Tonser Ali
Twelve UN countries, including Bangladesh, observe World Children’s Day and Children’s Rights Weeks simultaneously. Investing in the welfare of the child is their fundamental right. That investment comes from his family and the state. In addition to financial investment, affection, love, care, human values, etc. need to be invested in for the child to create a cradling environment. Early childhood is the time when it is most important to take care of the child’s upbringing and development. The first six years after a baby is born is the crucial period for his/her growth. Because this is a time of change and that change is both physical and mental.
However, the first 3 years of the child’s growth and development is the most important. During this time the baby’s brain is flexible and develops rapidly. The child’s good and bad experiences affect the growth of the brain. Neglect or abuse at this time complicates the child’s intelligence, behavior, and emotions. Therefore, it can be said that it is important to ensure nutrition, stimulation, protection, and education for the development of the child. Most parents in Bangladesh still have limited knowledge about proper care and upbringing of their children. Young children are deprived of proper services while their parents are at work. While parents are very concerned about a child’s educational success, most are unaware that a lack of motivation and safety can have a devastating effect on a child’s classroom activities. The challenges of early childhood development in Bangladesh are associated with violent behavior, limited access to knowledge, and lack of basic services.
Children of women working in garment factories, children from slums, remote rural areas and disadvantaged minorities, who have limited access to basic services, are at most risk. First of all I would like to highlight some statistics and contemporary realities to explain the importance of investing for a child.Statistics from UNICEF, Bangladesh show that only 43.5 percent of children in Bangladesh are formally ready for primary education and attend school. Due to this, most of the children are deprived of the opportunity to acquire language skills, mutual learning, pre-writing and pre-reading skills before going to primary school. Not only are they deprived of education in institutions like pre-primary school, they also do not have an encouraging environment at home. According to the 2013 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey, only 7.6 households in Bangladesh have three or more books for children under the age of five. And only 13.4 percent of three-to five-year-olds receive early childhood education.
Due to the geographic allocation, the facilities are very limited in many areas and the lack of quality teachers and learning environment is also a challenge. Above all, Bangladesh lacks a learning environment and materials for young children. Some of the most populous countries in the world, Bangladesh is beginning to see a glimmer of hope a step through in the issues of high rates of child marriage, scarcity of family planning, abuse of women, backwardness of women and children in decision making. Analysts believe that the spread of the coronavirus will threaten enmany achievements in the country. Almost all of the educators agree that the quality of students in Covid-19 has declined. There is a light of hope in the job market right now that employers are saying they are not getting skilled people. And young people say they are not getting jobs. We need to get out of this paradox. Technical education is just for the poor.
This investment must be made for the future development of the country-this idea must also come out. Because this kind of thinking increases the interest for the son of the family. Investment must be seen as a child’s right. All concerned should come forward to develop the children who are getting married before the age of 18 as future working citizens. Increase women’s participation in the formal sector as well as acquire technical education skills. It is important to ensure that the allocation for the social security sector is not less than the capacity of the government. We all know that the resources of the government are limited. Therefore, it is equally important to increase the contribution of NGOs and individual entrepreneurs in investing in children. We hope that everyone will agree that quality and up-to-date education of public and private educational institutions is essential for early development and education and above all to turn it into a skilled workforce in the future.
The writer is a professor of English at the Zahidur Rahman Mohila Degree College in Bogura.
