Introduction:
Education therefore has been recognized as a priority sector by all governments since her independence. What follows is a brief review of the education sector in Bangladesh as at present with a view to identifying key issues that need to be addressed, presented in Section 2. Section 3 highlights the key issues as identified by the Task Force. Section 4 presents a set of policy recommendations put forward by the Task Force for implementation during the five year term of the next elected Government.
Education Policy:
Education policy refers to the collection of laws and rules that govern the operation of education systems. Education encompasses teaching and learning specific skills, and also something less tangible but more profound: the imparting of knowledge, good judgment and wisdom. Education has as one of its fundamental goals the imparting of culture from generation to generation (see socialization).
"Education policy" refers to the collection of rules, both stated and implicit, or the regularities in practice that govern the behavior of persons in schools. Education policy analysis refers to the scholarly study of education policy. Examples of education policy analysis may be found in such academic journals as Education Policy Analysis Archives.
The salient features of the new education policy which is set to be enacted last December 2010:
Increase primary education from 5th to 8th class.
It will integrate Madras education and vocational education into the general education
It will establish mandatory core subjects for primary-level education: Bangla, English, mathematics,
Bangladesh Studies, social environment and climate change, and information technology and science.
Every School will have a mandatory library equipped with necessary books
More scholarships for the poor
No physical punishments
Arrangement of lunch for the students
Education for indigenous students in their mother tongues
Facilities for the disabled
Standardization of teachers qualifications
More training for the teachers and promotion will be connected with experience and training and many more
Focus of the Government on Education:
The focus of the government on education as enunciated in different Policies and Five Year Plan Documents are:
Provide value based education
Emphasize on job-oriented and need-based education
Modernization of curriculum
Ensure efficient management at all levels
Strengthen the Information and Communication Technology
Ensure teacher effectiveness at all levels
Revitalize technical and vocational education
Ensure gender parity at all levels of education
General objectives of Education:
To inspire and create enthusiasm among the learners in their thoughts, deeds and daily life to establish moral, humanitarian, religious, cultural and social values in personal as well as in national life.
To develop awareness in the learners to protect the independence, sovereignty and integrity of Bangladesh.
To make education pragmatic, productive and creative with a view to bringing about changes in the socio-economic conditions of the country and making the students into a dutiful and responsible manpower with scientific outlook and help them develop the qualities of leadership.
To give special emphasis on primary and secondary education with a view to expanding education, to instill respect and eagerness for physical labour and enable the learners acquire vocational education for self-employment in all stages of education.
To promote fraternity, moral values, generosity and fellow-feeling in people and make them respectful of human rights.
To promote democratic values through fostering tolerance of one another's views and help develop life-oriented, realistic and positive attitude for blossoming democratic awareness.
To ensure proper quality at every level of education; to strengthen and widen the knowledge, skills and attitude acquired in the previous stage (in accordance with various aims and objectives of education): to enable acquisition of new knowledge and skills and to encourage people to contribute in the system of education, especially in the field of primary, secondary and vocational education.
To emancipate the country from the curse of illiteracy.
To create equal opportunities for education in accordance with merit and aptitude for the purpose of building a society free from disparity.
To ensure gender parity in education and remove barriers of caste, creed and ethnicity in obtaining education.
To ensure constitutional guarantee at all levels of education.
To create awareness about protection of environment.
The Education Sector of Bangladesh:
Structure: The education system in Bangladesh is characterized by co-existence of three separate streams. The mainstream happens to be a vernacular based secular education system carried over from the colonial past. There also exists a separate religious system of education. Finally, based on use of English as the medium of instruction, another stream of education, modeled after the British education system, using the same curriculum, has rapidly grown in the metropolitan cities of Bangladesh.
Management: The education system in Bangladesh is characterized by co-existence of three separate streams. The mainstream happens to be a vernacular based secular education system carried over from the colonial past. There also exists a separate religious system of education. Finally, based on use of English as the medium of instruction, another stream of education, modeled after the British education system, using the same curriculum, has rapidly grown in the metropolitan cities of Bangladesh.
Budgeting: Education in Bangladesh is basically state financed. Government allocations to the education sector out of its revenue and development budgets primarily finance educational expenditures. Given the low revenue / GDP ratio, the government however is heavily dependent on external sources for financing its development budget. External aid finances more than 50 percent of government development expenditures on education.
The full costs of government primary schools are borne by the government. The government also pays 90 percent of base teacher salaries of non-government registered primary schools. Besides, the non-government schools also receive grants from the government for repair of school building. The Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) decides which school to receive grant and disburses the money. Students in both government and non-government registered schools receive free textbooks.
Different Components of the Education Sector in Bangladesh:
Primary Education.
Secondary and Higher Secondary Education.
Madrasah Education.
Education at Degree Colleges.
University Education.
Technical Education.
Key Issues that need to be addressed:
Based on the above discussion, for improved functioning of the education sector with a view to enhancing its role in promoting growth with equity in Bangladesh, the CPD Task Force on Education Policy has identified the following as key issues that need to be addressed during the next term of the government. The issues of access, equity and quality however being intertwined have to be looked at in totality in an integrated manner, and the strategies to address them must also look at the key areas simultaneously, not in a piecemeal fashion.
Primary Education:
Access:
Since provision of universal primary education has been recognized by the Bangladesh Constitution as a state responsibility, and Compulsory primary Education Law has already been enacted towards that end, it is extremely important to find ways and means to bring all school age children to primary schools.
CAMPE Survey conducted in 1998 found that the net enrolment at primary education in Bangladesh was 77 percent. That means, in 1998, 23 percent of all children of Bangladesh aged 6-10 did not have access to primary education. The corresponding figure for Chittagong region was 26 percent, and in the urban slums of Dhaka the extent of deprivation turned out to be as high as 40 percent.
Equity:
Those left out included the working children from extremely poor households, physically and mentally handicapped, urban slum dwellers, residents of inaccessible rural areas, tribal’s, advises etc.
Quality:
There exists at present no mechanism for assessing learning achievement at primary level. A nation wide survey conducted by CAMPE found that in 1998, only 29 percent of primary students achieved certain basic competencies. Although it was slightly higher compared to 27 percent achieved in 1993, it can hardly be called satisfactory. Even this slight improvement was confined only to rural areas, as quality of primary education registered a marked decline in urban areas. Children from poorer families obviously suffered most from the above declining standard of education in urban primary schools.
Relevance:
Although by effecting necessary reforms in the curriculum of primary education, it was possible to widen the scope for primary education to play an increasingly important role in the national economy, failure to significantly improve its quality has contributed little to enhance its relevance.
Efficiency:
Although the dropout rate came down to 35 percent in 1999, it still remains quite high. The CAMPE Survey revealed that the average attendance at schools was 62 percent only. 38 percent students repeated their courses. As a result it took 6.6 years to complete the five year course. All these indicate to poor efficiency of the system.
Secondary Education:
Access:
In a world of global market competition, the secondary level has become part of basic education that should be universally available. In Bangladesh, however, as most secondary schools belong to the private sector operating generally on commercial considerations, while prosperous regions experience a proliferation of such schools, many poor regions remain totally un-served by any secondary school that acts as an effective barrier to access of children to secondary education. Net enrolment ratios at 48.6 percent, 30.2 percent, and 16.2 percent at junior secondary, secondary, and higher secondary levels respectively can hardly be called satisfactory. Although gender disparity has significantly been removed up to secondary level, thanks to the stipend program for girls, girls' enrolment at higher secondary level is considerably lower compared to boys'. At junior secondary level on the other hand boys' enrolment rate is lower compared to girls'. The key issue therefore is how to significantly improve access of children to secondary education, and at the same time remove all existing gender disparities at different levels of secondary education.
Equity:
The problem of equity is worse compared to primary education. Tuition fees and other costs (for school uniform, text books, transport, private coaching etc) of secondary education including considerable opportunity costs serve as effective barriers to access for children from poorer households. Moreover, at this level of education, the social divide also gets prominently displayed. Elite mostly English medium system that functions with a degree of efficiency, and a mass system (bifurcated into a secular stream and a religious stream) considered largely dysfunctional are observed to coexist.
Quality:
Quality of education as reflected by performance of students at public examinations can hardly be called satisfactory. In 2001, nearly two thirds of all students who sat for the S.S.C. Examination failed.
Relevance:
Both in adequately preparing the students for higher education, and for meeting the manpower needs of the economy, secondary education in Bangladesh could hardly play an effective role.
Efficiency:
With dropout rates at 21.3 percent, and 52.1 percent at junior secondary and secondary levels respectively in 1999, and failure rate at 65 percent at S.S.C. Examination in 2001, one can definitely raise questions about efficiency of our secondary education system.
Tertiary Education:
Access:
Access cannot be universal at this level, but it has to expand substantially to meet the challenges of today's knowledge economy and information society. In 1999, compared to total enrolment of 12, 47,674 at higher Secondary level, enrolment at degree and master’s levels were 6, 50,277, and 74,979 respectively. Girls seem to have much lower access to tertiary education. At degree and masters level, they accounted for 32.6, and 26.3 percent of total enrolment at corresponding levels respectively.
Equity:
Equity is a major concern. Inequities at the previous levels are magnified by highly subsidized public education at tertiary level. Access to private universities being restricted only to those who can pay extremely high tuition fees only the children from affluent families can get themselves enrolled in such universities.
Quality:
Quality is a serious problem in tertiary education even at universities, both public and private. The University Grants Commission (UGC) has miserably failed in discharging its role as a guardian of public universities, and as a promoter of quality. It has also failed to institute a self-regulatory accreditation system for private universities.
Relevance:
In the absence of any linkage between public universities (with the exception of a few Departments like Business Administration, Pharmacy etc.) and the job market, education imparted at public universities had little relevance to the needs of the economy. Private universities on the other hand responded only to market signals, relevant to the economy in the short run, and neglected long term interests of the economy.
Efficiency:
Long session jams, a characteristic feature of public universities, is a clear indicator of inefficient management of public universities of Bangladesh.
Conclusion:
On the basis of experience in countries which have registered rapid progress in education and national development as well as independent studies and analyses, the Task Force recommends the following key measures to address the nexus of access, equity, and quality at different levels of education, and also for enhancing the relevance of education, and efficiency of the delivery mechanism
Education therefore has been recognized as a priority sector by all governments since her independence. What follows is a brief review of the education sector in Bangladesh as at present with a view to identifying key issues that need to be addressed, presented in Section 2. Section 3 highlights the key issues as identified by the Task Force. Section 4 presents a set of policy recommendations put forward by the Task Force for implementation during the five year term of the next elected Government.
Education Policy:
Education policy refers to the collection of laws and rules that govern the operation of education systems. Education encompasses teaching and learning specific skills, and also something less tangible but more profound: the imparting of knowledge, good judgment and wisdom. Education has as one of its fundamental goals the imparting of culture from generation to generation (see socialization).
"Education policy" refers to the collection of rules, both stated and implicit, or the regularities in practice that govern the behavior of persons in schools. Education policy analysis refers to the scholarly study of education policy. Examples of education policy analysis may be found in such academic journals as Education Policy Analysis Archives.
The salient features of the new education policy which is set to be enacted last December 2010:
Increase primary education from 5th to 8th class.
It will integrate Madras education and vocational education into the general education
It will establish mandatory core subjects for primary-level education: Bangla, English, mathematics,
Bangladesh Studies, social environment and climate change, and information technology and science.
Every School will have a mandatory library equipped with necessary books
More scholarships for the poor
No physical punishments
Arrangement of lunch for the students
Education for indigenous students in their mother tongues
Facilities for the disabled
Standardization of teachers qualifications
More training for the teachers and promotion will be connected with experience and training and many more
Focus of the Government on Education:
The focus of the government on education as enunciated in different Policies and Five Year Plan Documents are:
Provide value based education
Emphasize on job-oriented and need-based education
Modernization of curriculum
Ensure efficient management at all levels
Strengthen the Information and Communication Technology
Ensure teacher effectiveness at all levels
Revitalize technical and vocational education
Ensure gender parity at all levels of education
General objectives of Education:
To inspire and create enthusiasm among the learners in their thoughts, deeds and daily life to establish moral, humanitarian, religious, cultural and social values in personal as well as in national life.
To develop awareness in the learners to protect the independence, sovereignty and integrity of Bangladesh.
To make education pragmatic, productive and creative with a view to bringing about changes in the socio-economic conditions of the country and making the students into a dutiful and responsible manpower with scientific outlook and help them develop the qualities of leadership.
To give special emphasis on primary and secondary education with a view to expanding education, to instill respect and eagerness for physical labour and enable the learners acquire vocational education for self-employment in all stages of education.
To promote fraternity, moral values, generosity and fellow-feeling in people and make them respectful of human rights.
To promote democratic values through fostering tolerance of one another's views and help develop life-oriented, realistic and positive attitude for blossoming democratic awareness.
To ensure proper quality at every level of education; to strengthen and widen the knowledge, skills and attitude acquired in the previous stage (in accordance with various aims and objectives of education): to enable acquisition of new knowledge and skills and to encourage people to contribute in the system of education, especially in the field of primary, secondary and vocational education.
To emancipate the country from the curse of illiteracy.
To create equal opportunities for education in accordance with merit and aptitude for the purpose of building a society free from disparity.
To ensure gender parity in education and remove barriers of caste, creed and ethnicity in obtaining education.
To ensure constitutional guarantee at all levels of education.
To create awareness about protection of environment.
The Education Sector of Bangladesh:
Structure: The education system in Bangladesh is characterized by co-existence of three separate streams. The mainstream happens to be a vernacular based secular education system carried over from the colonial past. There also exists a separate religious system of education. Finally, based on use of English as the medium of instruction, another stream of education, modeled after the British education system, using the same curriculum, has rapidly grown in the metropolitan cities of Bangladesh.
Management: The education system in Bangladesh is characterized by co-existence of three separate streams. The mainstream happens to be a vernacular based secular education system carried over from the colonial past. There also exists a separate religious system of education. Finally, based on use of English as the medium of instruction, another stream of education, modeled after the British education system, using the same curriculum, has rapidly grown in the metropolitan cities of Bangladesh.
Budgeting: Education in Bangladesh is basically state financed. Government allocations to the education sector out of its revenue and development budgets primarily finance educational expenditures. Given the low revenue / GDP ratio, the government however is heavily dependent on external sources for financing its development budget. External aid finances more than 50 percent of government development expenditures on education.
The full costs of government primary schools are borne by the government. The government also pays 90 percent of base teacher salaries of non-government registered primary schools. Besides, the non-government schools also receive grants from the government for repair of school building. The Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) decides which school to receive grant and disburses the money. Students in both government and non-government registered schools receive free textbooks.
Different Components of the Education Sector in Bangladesh:
Primary Education.
Secondary and Higher Secondary Education.
Madrasah Education.
Education at Degree Colleges.
University Education.
Technical Education.
Key Issues that need to be addressed:
Based on the above discussion, for improved functioning of the education sector with a view to enhancing its role in promoting growth with equity in Bangladesh, the CPD Task Force on Education Policy has identified the following as key issues that need to be addressed during the next term of the government. The issues of access, equity and quality however being intertwined have to be looked at in totality in an integrated manner, and the strategies to address them must also look at the key areas simultaneously, not in a piecemeal fashion.
Primary Education:
Access:
Since provision of universal primary education has been recognized by the Bangladesh Constitution as a state responsibility, and Compulsory primary Education Law has already been enacted towards that end, it is extremely important to find ways and means to bring all school age children to primary schools.
CAMPE Survey conducted in 1998 found that the net enrolment at primary education in Bangladesh was 77 percent. That means, in 1998, 23 percent of all children of Bangladesh aged 6-10 did not have access to primary education. The corresponding figure for Chittagong region was 26 percent, and in the urban slums of Dhaka the extent of deprivation turned out to be as high as 40 percent.
Equity:
Those left out included the working children from extremely poor households, physically and mentally handicapped, urban slum dwellers, residents of inaccessible rural areas, tribal’s, advises etc.
Quality:
There exists at present no mechanism for assessing learning achievement at primary level. A nation wide survey conducted by CAMPE found that in 1998, only 29 percent of primary students achieved certain basic competencies. Although it was slightly higher compared to 27 percent achieved in 1993, it can hardly be called satisfactory. Even this slight improvement was confined only to rural areas, as quality of primary education registered a marked decline in urban areas. Children from poorer families obviously suffered most from the above declining standard of education in urban primary schools.
Relevance:
Although by effecting necessary reforms in the curriculum of primary education, it was possible to widen the scope for primary education to play an increasingly important role in the national economy, failure to significantly improve its quality has contributed little to enhance its relevance.
Efficiency:
Although the dropout rate came down to 35 percent in 1999, it still remains quite high. The CAMPE Survey revealed that the average attendance at schools was 62 percent only. 38 percent students repeated their courses. As a result it took 6.6 years to complete the five year course. All these indicate to poor efficiency of the system.
Secondary Education:
Access:
In a world of global market competition, the secondary level has become part of basic education that should be universally available. In Bangladesh, however, as most secondary schools belong to the private sector operating generally on commercial considerations, while prosperous regions experience a proliferation of such schools, many poor regions remain totally un-served by any secondary school that acts as an effective barrier to access of children to secondary education. Net enrolment ratios at 48.6 percent, 30.2 percent, and 16.2 percent at junior secondary, secondary, and higher secondary levels respectively can hardly be called satisfactory. Although gender disparity has significantly been removed up to secondary level, thanks to the stipend program for girls, girls' enrolment at higher secondary level is considerably lower compared to boys'. At junior secondary level on the other hand boys' enrolment rate is lower compared to girls'. The key issue therefore is how to significantly improve access of children to secondary education, and at the same time remove all existing gender disparities at different levels of secondary education.
Equity:
The problem of equity is worse compared to primary education. Tuition fees and other costs (for school uniform, text books, transport, private coaching etc) of secondary education including considerable opportunity costs serve as effective barriers to access for children from poorer households. Moreover, at this level of education, the social divide also gets prominently displayed. Elite mostly English medium system that functions with a degree of efficiency, and a mass system (bifurcated into a secular stream and a religious stream) considered largely dysfunctional are observed to coexist.
Quality:
Quality of education as reflected by performance of students at public examinations can hardly be called satisfactory. In 2001, nearly two thirds of all students who sat for the S.S.C. Examination failed.
Relevance:
Both in adequately preparing the students for higher education, and for meeting the manpower needs of the economy, secondary education in Bangladesh could hardly play an effective role.
Efficiency:
With dropout rates at 21.3 percent, and 52.1 percent at junior secondary and secondary levels respectively in 1999, and failure rate at 65 percent at S.S.C. Examination in 2001, one can definitely raise questions about efficiency of our secondary education system.
Tertiary Education:
Access:
Access cannot be universal at this level, but it has to expand substantially to meet the challenges of today's knowledge economy and information society. In 1999, compared to total enrolment of 12, 47,674 at higher Secondary level, enrolment at degree and master’s levels were 6, 50,277, and 74,979 respectively. Girls seem to have much lower access to tertiary education. At degree and masters level, they accounted for 32.6, and 26.3 percent of total enrolment at corresponding levels respectively.
Equity:
Equity is a major concern. Inequities at the previous levels are magnified by highly subsidized public education at tertiary level. Access to private universities being restricted only to those who can pay extremely high tuition fees only the children from affluent families can get themselves enrolled in such universities.
Quality:
Quality is a serious problem in tertiary education even at universities, both public and private. The University Grants Commission (UGC) has miserably failed in discharging its role as a guardian of public universities, and as a promoter of quality. It has also failed to institute a self-regulatory accreditation system for private universities.
Relevance:
In the absence of any linkage between public universities (with the exception of a few Departments like Business Administration, Pharmacy etc.) and the job market, education imparted at public universities had little relevance to the needs of the economy. Private universities on the other hand responded only to market signals, relevant to the economy in the short run, and neglected long term interests of the economy.
Efficiency:
Long session jams, a characteristic feature of public universities, is a clear indicator of inefficient management of public universities of Bangladesh.
Conclusion:
On the basis of experience in countries which have registered rapid progress in education and national development as well as independent studies and analyses, the Task Force recommends the following key measures to address the nexus of access, equity, and quality at different levels of education, and also for enhancing the relevance of education, and efficiency of the delivery mechanism
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