Underprivileged Children's Educational Programme () is a

Bangladeshi Bangladeshis ( ) are the citizens and nationals of Bangladesh, a South Asian country centred on the transnational historical region of Bengal along the Bay of Bengal, eponymous bay. Bangladeshi nationality law, Bangladeshi citizenship was fo ...

non-profit organization based in Dhaka that works with children. It provides vocational training in Bangladesh. Parveen Mahmud, chairman of MIDAS Financing Limited, is the chairman of Underprivileged Children's Educational Programme.

History

Underprivileged Children's Educational Programme traces its origin to a relief effort of Lindsay Allen Cheiney, a

New Zealander New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

, who came after the

1970 Bhola cyclone The 1970 Bhola cyclone (also known as the Great Cyclone of 1970) was a catastrophic and extremely deadly tropical cyclone that struck East Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh) and India's West Bengal on 12 November 1970. It remains the deadliest t ...

. It had 60 students in the beginning. With funding from the Government of Denmark Cheiney was able develop a three-year program for the education of children from low-income groups in South Western Bangladesh. The program established a technical school in Dhaka in 1983 later expanded in

Chittagong Chittagong ( ), officially Chattogram, (, ) (, or ) is the second-largest city in Bangladesh. Home to the Port of Chittagong, it is the busiest port in Bangladesh and the Bay of Bengal. The city is also the business capital of Bangladesh. It ...

and

Khulna Khulna (, ) is the third-largest city in Bangladesh, after Dhaka and Chittagong. It is the administrative centre of the Khulna District and the Khulna Division. It is the divisional centre of 10 districts of the division. Khulna is also the seco ...

. The Underprivileged Children's Educational Programme registered nationally in 1990. It owns a technical school in Mirpur. By 2010, 37 thousand children are enrolled in schools of the Underprivileged Children's Educational Programme. From 1979 to 2010, 171,016 children benefitted from the Underprivileged Children's Educational Programme. By 2012, enrollment had increased to 45 thousand children. It receives funding from

Save the Children The Save the Children Fund, commonly known as Save the Children, is an international non-governmental organization. It was founded in the UK in 1919; its goal is to improve the lives of children worldwide. The organization raises money to imp ...

(Denmark-Sweden),

Danish International Development Agency Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) is the brand used by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark when it provides humanitarian aid and development assistance to other countries, with focus on developing countries. There is no disti ...

Department for International Development The Department for International Development (DFID) was a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the government of the United Kingdom, from 1997 to 2020. It was responsible for administering foreign aid ...

, and

Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) is an office-level agency in the federal administration of Switzerland, and a part of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. Together with other federal offices, SDC is responsible for ...

. In 2016, 99 percent of the students of Underprivileged Children's Educational Programme received GPA-5 in SSC national exams, the highest possible grade. In 2022, it launched a joint program with Standard Chartered Bangladesh for skilling training for those affected by the

COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh The COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh was a part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The virus was confirmed to have spread to Bangladesh in March 2020. The firs ...

. It also has a partnership with Social Islami Bank to provide training to underprivileged children.

References

1990 establishments in Bangladesh Organisations based in Dhaka {{Bangladesh-org-stub