A nationwide survey will be conducted to evaluate the World Bank (WB) funded stipend programme under the Secondary Education Quality and Access Enhancement Project (SEQAEP), according to officials.
The SEQAEP will conduct the assessment programme inline with the global bank's requirement to see whether the target group of students is benefited or not out of the programme, a senior official told the FE.
"The survey will be conducted among the beneficiary students across the country to evaluate its US $155.7 million SEQAEP project that was launched in July 2008,"said Prof Zulfiquar Rahman, deputy director of the project.
He said the survey is to evaluate the process of selecting the beneficiary group and awarding stipend. "The authorities will modify the selection criteria and the fund disbursement process, if the survey outcomes suggest," he added.
He, however, denied any relation of survey with the project extension as the initial spell of the stipend programme will end by 2014. "The WB also agreed to extend its ongoing project up to 2016 that will need additional amount of US $159 million.
The deputy director told the FE that they have already selected a firm to conduct the nationwide survey. "The firm will start collection of samples asking beneficiary groups of people from different parts of the country soon", he added.
Prof Rahman said around 1.1 million secondary school-going insolvent students from 125 upazilas across the country have been receiving the benefits. "The stipend includes cash-money and tuition fee waiver of the selected students", he added.
He said the authorities have also decided to expand the ongoing project to additional 60 upazilas from the next session.