Socioeconomic Profile of Learners in the Bangladesh Armed Forces: Insights from Open and Distance Learning

Bangladesh Open University (BOU) offers a specialized programme called HSC niche-1 that is intended for troops in the country's armed services. This programme has been operating successfully since 2014, and throughout the past years, a sizable number of students have graduated. These students are the Bangladesh Army, Navy, and Air Force's entry-level soldiers. This paper's primary goal is to ascertain the socioeconomic profile of the HSC niche-1 learner’s families. The author has attempted to investigate the learners’ socioeconomic situation by looking at their home location, income, occupation, and level of education. Both quantitative and qualitative data collection methods have been used in this study. Interviews were conducted with 225 learners who successfully completed the niche-1 programme utilizing a standardized questionnaire. Three focus group discussions (FGD) have been conducted to gather qualitative data. In total, 25 students took part in the FGD. According to the report, the majority of armed forces students came from moderately solvent households. The study found that a substantial portion of the students come from low-income backgrounds. The learner's families (parents) are not highly educated and not very wealthy. From a social standpoint, the majority of students come from middle-class and lower-middle-class backgrounds. Then, a sizable portion of the students were from households with poor socioeconomic status.