Better Schools for Brighter Futures
Volunteers Association for Bangladesh (VAB) improves the lives of children in rural Bangladesh through education. VAB awards scholarships, provides tutoring, equips classrooms, and trains teachers. Programs begin in preschool and continue through college. These programs lead to improved test scores, lower dropout rates, and ultimately a better standard of living for the students. Founded in 1998, VAB’s first scholarship recipients are now in universities, professional colleges or starting their careers. VAB supports a secular education. Click here to see all of VAB’s programs.
2011 SSC Exam Results Are Out: VAB Schools Perform Extraordinarily
Students who attended the 32 VAB-assisted rural high schools scored 4 percentage points higher than the national average in the SSC Examination (86% as compared to 82%). This is a remarkable accomplishment considering that the national average is dominated by better-equipped urban schools, with better trained teachers and more affluent students in general.
- 96% of VAB scholarship awardees passed the exam
- 92% of them passed with an “A-” grade or higher
- 24% passed with an “A+”
Congratulations to VAB’s students for their hard work and success. VAB schools have been performing better than the national average for the past few years when the full range of VAB programs came into effect. The trend is also moving upward. VAB scholarship awardees also have been succeeding in the 90-95 percent range for the past few years, and here also the trend is upward. See previous years here.
Most VAB staff are volunteers. Fund raising costs are kept low through mailed in and online donations. Please consider making a donation today.
VAB’s Skill Training Program
Besides focusing on general education, VAB also pursues skill training in computer and information technology. This training is managed by VAB-NJ. Through its Computer Literacy Program (CLP), it has established 216 centers and trained 40,000 underprivileged students (49% female) in mostly rural areas of 52 districts of Bangladesh. Recently, under a Private-Public Partnership Initiative of the Government of Bangladesh, it has launched a program to establish 100 new Computer Centers and Smart Class Rooms in secondary schools (computer aided education). VAB-NJ provides an opportunity to introduce its program in a high school of one’s choice. For further details, please visit: http://www.vabonline.org/vabnj