Good practice

Programa de Asistencia a la Educación Secundaria Femenina (FSSAP) — Becas Condicionales para la Educación de las Niñas, Bangladesh

Bangladesh · Dhaka · See the Bangladesh profile

El FSSAP de Bangladesh (1994) otorga becas condicionales y exenciones a niñas en secundaria rural. Apoyó 2 millones+ de niñas al año, reduciendo el abandono escolar del 14,7% al 3,5%, retrasando el matrimonio un año y logrando la paridad de género en las matrículas.

14.7% → 3.5%

Tasa de abandono escolar en las zonas del programa

30% → 48%

Proporción de niñas en la enseñanza secundaria (1990–1997)

2,000,000+

Niñas apoyadas al año

+1 year

Edad al primer matrimonio

Details

Maturity: Established
Promoter: Government of Bangladesh — Ministry of Education (with ADB co-financing)
Period: 1994–ongoing
Keywords: education, government, rural development, gender

Context

Lanzado en 1994 por el Ministerio de Educación de Bangladesh con cofinanciación del Banco Asiático de Desarrollo, el FSSAP concede estipendios condicionados y exenciones de tasas escolares a niñas rurales de los grados 6 a 10, con la condición de al menos un 75% de asistencia, notas aprobatorias y permanecer solteras.

Results

La proporción de niñas en la enseñanza secundaria subió del 30% (1990) al 48% (1997); el abandono escolar en las zonas del programa cayó del 14,7% al 3,5%; el programa apoyó a más de 2 millones de niñas al año en 460 distritos. Un estudio longitudinal de 24 años del Banco Mundial (Khandker et al.) halló que la edad al primer matrimonio aumentó un año, la fecundidad disminuyó y mejoraron las perspectivas de empleo. La paridad de género en secundaria se alcanzó antes que en muchos países comparables.

Implementation

Implementation detail (cost, timeline, staffing, conditions for success) is not yet available for this practice.

Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

C-NAPSE web research — accessed 2026-06-23
Government of Bangladesh — Ministry of Education (with ADB co-financing) — accessed 2026-06-23
World Bank: Net Impact of FSSAP (Khandker et al.) — accessed 2026-06-23
UNESCO FSSAP documentation — accessed 2026-06-23
PMC review — social exclusion framework — accessed 2026-06-23
ADB video feature — accessed 2026-06-23

Quality score: 100/100

How is this calculated?

Evidence: Observational / pre–post

Top 1% in this catalogue (719 scored practices)

Scores cluster high, so position within the catalogue is often more telling than the number alone.

Evaluation

Evaluated by C-NAPSE

Score profile — the dimensions behind the score — how it's computed

Transferability / replicability3/3

The conditional-stipend model has been explicitly documented by the World Bank and ADB as replicable and has been adopted in Pakistan, Egypt and other countries — demonstrating wide transfer.

Impact on gender equality1/1

Girls' secondary enrolment rose from 30% to 48% of total enrolment (1990–1997); age at first marriage rose 1 year; fertility declined — direct, measured impacts on gender equality outcomes.

Effectiveness1/1

13% annual increase in girls' enrolment vs 2.5% for boys; dropout rates fell from 14.7% to 3.5%; 24-year longitudinal study confirms sustained effects on marriage, employment and fertility.

Efficiency1/1

Conditional cash transfer achieved national-scale enrolment gains at relatively low per-student cost; the government expanded it nationally ahead of schedule due to early results.

Evaluated outcomes1/1

World Bank (Khandker et al. longitudinal study), UNESCO, ADB, and PMC peer-reviewed publications provide independent multi-decadal evaluations from multiple organisations.

Sustainability1/1

Operating continuously since 1994 at national scale; embedded in Bangladesh's education budget and reflected in SDG 4 reporting as a core policy instrument.

Achievement / evidence1/1

Gender parity in secondary enrolment achieved; 2 million+ girls supported annually; dropout halved; marriage delayed — all verified by independent studies.

Gender-mainstreaming embedding1/1

Programme explicitly targets the gender gap in secondary education; eligibility conditions, monitoring and budgeting are all framed around girls' access and retention.

Curator validation1/1

Independently evaluated by the World Bank, UNESCO, ADB and multiple academic journals; cited in SDG 4 national progress reports as a model intervention.

Cite this

Evidoria. Programa de Asistencia a la Educación Secundaria Femenina (FSSAP) — Becas Condicionales para la Educación de las Niñas, Bangladesh. Persistent ID: 7b3571f4-fb2a-4ffc-97f9-31db521b0088.

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