Improving the Effectiveness of the Conditional Cash Transfers (CCTs) for Education in Bangladesh: The Importance of a Digital Management Information System (MIS)

This paper examines the importance of a digital Management Information System (MIS) to improve the effectiveness of the Conditional Cash Transfers (CCTs) for education in Bangladesh. Despite some positive results such as increasing enrolment and attendance rate, reducing the drop-out rate, minimizing gender gap and delaying early marriage; the overall effectiveness of the CCTs for education in Bangladesh is not satisfactory for the weak and inefficient management system beset with a lot of loopholes for malpractice and corruption. To address these management problems, the government is looking forward to establish program-specific digital management information system (MIS) along with other interventions. Keeping pace with the current situations, this study aims at looking into whether and how the effectiveness can be improved by implementing a digital MIS for the programs in the present context of Bangladesh, suggesting a detailed outline of the MIS for the CCTs for education and making some recommendations for the policy makers who are to implement a digital MIS for the programs. Firstly, the study analytically presents an overview of the CCTs in the past and the present from the Bangladesh and global perspective. The analyses show that some other developing countries have improved the effectiveness of similar programs by implementing digital MISs, but at present there is little guidance about the implementation of a digital MIS for the CCTs in Bangladesh. Secondly, it identifies some aspects in the present management system of the CCTs that can be improved through a digital MIS and analyses three case studies of Brazil, Chile and Indonesia to see how digital MISs can be implemented in different country contexts with the associated challenges. This is followed by an examination of the present country context of Bangladesh as to the implementation of the MIS for the CCTs for education. After that, the study collates what is required from the part of the government for the implementation of a digital MIS, what improvable aspects are there in the CCTs for education in Bangladesh and what advantages and challenges are there at present in Bangladesh for the implementation of a digital MIS for the programs. Considering all these findings, the study has outlined a detailed MIS for the CCTs for education through which the efficiency and the effectiveness of the programs are supposed to be improved. Finally, the study puts forward some recommendations in general for the policy makers on the basis of the findings of the study which is followed by some specific recommendations for implementing the proposed MIS for the CCTs for education in Bangladesh.