Assessment of contributions of NGO Affairs Bureau to the utilization of foreign donation in primary education: an overview

Abstract

The level of financial development that Bangladesh has achieved in recent years is considered to be exemplary for many nations across the world. With ample obstructions to deal with, ranging from natural disasters to political turbulence, the path for the recognition of developing nation would have been tougher without the pragmatic Government policies and participation from non-governmental organizations and the foreign aid, which have been playing a key role in the significant portion of the financial efforts. The education sector of every least developed as well as developing country is extremely vital for the overall development of the nation, hence the foreign funded NGOs participation in this sector is something that is highly anticipated. This paper takes foreign funded NGOs as a core subject matter and analyses its different angles before making a conclusion. This paper also explains the background and development of the NGOs in Bangladesh. The basic intention of this study is to investigate into the core nature of the foreign funded NGOs and suggest the possible explanation of the key obstacles. It is worth mentioning that the share of aid to the NGOs has not been equal over the years and it has increased sharply in recent years. In a bright side, that increase in financial aid has helped shape and flourish the improvement of the life standard of the dwellers from both urban and rural areas. But at the same time, the flow of finance attracts a massive number of NGOs founded almost overnight and these lead to the rise of several concerns and questions. These questions and queries are very crucial ones in order to retain the pace of development. Allegations often contain questions regarding the actual fund received by the target group, blaming the handling parties and NGOs themselves for consuming the major share of the donor’s money. It is an understandable concern, since foreign funded NGOs are blessed with significant flow of foreign currency which with inadequate management, can easily drop into the wrong hands. Besides, the locations of the NGOs are quite scattered in this river delta, which makes it difficult for the NGO affairs bureau to maintain close monitoring. Yet the problems associated with this sector can be simply categorized into couple of sections like inadequate fund management, poor maintaining of donor’s conditions, delay in fund release, too many rules and regulation that slow down the process. In addition, there are problems with governance in NGOs, lack of transparency, accountability in management and miscommunication among concerned bodies.