51. Primary Education: In 2009 there were some 81,500 primary schools (comprising ten types of schools) in Bangladesh enrolling over 16.5 million children in Grades I-V. There were around 361,000 teachers, many of whom had not received training as teachers. The pupil / teacher ratio was 48:1 nationwide.68 Up until 2012, the Government of Bangladesh had established 37,672 primary schools in which 10,756,766 students received free education. There were 66,345 different types of non-governmental primary schools in which about 8,246,444 students received primary education. It should be noted that primary education was not free of cost in non-governmental schools.69 The BNHRC appreciates that the GoB has taken certain measures to reduce cost of primary education in all non-governmental primary schools such as the distribution of textbooks among students of non-governmental primary schools free of cost. Over 43.3 million books have been distributed for free among students of primary, Madrassa and vocational school in the 2014 session. Between 2010 and 2014 over 1.21 billion textbooks had been distributed among 160 million primary and secondary-level students.70 The GoB had also nationalized 26,193 non-governmental primary schools .71 52. The BNHRC takes note of the MICS 2012-2013 that 76 per cent of girls regularly attended school whereas attendance rate for boys was 71 per cent. The overall national rate of primary school attendance was 73.2 per cent. However, the ratio of attendance in secondary school decreased considerably to 46.1 per cent at national level in which the boys’ and girls’ ratio was 40 and 52 per cents respectively. According to the Annual School Census (ASC) 2012, attendance rate in the year 2011 was slightly higher than the 2012-13 MICS: the ratio was higher for girls (86 per cent) than boys (84 per cent).72 53. Secondary Education: The BNHRC recalls that in the previous concluding observations, the Committee on the Rights of the Child recommended that the GoB should take special measures to increase the transition rate from primary school to secondary school. In particular, girls should be given special support to continue education at the secondary level. From the Fifth Periodic State Party Report (see 7.1), it appears that the net enrolment rates at the secondary level is considerably lower than that of primary schools. 68 Ministry of Primary and Mass Education: Main Document, Third Primary Education Development Programme (PEDP3), Directorate of Primary Education, June 2011, p. 41. Ministry of Education, Bangladesh Education Statistics 2012 (BANBEIS, 2013), p. 8. 69 70 See http://www.mopme.gov.bd/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=427&Itemid=495 last visited on 20.10.2014. Also see<http://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/2014/01/02/free-textbooks-distribution-successful-nahid> last visited on 20.10.2014. 71 Available at http://www.totalgoodnews.com/news/nationalisation-of-26193-non-government-primary-schools-of-ba ngladesh-203.html#YXtVAMAsTtM7ePzS.99 last visited on 20.10.2014. 72 Supra 67, at p. 53. 21