order to obtain national and sub-national estimates in respect of the selected indicators. Thus, the challenge has been to choose a representative sample of subjects through which valid and reliable estimates could be produced. Random sampling has been the principal chosen technique for using appropriate statistical methods. Development of reliable instruments for use with the sample populations has also been an important task that determined validity of findings.

Types of survey instruments developed and used in the Education Watch surveys include household survey questionnaire, school survey questionnaire, private cost of schooling survey questionnaire, questionnaire for socio-economic information, community profile questionnaire, assessment of competency-based learning outcome, and literacy test instrument. In developing the instruments following steps were followed:

1. Review of relevant existing instruments
2. Review of relevant literature
3. Preparation of draft instruments through workshops with the national experts and the members of Education Watch committees
4. Pre-pilot field test
5. Pilot study
6. Analysis of pilort study data and preparation of final set of instruments
7. Approval of the instruments by the Education Watch Committees
    

The first consideration in sampling has been the number of separate estimates expected from the research. In the first, third and fourth cases, eight different strata were considered dividing the country into eight mutually exclusive areas. These were, six strata containing the rural areas of six administrative divisions, the metropolitan cities and the municipalities. In the second Watch, it was decided to produce six separate estimates for three types of schools located in rural and urban areas. In all the cases, separate samples were drawn for each stratum in order to derive separate estimates.

Data were analysed through computers using available versions of the software Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS).

A strict quality control protocol was adopted for each year’s field investigation. Three layers of supervisors and monitors oversaw data collection to ensure quality. Random visits of the field stations, post enumeration check, resurvey of some of the cases were part of this process. Reliability of the learning achievement and literacy data was very high – reliability coefficients lay between 0.92 and 0.96. Both external and intrinsic validity of data were ensured. Data were also validated by analyzing other recent relevant studies.

1. Education Watch has established itself as an independent, alternative and complementary system of monitoring EFA.
2. A large number of national experts, practitioners in education and civil society representatives has actively participated in every step of Education Watch studies.
3. Although competency-based education was introduced at primary level in 1992, Education Watch first initiated competency-based assessment of learning achievement.
4. EW established a benchmark for literacy status of the population through an in-depth exploration. For the first time, test-based literacy assessment with nation-wide samples was undertaken in Bangladesh.
5. Media provided good coverage of the findings which helped in dissemination of findings and raising awareness of the people.
6. Despite the government reservation on the existing scenario presented in the Education Watch report on the existing status of primary education, the government has not fully rejected its validity. This is quite apparent in the government initiatives as reflected in the PEDP II, the macro framework for primary education development that has addressed many of the concerns raised in the Education Watch reports.
7. From the donors side, it is more often than not referred to and treated as a reliable database. As such they are always keen to know the latest updates.
8. The Education Watch reports are used as reliable database by researchers, educators and other members of the civil society.
9. CAMPE in many cases uses the Education Watch groups and other stakeholders to lobby with the government in favor of a gender sensitive approach in the policy framework. In this context women leadership at the highest level, have to some extent served useful to gain access and affirmative decision.

Gender gap in primary education enrollment has been eliminated, but disparity in other areas such as a difference in learning achievement, family investment in girls’ education and female participation in teaching and educational management persist. Proportion of female teachers in general is below 40 percent – 93 percent in NGO schools and only 7.6 percent in Madrassas. Less than 15 percent of the school management committee members are female. NGO schools are far ahead of the others in reducing these disparities.

The Watch reports each year has been made public and launched in a high profile public ceremony with the presence of policy-makers, planners, academics, representatives of NGOs and civil society organizations

The Education Watch reports each year created a flurry of headlines, editorials, special feature articles and a public debate which helped to make public aware of the issues and influence public opinion.

The national level highly publicized launching has been followed by a series of seminars and workshops at the sub-national levels – in the six divisions and some districts. This follow-up is carried out on demand from and in cooperation with local NGOs and civil society groups. Some of the important outcomes of sub-national dissemination activities are:

• Creating a space and scope for local functionaries and civil society groups to interact with the EW effort.
• EW gets an opportunity to share views and findings on critical educational issues with local groups, receive feed-back and influence public opinion.
• EW’s and CAMPE’s role in advocacy is strengthened.
• Getting an insight into field level realities, complementing and enriching research findings.
• Creation of demand for “user friendly” versions of the Education Watch reports for use at the grass root level.

1. Although the government has not rejected it outright, it also does not openly accept it.
2. The civil society does not question the validity of the Education Watch reports but has expressed its concern whether the statistical sample is representative of the situation.
3. The Education Watch group is quite gender sensitive but it is hard to get highly qualified women researchers to make a gender balanced team. The group itself is not gender balanced, but the field teams are equally representative.
4. Indiscriminate use of Education Watch findings by the media and professional researchers at times create confusion and misunderstanding at different levels.