This paper explores the impact of the non-formal primary education programme of the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) on raising health knowl edge of rural Bangladeshi children. Three groups of children — graduates of the BRAC programme, formal school learners and children who never went to school —were assessed with an instrument containing six health knowledge items. A sample of 720 children, equally distributed by study groups and sex, was randomly selected. Data were collected from five areas where a socio-demographic surveillance system was in operation. This study reveals that the Programme graduates were more likely to have higher levels of health knowledge than the children of the other two groups. The impact of the Programme may be due to its extra emphasis on enhancing the positive influence of education in the lives of the rural population.
Unicef.State of the World's Children 1995 . New York: Oxford University Press , 1995.
2.
Unicef.State of the World's Children 1997 . New York: Oxford University Press , 1997.
3.
Rahman MM, Islam MA, Mahalanabis D., Chowdhury S., Biswas E.Impact of health education on the feeding of green leafy vegetables at home to children of the urban poor mothers of Bangladesh, Public Health1994: 108: 211-18
4.
Streatfield K. , Singarimbun M., Diamond I.Maternal education and child immunisation . Demography1990:27: 447-55.
5.
Wcefa.World Declaration on Education for All and Framework for Action to Meet Basic Learning Needs. New York: WCEFA, 1990.
6.
Chowdhury Amr, Mohsin M., Nath SRAssessment of Basic Education of the Children in Bangladesh. Dhaka: Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee, 1992.
7.
Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.Statistical Yearbook of Bangladesh 1997. Dhaka: Ministry of Planning, Government of Bangladesh. 1996.
8.
Chowdhury M., Haq MN, Ahmed Z.Quality of Primary Education in Bangladesh. Paper presented at the conference of universal primary education in Bangladesh, August 1996, Dhaka: Conference Secretariat, 1996.
Nath SRLevel. Pattern and Socio-Economic Determinants of Enrolment in Formal Schools of the Graduates of BRAC's Non-Formal Schools. Dhaka: Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee, 1996.
12.
Nath SR, Chowdhury Amr.Basic Competencies of the Graduates of BRAC Schools of 1995. Dhaka: Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee, 1996.
13.
Nath SR, Khan Mka, Chowdhury Amr.Progress in Basic Competencies of NFPE and PEOC Graduates over Time. Dhaka: Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee, 1994.
14.
Chowdhury Amr , Ziegahn L.Haque N.Shrestha GL, Ahmed Z.Assessing basic competencies: a practical methodology. International Review of Education1994: 40: 437-54.
15.
Nath SR, Mohsin M.Chowdhury Amr.Assessment of Basic Competencies of the Children in Bangladesh 1993. Dhaka: Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee, 1993.
16.
Nath SR, Mohsin M.Chowdhury Amr.Health knowledge of children in Bangladesh: an exploratory study. Public Health1997: 111: 311-15.
17.
Nath SR.The Impact of BRAC's Education Programme on Raising Basic Education Levels for the Children of Rural Bangladesh. An unpublished dissertation submitted to the University of Oxford. UK, 1997.
18.
Cochran WGSampling Techniques. Singapore: John Wiley & Sons, 1977.
19.
Kalton G.Introduction to Survey Sampling. Sage University Paper series on Quantitative Applications in the Social Sciences, 07-035. Newbury Park. CA: Sage, 1983.
20.
Carmines EG, Zeller RAReliability and Validity Assessment. Sage University Paper series on Quantitative Applications in the Social Sciences, 07-017. Newbury Park, CA: Sage, 1979.
21.
Kuder GF, Richardson MWThe theory of the estimation of test reliability. Psychometrika1937: 2: 151-60.
22.
Menard S.Applied Logistic Regression Analysis. Sage University Paper series on Quantitative Applications in the Social Sciences, 07-106. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1995.
23.
Hosmer DW, Lemeshow S.Applied Logistic Regression. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1989.
24.
Otaala B., Myers R., Landers C.Children Caring for Children: New Application of an Old Idea. London: The Consultation Group on Early Childhood Care and Development, 1988.
25.
Williams P. , Weston R., McWhirter J., et al. Health promoting schools: lessons from working intersectorally with primary schools in Australia. Health Education Journal1996: 55: 300-10.
26.
Nath SRSocial factors underlying gender variation of school enrolment: case of rural Bangladesh. The Journal of Rural Development1997: 1: 123-38.
27.
Chowdhury AM, Cash RAA Simple Solution: Teaching Millions to Treat Diarrhoea at Home. Dhaka: University Press Limited, 1996.
