Chevron Bangladesh and Save the Children have celebrated their long partnership to promote access and increase basic educational outcomes for marginalized children through SHIKHON program.

An event titled‘ Dissemination Program of SHIKHON Tracer Study and Celebrating 13 Years of Partnership’  was held at the Lakeshore Hotel, Gulshan, Dhaka recently.

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According to a release of the Chevron, the SHIKHON project, a collaboration between Chevron and Save the Children since 2008, has reached more than 21,000 people and provided access to primary education to more than 4,000 at-risk, out-of-school children.

For the past 13 years, it has been a critical safety net and springboard to success for local children.

Under the project, dropped out and out of school children completed primary education (school readiness to Grade V) through Non-Formal Primary Education (NFPE) schools and transitioned to nearest high schools in Grade VI; and marginalized hard-to-reach children completed a pre-primary component and Grades I through III from Early Primary Education (EPE) centers or one-room schools and be equipped to transition into Bangladesh’s national education system from Grade IV and beyond.

At the event, the findings of the Tracer Study on the SHIKHON program were presented by Shah Shamim Ahmed, Associate Professor, Institute of Education and Research, Dhaka University.

The findings from the Tracer Study on the Chevron supported SHIKHON project revealed that the program resulted in increased access to cost-effective non-formal basic education for hardest to reach children in targeted communities, increased efficiency, and quality of non-formal basic education services using holistic approaches for children to succeed in school and increased collaboration between the formal and non-formal primary sectors to promote sharing and adoption of best practices.

The event was attended by Eric M. Walker, President of Chevron Bangladesh, Shahin Islam, Project Director, SHIKHON, Save the Children; Muhammad Imrul Kabir, Corporate Affairs Director, Chevron Bangladesh; Dr. Md. Abdul Halim, Director, Institute of Education and Research, Dhaka University; and Mr. Shah Shamim Ahmed, Associate Professor, Institute of Education and Research, Dhaka University, among others.

Chevron Bangladesh, the operator of three gas fields in Sylhet region in the country, invests in activities and programs that focus primarily on economic development, education and health care, reaching thousands of people in northeast Bangladesh.

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Under Chevron Bangladesh’s Quality Education Support initiative, a scholarship drive for high-achieving underprivileged students was launched in 2001. In 2021, scholarships were awarded to 783students in 23 schools.

It also included the remuneration support for additional teachers in selected schools, an endowment fund, sports equipment, school furniture, sanitation facilities and tube-wells to provide safe drinking water for selected schools, said the Chevron.