Bangladesh—Education System

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The constitution of Bangladesh directs the state to adopt effective measures for extending free and compulsory education for all children "to such stage as may be determined by law." Recent years have recorded some advances in the education sector in Bangladesh. Given the scope of the development problem faced by Bangladesh, however, these improvements are inadequate. After three decades and many education commission reports, Bangladesh has yet to attain the goal of providing free primary education to all children. One reason for this is the failure of politicians and members of the education commissions to commit themselves firmly to the vision of basic education as a fundamental human right and an instrument of social and economic change. Studies have shown that cost recovery as a percentage of unit costs in Bangladesh is higher in primary education than in either secondary or higher education.

Public expenditure on education has been low. The distribution of the overall public-sector budget among the various educational sectors has remained stable in recent years. Primary education has received roughly 47 percent, secondary education 22 percent, and higher education 33 percent of government spending on education over the years. Primary education has gained at the expense of secondary education, while the tertiary sector has maintained its position. Among institutions that teach scientific and technical subjects, only medical colleges have gained in real terms. According to Tan and Mignot's World Bank study, the share of cumulative subsidies accruing to the best-educated 10 percent in a generation in Bangladesh stands at 72 percent, compared with the Asian average of 37 percent (28 percent for Sri Lanka and 31 percent for China). Another measure of inequality, the "education gini coefficient," is a highly unequal 82 for Bangladesh compared with the Asian average of 43 (33 for Sri Lanka and 44 for China; the gini coefficient is a measure of inequality of distribution of education funds. Zero equals complete equality, and one equals complete inequality. The higher the value within this range, the greater the proportion of education funds spent on the few, and the greater the inequality).

Government statistics on educational attainments suggest some optimism. According to the Fifth Five Year Plan (1997–2002), the current literacy rate of 58 percent is increasing at the rate of 7 percent per decade. According to most informed observers, however, these figures are overly optimistic and ignore many problems, not the least that of resources. The school-age population at the end of the twentieth century expanded at the rate of roughly 1 million each year, putting enormous pressure on the entire school system. Nongovernmental organizations took up the challenge of opening and running primary schools in areas where government schools did not exist. The most famous are those run by the Bangladesh Rural Academy Council, which established some thirty thousand schools not under government auspices in rural areas.

Ten years of basic schooling culminate in a matriculation exam. For those who do well, this is followed by two years of college. Written public examinations, administered by four regional boards, decide the student's qualifications at each level. These two public examinations are known as the Secondary School Certificate and the Higher Secondary Certificate. The universities and other tertiary institutions have their own entrance examinations. Most public universities follow the British system of a three-year bachelor's (honors) program, although the new private universities have moved to the American model of four-year bachelor's programs. Postgraduate education consists mostly of master's programs, with very few doctoral programs.

Various vocational secondary schools and training centers have developed over the years. Religious education also occupies an important position in the education sector of Bangladesh. The presence of madrasahs (Islamic religious schools) is impressive but raises issues of uniform standards.

Enrollment data in the primary schools show some positive trends, including a rise in female enrollment. The overall enrollment according to official statistics is 80 percent of the age cohort, although gross enrollment rates are close to 100 percent, because of inclusion of older children in the count. An estimated 20 million students are enrolled in primary schools today. The goal of achieving full enrollment in the sixto-eleven-year age cohort poses major public-policy challenges, due to a shortage of classrooms and teachers in the countryside. The quality of education in the primary sector is low, the overall learning environment poor. Problems include high student-teacher ratios, inadequately trained teachers, and lack of proper books, supplies, and facilities such as laboratories.

The secondary education level also has been severely neglected by policy makers in Bangladesh. According to a survey by the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, overcrowding at the secondary level is common. The number of secondary schools has simply not expanded to accommodate all those graduating from primary schools. The enrollment rate has increased to about 30 to 35 percent of the age cohort.

Public higher education in Bangladesh is nearly free. Since the vast majority of students come from well-to-do households, this may be a luxury the nation cannot afford. Access and equity continue to be major problems in the entire education sector but especially in tertiary education. Until the early 1990s, university education was provided only by public universities (including the highly specialized medical colleges, engineering universities, and polytechnic institutes and colleges). Today, vocational secondary schools, training centers, and on-the-job training opportunities in the private sector are springing up to serve the labor market. The rapid increases in population, urbanization, and incomes have created an enormous demand for good schools at all levels. Parents generally believe that a good education is the ticket to social and economic success. The demand for private tutors is also high. As expected in an environment of weak governance, this has created many opportunities for fraud at all levels in the education sector.

Private universities were first allowed under the Private University Act of 1992. Today, there are seventeen private universities of varying quality operating under this act. The Private University Act requires that at least 5 percent of the student body receive full tuition waivers. This is intended to help poor students take advantage of these institutions. Additionally, the choice of a private university by students from rich families helps create vacancies in the public universities for other students. Proponents of private universities have argued that an expansion of the private universities would improve access to tertiary education for all students. After nine years, it seems that, although private universities have increased choice in higher education for many students, the overall impact on equity and access is mixed.

The better private universities have research centers, modern fully networked computing facilities, and air-conditioned classrooms. The full-time faculty and administrators are assisted by a large group of visiting faculty on sabbatical leave from universities all over the world. In their curriculum, books, and faculty training, the private universities have a strong bias toward the U.S. higher education system. The motivation for private universities came from the serious deterioration of education in Dhaka University; the hold of socialistic ideas over academia in general; and the large-scale exodus of local students to foreign institutions, especially to neighboring India. According to one estimate, in 1993 over eighty thousand Bangladeshi students were in Indian colleges, sent there by their parents to get a better education. The loss of foreign exchange entailed by such an import of education from India and the fear of indoctrination by a foreign culture were important concerns for the founders of the private universities. Tuition costs for the entire four years are approximately $10,000 in the best private universities. This is exorbitant compared with the cost of tuition at public universities, but the growth of private universities shows that they clearly met a latent need.

Ahmad, Muzaffer. (1998) "Education and Governance in Bangladesh." In Crises in Governance: A Review of Bangladesh's Development 1997. Dhaka, Bangladesh: UPL, Centre for Policy Dialogue, 317–332.

Quddus, Munir. (1999) "Access to Higher Education in Bangladesh: The Case of Dhaka University." International Higher Education (17 November): 15–17.

Quddus, Munir, and Salim Rashid. (2000) "The Worldwide Movement in Private Universities: Revolutionary Growth in Post-Secondary Higher Education." American Journal of Economics and Sociology 59, 3 (July): 487–516.

Siddique, Zillur Rahman. (1997) Visions and Revisions: Higher Education in Bangladesh, 1947–1992. Dhaka, Bangladesh: University Press.

Tan, J., and A. Mignat. (1991) Education in Asia: A Comparative Study of Cost and Financing. Washington, DC: World Bank.

World Bank. (1999) World Development Report: Knowledge for Development, 1998/1999. Washington, DC: Oxford University Press.

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