Draft Report

Election 2001 : National Policy Forum

Dhaka: 20-22 August, 2001 Organize !y: "entre #or Policy Dialogue, Prothom Alo, The Daily Star

PO$%"& '(%EF ON )ED*"A+%ON PO$%"&,

"PD +A-. FO("E (EPO(+

"entre #or Policy Dialogue

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Policy Brief Task Force on

Education Sector Policy
Members of the Task Force

Chair Professor Muzaffer Ahmad Institute of Business Administration, Dhaka University Co-Chair Dr A.N.M. Eusuf Former Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister Member-Secretary Dr. Md. Masum Professor, Department of Economics, ahan!irna!ar University Members Dr. Muhammed Ibrahim E"ecutive Director, #entre for Mass Education in Science Nurul Islam Nahid, MP #hairman, Parliamentary Standin! #ommittee on Education Dr. Iqbal Mahmud Professor, Department of #hemical En!ineerin! and Former $ice #hancellor, BUE%, Dhaka Ms. Rasheda Chowdhury Director, #AMPE and Mem&er Secretary, #AMPE #ouncil Dr. Siddiqur Rahman Professor, Institute of Education 'esearch Dr. Md. edaye! ossain Institute of Education and 'esearch, Dhaka University Dr. A"ay #umar Roy Department of Physics, Dhaka University #azi Rafiqul Alam E"ecutive Director, Dhaka Ahsania Mission Md. Im!iaz ossain Professor, Department of Mechanical En!ineerin!, BUE%, Dhaka Ms. Roushan $ahan Mem&er, (omen for (omen Dr. Manzoor Ahmed Former Advisor, U)I#EF Dhaka *ffice

CPD %as& 'or(e) Edu(a!ion Poli(y

1.0 Introduction
In Ban!ladesh, the key to achievin! hi!h rates of economic !ro+th and at the same time ensurin! that the fruits of economic !ro+th are e,uita&ly shared &y her population lies in development and utilisation of her human resources, the only resource Ban!ladesh has in a&undance- Education therefore has &een reco!nised as a priority sector &y all !overnments since her independence- (hat follo+s is a &rief revie+ of the education sector in Ban!ladesh as at present +ith a vie+ to identifyin! key issues that need to &e addressed, presented in Section .- Section / hi!hli!hts the key issues as identified &y the %ask Force- Section 0 presents a set of policy recommendations put for+ard &y the %ask Force for implementation durin! the five year term of the ne"t elected 1overnment.0 Education Sector in !an"ladesh# $ Re%ie& %he revie+ has &een or!anised as follo+s- After introducin! the overall structure of the education system in Ban!ladesh profiles of the individual components of the education sector have &een dra+n focusin! on their respective si2e, overall performance, and the constraints faced +ith a vie+ to findin! +ays and means for rela"in! the same- In dra+in! the a&ove profiles official data sources have primarily &een used, supplemented +here necessary &y other sources.1 'he Education Sector of !an"ladesh# Structure( Mana"ement and !ud"etin". .1.1 Structure#

%he education system in Ban!ladesh is characterised &y co3e"istence of three separate streams- %he mainstream happens to &e a vernacular &ased secular education system carried over from the colonial past- %here also e"ists a separate reli!ious system of education- Finally, &ased on use of En!lish as the medium of instruction, another stream of education, modelled after the British education system, usin! the same curriculum, has rapidly !ro+n in the metropolitan cities of Ban!ladesh4o+ever diverse the a&ove streams may apparently look, they have certain common elements, and there e"ists scope for re3inte!ration of !raduates of one stream +ith the other at different levels%he mainstream education system in Ban!ladesh is structured as follo+s5 3 a&*ne or t+o year pre3primary education imparted in private schools6kinder!artens, and informally in !overnment primary schools for si" monthsFive3year compulsory primary education for the 7389 year a!e !roup, imparted mainly in !overnment and non3!overnment primary schools- In metropolitan cities, ho+ever, !overnment and non3!overnment primary schools cater to the educational needs only of the poorer sections of the people, as the &etter3off families usually send their children to Private En!lish Medium schools6 secondary schools that run primary sections as +ell- %here, ho+ever, e"ist a su&stantial

CPD %as& 'or(e) Edu(a!ion Poli(y

num&er of )1* run non3formal schools caterin! mainly for the drop3 outs of the !overnment and non3!overnment primary schools- $ery fe+ )1*s ho+ever impart education for the full :3year primary education cycle- Because of that, on completion of their .3/ year non3formal primary education in )1* run schools, students normally re3enter into !overnment6 non3!overnment primary schools at hi!her classes- )1* run schools differ from other non3!overnment private schools- (hile the private schools operate like private enterprises often !uided &y commercial interests, )1* schools operate mainly in areas not served either &y the !overnment or private schools essentially to meet the educational needs of vulnera&le !roups in the society- %hey usually follo+ an informal approach to suit the special needs of children from the vulnera&le !roupsc*n completion of primary education, students ;88<= enrol for >unior secondary education that spans over / years- At the end of this phase of education, some students &ranch out to >oin the vocational stream, offered at $ocational %rainin! Institutes ;$%I= and %echnical %rainin! #entres ;%%#= run &y the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of ?a&our and Employment respectively, +hile students in the mainstream continue in !overnment and non3!overnment secondary schools for a . year secondary education in their respective areas of specialisation i-e- humanities, science, commerce, etc- At the end of their secondary education, the students sit for their first pu&lic e"amination ;S-S-#-= under the supervision of si" education &oards%he students of reli!ious education and En!lish medium streams also sit for their respective pu&lic e"aminations, Dakhil, and * level, conducted &y the Madrasah Education Board, and ?ondon6#am&rid!e University respectively, facilitated &y the British #ouncil in case of the latterdAfter 89 years of schoolin! at primary and secondary level, students ;87<= +ho succeed in passin! the Secondary School #ertificate ;S-S-#-= e"amination have the option of >oinin! a colle!e for a . year hi!her secondary education in their respective areas of specialisation, or enrol in technical6 poly technical institutes for technical education- After .3year hi!her secondary education, one has to sit for another pu&lic e"amination called 4i!her Secondary #ertificate ;4-S-#-= E"amination conducted &y the Education Boards to ,ualify for further educationStudents of 'eli!ious and En!lish Medium streams also sit for their respective pu&lic e"aminations, Alim, and @A@ level, conducted &y the Madrasah Education Board and ?ondon6#am&rid!e University respectively to ,ualify for further educationeUnder3!raduate education of various duration ;. to 0 years= are offered to 8A< students at a num&er of pu&lic and private universities 6 de!ree colle!es6technical colle!es6 specialised institutions- Successful completion of a de!ree course is a pre3re,uisite for appointment to a +hite3collar civilian >o&-

CPD %as& 'or(e) Edu(a!ion Poli(y

f-

Post3!raduate education normally of 83. year duration is provided at universities and selected de!ree colle!es and institutions-

.1. Mana"ement# Pre3primary education, !enerally reco!nised as a useful sta!e of education to smoothen the transition from home to an institutional environment and there&y contri&utin! to reduced drop out rates at primary level has so lon! remained outside the purvie+ of official education policy of Ban!ladesh- Its mana!ement therefore lies at present e"clusively in the hands of the schools impartin! such education and some )1*s runnin! such schools- %he Education Policy .999 did ho+ever reco!nise the need for pre3primary education and recommended its !radual introduction to :< children in primary schools +ith a vie+ to universalisin! one3year pre3primary education &y the year .99:As provision of universal compulsory primary education has &een reco!nised &y the #onstitution of Ban!ladesh as a state responsi&ility, the !overnment has assumed direct responsi&ility of the mana!ement of primary education in Ban!ladesh, particularly in the +ake of enactment of #ompulsory Primary Education Act in 8BB9%he overall responsi&ility of mana!ement of primary education lies +ith the Primary and Mass Education Division ;PMED= set up as a separate Division +ith the status of a Ministry in 8BB.- (hile the PMED is involved in formulation of policies, the responsi&ility of implementation of the same rests +ith the Directorate of Primary Education ;DPE= headed &y a Director 1eneral- %he different tiers of administration such as Divisions, Districts and Upa2ilas are manned &y Deputy Directors, District Primary Education *fficers ;DPE*= and Upa2ila Education *fficers ;UE*= respectively- UE*s are assisted &y a num&er of AUE*s each in char!e of a cluster of primary schools- At the school level, there e"ist School Mana!ement #ommittees ;SM#= formed as per !overnment directives +ith certain +ell defined functions, and Parent %eachers Associations ;P%A= playin! a supportive role in &uildin! favoura&le teachin!3learnin! environment in schools%he Directorate of Primary Education ;DPE= and its su&ordinate offices in the district and upa2ila are solely responsi&le for mana!ement and supervision of primary education%heir responsi&ilities include recruitment, postin!, and transfer of teachers and other staffC arran!in! in3service trainin! of teachersC and distri&ution of free te"t &ooks, and supervision of schools%he responsi&ility of school construction, repair and supply of school furniture lies +ith the Facilities Department ;FD= and ?ocal 1overnment En!ineerin! Department ;?1ED=%he )ational #urriculum and %e"t Book Board ;)#%B= is responsi&le for the development of curriculum and production of te"t&ooks(hile the Ministry of Education ;M*E= is responsi&le for formulation of policies, the Directorate of Secondary and 4i!her Education ;DS4E= under the Ministry of Education is responsi&le for implementin! the same at secondary and hi!her education levelCPD %as& 'or(e) Edu(a!ion Poli(y *

%he )#%B is responsi&le for developin! curriculum, and pu&lishin! standard te"t&ooksSi" re!ion &ased Boards of Intermediate and Secondary Education ;BISE= are responsi&le for conductin! the t+o pu&lic e"aminations, S-S-#- and 4-S-#-, in addition to !rantin! reco!nition to non3!overnment secondary schoolsDS4E is divided into ei!ht 2ones , each in char!e of a Deputy Director assisted &y t+o Inspectors, and t+o Assistant Inspectors- District *ffices are headed &y District Education *fficers ;DE*=%here e"ist three different levels of supervision- BISEs are responsi&le for accreditation of non3!overnment secondary schools- 4o+ever, &ecause of lack of inspection capacity, the +ork is dele!ated to Donal Inspectors and DE*s- %he Directorate of Inspection and Audit of M*E +ith a small manpo+er of .0 Inspectors is responsi&le for periodic ,ualitative and ,uantitative evaluation of non3!overnment schools- Each 2one has t+o Inspectors and t+o Assistant Inspectors to inspect all schools covered &y the 2onesAt the school level, in case of non3!overnment secondary schools, School Mana!ement #ommittees ;SM#=, and at the intermediate colle!e level in case of non3!overnment colle!es, 1overnin! Bodies ;1B=, formed as per !overnment directives, are responsi&le for mo&ilisin! resources, approvin! &ud!ets, controllin! e"pendituresC and appointin! and disciplinin! staffIn !overnment secondary schools there does not e"ist any SM#- %he 4ead Master is solely responsi&le for runnin! the school and is supervised &y the Deputy Director of the respective 2one- P%As ho+ever e"ist essentially for ensurin! a &etter teachin! learnin! environmentIn )1* run schools also there does not e"ist any SM#- %he style of mana!ement differs dependin! upon differences in policies pursued &y different )1*s- Some are centrally mana!ed +ithin a hi!hly &ureaucratic set up +hile others en>oy considera&le autonomy(hile teachers of non3!overnment secondary schools are recruited &y concerned SM#s o&servin! relevant !overnment rules, teachers of !overnment secondary schools are recruited centrally &y the DS4E throu!h a competitive e"amination- Different )1*s pursue different policies re!ardin! recruitment of teachers- Some )1*s prepare a panel of prospective teachers on the &asis of a ri!orous test, and recruit teachers from the a&ove panel, +hile some )1*s recruit teachers from the locally availa&le interested persons, rather informally%he Directorate of %echnical Education ;D%E= is responsi&le for plannin!, development and implementation of technical and vocational education in the countryUniversities in Ban!ladesh are autonomous &odies administered &y statutory &odies such as Syndicate, Senate, Academic #ouncil etc- in accordance +ith provisions laid do+n in their respective Acts-

CPD %as& 'or(e) Edu(a!ion Poli(y

.1.)

!ud"etin"

Education in Ban!ladesh is &asically state financed- 1overnment allocations to the education sector out of its revenue and development &ud!ets primarily finance educational e"penditures- 1iven the lo+ revenue 6 1DP ratio, the !overnment ho+ever is heavily dependent on e"ternal sources for financin! its development &ud!et- E"ternal aid finances more than :9 percent of !overnment development e"penditures on education%he full costs of !overnment primary schools are &orne &y the !overnment- %he !overnment also pays B9 percent of &ase teacher salaries of non3!overnment re!istered primary schools- Besides, the non3!overnment schools also receive !rants from the !overnment for repair of school &uildin!- %he Upa2ila )ir&ahi *fficer ;U)*= decides +hich school to receive !rant and dis&urses the money- Students in &oth !overnment and non3!overnment re!istered schools receive free te"t&ooks$irtually, the full costs of !overnment secondary schools are &orne &y the !overnment as the students pay only a nominal fee- %he non3!overnment secondary schools also receive su&stantial support from the !overnment- %he !overnment pays B9 percent of &asic salaries, house rent and medical allo+ances to teachers appointed a!ainst sanctioned posts of all reco!nised non3!overnment secondary schools- In addition, the !overnment provides occasional !rants for construction and maintenance, teacher trainin! at trainin! institutes, and also stipend to female students of classes $I to E of schools located in non3municipal areas- Student fees and income from other sources meet the remainin! resource needsAlthou!h the !overnment virtually &ears the full costs of !overnment primary and secondary schools, and also provides free te"t &ooks to primary school students, there still remain other costs such as uniforms, educational supplies, transportation, etc- %hose still have to &e &orne &y the parents- Moreover, in a country like Ban!ladesh, +here nearly half the population lives &elo+ poverty line, the opportunity cost of education in terms of fore!one income that could &e derived from child la&our is not insi!nificant- %he !overnment therefore had to intervene +ith pro!rammes like Food for Education, Primary Education Stipend Pro>ect, and Stipend for 1irl Students at secondary schoolsPu&lic universities, +hich char!e nominal tuition fees from the students, are almost entirely state financed-- Private universities on the other hand receive no financial support from the !overnment, and run their academic pro!rammes char!in! hi!h tuition fees from their students- %a&le 8 presents the level of central !overnment e"penditure on education +hile %a&le . presents the distri&ution of revenue and development e"penditures on education &y su&3sectors-

CPD %as& 'or(e) Edu(a!ion Poli(y

'able# 1 'rends in the *e%el of Central +o%ernment E,penditure on Education -Percenta"e of +DP./
Fiscal Fear 8BG/38BA9 avera!e 8BA838BA: avera!e 8BA738BB9 avera!e 'evenue E"penditure Development E"penditure %otal E"penditure

9-7/ 9-.G 9-B 9-G/ 9-./ 8-9 8-9/ 9-/9 8-/ 8BB8 8-97 9-87 8-. 8BB. 8-80 9-.8 8-0 8BB/ 8-/0 9-0G 8-A 8BB0 8-/7 9-77 .-9 8BB: 8-/9 8-97 .-0 8BB7 8-/9 9-A/ .-8 8BBG 8-/9 9-B9 .-. 8BBA 8-/B 9-GG .-. Sour(e) //S and 0arious bud1e! do(umen!s, quo!ed in 2orld /an&,3+4445 6 /ased on !he re0ised na!ional a((oun!s series. 'able# Percenta"e Distribution of Public Re%enue and De%elopment E,penditures on Education by Sub-Sectors
Fiscal Primary Secondary %echnical University )FE *thers %otal Fears 'evenue E"penditures B86B. 0A-. /7-A .-0 A-: 3 0-8 899 B.6B/ 00-7 09-7 .-/ G-B 3 0-7 899 B/6B0 0:-0 0.-/ .-/ A-. 3 8-A 899 B:6B7 0/-A 0.-7 .-8 A-9 3 /-7 899 B76BG 0/-: 0.-B .-8 G-B 3 /-7 899 BG6BA 0/-9 07-: 8-: G-0 3 8-7 899 BA6BB ;B= 08-7 0A-0 8-0 G-8 3 8-: 899 Development E"penditures B86B. 09-8 ./-: G-/ ..-/ 3 7-A 899 B.6B/ 77-9 .9-: .-8 G-8 8-. /-8 899 B/6B0 7A-. 8A-B 8-B B-/ 9-B 9-A 899 B06B: :.-7 08-9 9-0 9-A .-G .-: 899 B:6B7 0:-7 0/-7 9-7 /-G .-B /-7 899 B76BG .0-. :G-0 8-G 89-B 0-G 8-8 899 BG6BA .7-A 0:-. .-. 8/-/ B-. /-/ 899 BA6BB ;B= 0G-/ /.-0 /-/ :-/ A-7 /-8 899 Sour(e) Re0ised bud1e! es!ima!es from Demands for 7ran!s and A88ro8ria!ions 3Non9 De0elo8men!5 +44+944 and ADP +44+944, as quo!ed in 2orld /an&,3+4445 /: /ud1e! es!ima!es

CPD %as& 'or(e) Edu(a!ion Poli(y

Development e"penditure on education consistently increased up to 8BB: to 8-97 percent of 1DP from the 8BG/38BA9 avera!e of 9-.G percent, raisin! total e"penditure to a peak of .-0 percent of 1DP in 8BB: +hich since then slided do+n to .-. percent in 8BBA primarily due to a fall in development e"penditure in education- 'evenue e"penditure increased from 8BG/38BA9 avera!e of 9-7/ percent of 1DP to 8-/B percent in 8BBAEducation sector@s share in total !overnment e"penditures increased from 88-A percent in FF 8BB9 to 8A-7 percent in FF 8BB7- From FF 8BBG throu!h FF 8BBB, education sector@s share remained sta&le, around 87 percent of total !overnment e"penditures- H(orld Bank, 8BBBI Primary and secondary education to!ether accounted for B9 and A9 percent of total revenue and development e"penditures respectively of the education sector in 8BBA3BB, re!isterin! an increase over their com&ined shares of A: percent and 7/-7 percent of revenue and development e"penditures respectively in 8BB83B.- %he share of primary education in revenue &ud!et ho+ever consistently declined from 0A-. percent in 8BB83B. to 08-7 primary in 8BBA3BB +hile secondary education sector@s share increased from /7-A percent in 8BB83B. to 0A-0 percent in 8BBA3BB- 'eal pu&lic spendin! per student per annum declined in primary education +hile the opposite trend may &e o&served in case of secondary educationA look into the composition of pu&lic current e"penditures on primary education reveals that teacher salaries in !overnment primary schools and !rants for salary su&vention for non3!overnment primary schools to!ether accounted for B7-G percent of total current spendin! or primary education in 8BBA, operation and maintenance accountin! for only /-/ percent- Its share, earlier, +as even lo+er, 8-8 percent in 8BB.- As * J M e"penditure also include e"penditure on a fairly lar!e educational &ureaucracy, very little is actually left for spendin! on peda!o!ical inputs other than te"t&ooksDevelopment e"penditures in primary education are spent lar!ely on &uildin! physical facilities includin! renovation of dama!ed schools and improvin! physical facilitiesStaff compensation dominates current e"penditures, also in case of secondary education as GB percent of revenue e"penditure for secondary education !o to+ards teacher su&vention payments to non3!overnment secondary schools- 1rants from the development &ud!et are primarily for construction'eflected &y the sta&le shares of different su&3sectors in the education &ud!et ; %a&le .-.= revenue e"penditures appear to &e set &y precedent rather than rational plannin! and tend to follo+ the previous year@s pattern- Development e"penditures ho+ever, sho+ lar!e variations in su&3sectoral shares, primarily due to varyin! commitments of donor and lendin! a!encies ;(orld Bank, 8BBB=Bud!etary allocations to+ards * J M for primary schools are a fi"ed small amount and &ear no relationship to actual needs%here e"ist +ell3defined !uidelines for allocation of teacher su&vention payments to non3 !overnment schools- Entitlement of a school for su&vention payment is su&>ect to

CPD %as& 'or(e) Edu(a!ion Poli(y

<

satisfyin! certain conditions e-!- receipt of !overnment reco!nitionC recruitment of teachers as per specified rulesC enrolment of a minimum num&er of studentsC use of !overnment approved curriculumC acceptance of !overnment approved accounts and audit systemC satisfactory student performance in e"aminationsC and the presence of a properly constituted School Mana!ement #ommittees- Every month all teachers of a school >ointly su&mit a &ill for their salary duly approved &y the #hairman and Mem&er3 Secretary ;the headmaster= and the salaries are paid directly to teachers@ accounts in a desi!nated nationalised commercial &ankIn case of !overnment schools, DS4E places funds directly to the schools- %he 4ead Master serves as the dra+in! and dis&ursin! officer- %he schools char!e tuition fees at a nominal rate fi"ed &y the !overnment- +hich are deposited +ith the 1overnment %reasury - For meetin! other e"penditures, the schools char!e an annual fee, and a tiffin fee for supplyin! tiffin to students- %he school authorities en>oy some de!ree of autonomy in char!in! the a&ove fees%echnical education received a small share in the revenue &ud!et hoverin! around . percent of total revenue e"penditure on education durin! the nineties- Its share in the development &ud!et fluctuated +idely, from G-/ percent in 8BB86B. to 9-0 percent in 8BB06B:- In recent years an increasin! trend reflectin! hi!her priority attached to the sector is &ein! o&served%he share of universities in the revenue &ud!et for education hovered around G3A percent durin! the nineties- In terms of allocation of development e"penditures to this sector, +ide fluctuations may &e o&served, ran!in! from 9-A percent in 8BB06B: to ..-/ percent in 8BB86B.-

CPD %as& 'or(e) Edu(a!ion Poli(y

Profiles of Different Components of the Education Sector in !an"ladesh

. .1 Primary Education %a&le / presents data on num&er of primary schools, enrolment and num&er of teachers, +ith !ender &reakdo+n for the period, 8BB83.999'able ) 0o. of Schools( Enrolment( and no. of 'eachers in Primary Schools 1111000 -in thousands/
8BB8 8- )o- of primary schools a- %otal :9 &- 1overnment /A c- )on3!overnment 8. i= 'e!istered B ii= Unre!istered / .- Enrolment in Primary Schools 8.7/: a- %otal 8BB. :9 /A 8. B /
8/98G

8BB/ :/ /A 8: B 7
8097G

8BB0 :7 /A 8A 8: /
8:8A8

8BB: 79 /A .. 8G :
8G.A0

8BB7 7/ /A .: .8K 0
8G:A9

8BBG 7/ /A .: .8K 0
8A9/.

8BBA 70 /A .: ./K .
8A/78 KK

8BBB 7/K /A /A .: .0
8G7.. KK

.999 7.K ./K ..K . .

8G77A KK

&- Boys 7B89 G90A G:.: c- 1irls :G.: :B7B 7:0. /- )o- of teachers in !overnment primary schools a- %otal 879 8:G 8:A &- Males c- Females 8.7 /0 8./ /0 8.9 /A

A90A G8// 8:B 88B 09

B9B0 A8B9 8:B 887 0/

B.8B A/78 878 887 0:

B/7: A77G 8:A 880 00

B:GG AGA0 8:/ 89: 0A

B97: A::G 8:A 8 89: :/

B9:B A79B 8:A 890 :0

Sour(e) 7>/ 3,???5, 7>/ 3,??+5 6 wi!h (ommuni!y s(hools 66 es!ima!ed

From the ta&le, one can notice that su&stantial pro!ress has &een made in improvin! the access of children to primary education- Enrolment increased from 8.-7 million in 8BB8 to 8A-0 million in 8BBA- (hile the num&er of !overnment primary schools remained unchan!ed at /A,999, no- of non3!overnment primary schools increased from 8.,999 to .7,999 over this period +ith ./,999 already receivin! !overnment reco!nition- %he sharp increase in non3!overnment schools has &een primarily in response to meetin! unmet needs for primary education, in the +ake of enactment of #ompulsory Primary Education Act in 8BB9 as local communities or!anised their o+n schools- )1*s also played an active role in promotin! education in poor villa!es +ithout schools%he Fifth Five Fear Plan ;8BBG3.99.= that accorded hi!hest priority to primary education set a tar!et of achievin! !ross enrolment rate of 889 percent, and net enrolment rate of B: percent &y the year .99. ; Plannin! #ommission, 8BBA=- A nation +ide survey conducted &y #AMPE in 8BBA revealed that althou!h hi!h level of !ross enrolment rate had already

CPD %as& 'or(e) Edu(a!ion Poli(y

&een achieved ;89G percent for &oth se"es389B percent for !irls and 890 percent for &oys=, net enrolment rate stood much &ehind, at GG percent only ;GA-7 percent for !irls and G:-: percent for &oys=- %hus, in 8BBA, ./ percent of children, 7389 years of a!e, did not have access to primary education- Marked re!ional variation in net enrolment rate +as o&served- (ith A.-7 percent net enrolment rate Lhulna led +hile #hitta!on! la!!ed far &ehind +ith G0 percent- ;#AMPE3UP?, 8BBB=- )et enrolment rate for slum children of Dhaka city +as found to &e only around 79 percent3considera&ly lo+er compared even to their rural counterparts ;U)I#EF,8BBA=Enrolment rates si!nificantly varied &y socio3economic !roups as +ell- A si2ea&le num&er of children from very poor households +ere never enrolled in primary schools, and many of those enrolled dropped out &efore completin! the full five year cycle as their families depended on child la&our for survival- Althou!h there has &een some reduction in drop out rate from /A percent in 8BB: to /: percent in 8BBA, ; Plannin! #ommission, .999= it still remains considera&ly hi!h, and needless to mention that drop out rate is si!nificantly hi!her amon!st children from poorer householdsIn order to improve the access of children of poorer households to primary education, and also for reducin! the drop out rate amon!st them, in 8BB/3B0, an innovative scheme called the Food for Education Pro!ramme that provides up to 8: kilo!rams of +heat to land less very poor households for sendin! their children re!ularly to schools +as introduced in 079 economically and educationally &ack+ard Unions - By 8BBB3.999, its covera!e e"panded to 8G09/ schools in 8.0G Unions &enefitin! .-/ million students &elon!in! to .-. million households ;1*B, .998=- In the remainin! /.9A Unions a stipend pro!ramme for students from the poorer households +as introduced in April, .999- Under this pro!ramme, the poorest 09 percent students are provided +ith a stipend valued at %k-- .: per month- In FF .9993.998, the pro!ramme &enefited /-. million students at a cost of %k- 80.9 million%he drop out rate came do+n to /:M in 8BBB- 'epeater rate ho+ever remained ,uite hi!h, at /A percent- %hat means, on the avera!e, a child needed 7-7 years to complete the :3year primary education cycle- Attendance rate at 7. percent could hardly &e called satisfactorySi!nificant improvement in @,uantity@ as indicated &y increased enrolment rate, and reduced drop out rate +ere not ho+ever matched &y improvement in @,uality@- %he o&>ective of primary education &ein! development of &asic competencies i-e- learnin! ;lan!ua!e and numeracy= and life skills ;includin! values and attitude= amon!st children so as to ena&le them effectively pursue further education6active and productive life in society, in order to thro+ li!ht on ,uality of education received &y children passin! throu!h the primary education they +ere assessed for &asic competencies- %he #AMPE Survey found that in 8BBA only .B percent of children could satisfy the minimum levels in all four competency areas, vi2- readin!, +ritin!, numeracy, and life skills6kno+led!e#ompared to .G percent in 8BB/, the a&ove findin! no dou&t indicates to some improvement in the ,uality of primary education, &ut it still remained at a deplora&ly lo+ level-

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%he #AMPE Survey found considera&le re!ional variation in learnin! achievement, and also &y !ender, rural3ur&an residence, and type of schools- Boys performed &etter than !irls- #hildren from ur&an areas did &etter than their rural counterparts- %he level of &asic education +as the hi!hest in Lhulna, and lo+est in #hitta!on!-- Students studyin! in the primary section of secondary schools sho+ed the &est performance- It +as also o&served that +ith increase in the level of education, and economic status of parents that allo+ed access to private coachin! and different types of communication, students@ performance directly varied%he #AMPE Survey also found that althou!h there has &een some improvement in learnin! achievement of primary students over the period 8BB/3BA, such improvement +as confined to rural areas only as a declinin! trend +as o&served in the ur&an areas?imited num&er of contact hours3daily school time of 8.9 minutes for classes I3 II, and .09 minutes for classes III3$C hi!h student3teacher ratios increasin! over time due to sur!e in enrolmentC over cro+din! of class roomsC and poor motivation of teachers &urdened +ith many non3academic and non school responsi&ilities assi!ned to them encroachin! upon their limited school hours are some of the reco!nised causes of poor ,uality of primary education in Ban!ladesh-

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. .

Secondary and 2i"her Secondary Education %a&le 0 presents the num&er of institutions, students, and teachers, at >unior secondary, secondary and hi!her secondary levels-

'able 3# 0umber of Institutions( Students and 'eachers )o-of Institutions

Fear unior Secondary Secondary 4i!her Secondary

Enrolment
unior Secondar y Secondary 4i!her Secondary

)o-of %eachers
unior Secondary Secondary 4i!her Secondary

8BB9 8BB8 8BB. 8BB/ 8BB0 8BB: 8BB7 8BBG 8BBA 8BBB .999 .998

./88 .999 8B7. 8B9: .8/7 ./0B .::0 /9G9 /:8G /9.0 .A07 .A07

A8/G AG8: B9/A B8B9 B/:. B77/ BB98 89GG7 89GG7 8..7B 8.780 8.780 79/ G// B98 88/9 8/87 80.. 80..

.0:/A9 .8.707 .A0A97 /08BG: :G0/0/ 0B07B. :B0:89 7/..88 G0977A 7BA:90 7879B0 7.9.:0

.G0A/:9 .B0/0G/ /07/./7 /A9B:8: /B790:B 07.9G:B :9.8/B9 :0B.880 ::9/880 77A8.8. 77.9A0: 7G90A:G 8B/GB7 ..7B0G .:/A07 .::A8G /.G080 /0GBA7 /:97G7

8A77B 87BAB 8.A8B 8.0/: 8A08G 8:89B 8A88A 8B/9B .8AA0 8BAA: 8GA9/ 8A90.

890..G 88.7.G 88//BB 880.:B 887G79 8.0B:9 8/7:79 8/GG7A 8/A.B/ 8::G8. 8:79B0 8:GG.. 897/A 8.B/. 8:B8/ 8BB7/ ./A8B .07/ .07BB

Source5 1*B, ;.999=, and 1*B, ;.998= %he marked increase enrolment and completion rates at primary level durin! the nineties si!nificantly increased the enrolment rates at the secondary level- Enrolment in secondary schools ;includin! >unior secondary schools= increased from :-:B million in 8BB7 to G-/A million in 8BBB i-e- &y /. percent- *ver the same period the num&er of schools also increased from 8.0:: to 8:.B/- 1ross enrolment rate increased from /0-A: percent ;//-// percent for !irls= in 8BB7 to 08-.7 percent ;00-:G percent for !irls= in 8BBB, +hich clearly indicates to an improvement in access to secondary education particularly for !irls, thanks to introduction of a Stipend Pro!ramme for 1irls studyin! at secondary

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schools located outside the municipal areas- In 8BBB, 1ross enrolment rate at >unior secondary level +as ::-G percent ;:G-7 percent for !irls=- At secondary level it dropped do+n to 09-7 percent ;09-. percent for !irls=, and at hi!her secondary level, !ross enrolment rate sharply dropped do+n to 8B-B percent ;8:-9 percent for !irls=*ne may notice si!nificant re!ional variation in !ross enrolment rate at secondary level 3ran!in! from :G-09 percent in Barisal Division to only .A-7B percent in Sylhet Division;BA)BEIS, .998=%he improvement in access to secondary education has ho+ever &een shared ine,uita&ly as U)DP 4uman Development 'eport points out, N the &ottom .9 percent ;of families = receive only 7 percent of the &enefits of secondary educationC the top .9 percent receive /: percent of the &enefits-N %his has &een &ecause, non school costs for uniform, transportation, especially private coachin! on top of tuition fees, raisin! cost of schoolin! si!nificantly serve as effective &arriers to access of children from poorer families to secondary educationAnother reason for relatively poorer access to secondary education &y children from poor families is that the secondary schools mostly &elon!in! to the private sector had not &een set up on the &asis of any school mappin! e"ercise- Back+ard and poorer re!ions mi!ht not &e served &y any secondary school at all +hereas in prosperous re!ions there mi!ht have &een a proliferation of non3via&le su&3standard schoolsIn 8BBB, drop out rates at unior Secondary, and Secondary levels +ere .8-/ percent ;8A-0 percent for !irls=, and :.-8 percent ;:G-B percent for !irls= respectively- 'epetition rates +ere 89-: percent at >unior secondary ;A-9 percent for !irls=, and 8:-8 percent at secondary ; 80-/ percent= levels respectivelyOuality of secondary education defined as learnin! achievements durin! the secondary level may &e ascertained at the e"it point on the &asis of results of the S-S-#e"amination- Unfortunately ho+ever, for a variety of reasons e-!- ;I= su&vention payment to non3!overnment schools dependin! on school@s performance in the S-S-#e"amination, ,uite often a si2ea&le num&er of students are not sent up lest they fare &adlyC ;ii= for the same reason many teachers servin! as Invi!ilators at different e"amination centres often facilitate and encoura!e copyin! &y the e"amineesC ;iii= the e"amination itself is frau!ht +ith pro&lems 3emphasises memorisation of factual information rather than testin! analytical capa&ilityC ;iv= heavy reliance on private coachin! prior to S-S-#- e"amination, the S-S-#- results hardly reflect the learnin! achievements of studentsEven if S-S-#- results are accepted as an indicator of ,uality of secondary education , the hi!h rates of failures in S-S-#- e"aminations reflect poor ,uality of education imparted at the secondary level- In .998, the percenta!e of pass +as /: only- 'elatively hi!her failure rates in En!lish and Mathematics indicate to !ross deficiency in teachin! of these su&>ects at secondary schools-

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Introduction of a second shift in many !overnment and non3!overnment secondary schools, particularly in cities, led to reduction in contact hours to only four and a half per school day- Increasin! student3teacher ratios in many schools due to fast !ro+th of secondary enrolmentC strin!ent !overnment re!ulations relatin! to sanctionin! of teachin! posts ; one post is sanctioned to a class of 79 students, and a second position is not sanctioned unless the class si2e reaches 8.9=C inade,uate physical infra3structural facilitiesC faulty recruitment ;recruitment of teachers +ith e"pertise havin! little relevance to teachin! at school level=C too fe+ inspectionsC and a&ove all, !enerally poor academic ,ualifications, trainin! and motivation of teachers are some of the reco!nised causes of poor ,uality of education at secondary level- %he )ational Education Survey ; Post3Primary= 8BBB conducted &y BA)BEIS revealed that 78-.0M of all teachers of secondary schools attained their hi!hest academic certificate6de!ree in /rd Division6#lass, and only .-:8M attained their hi!hest academic certificate6de!ree in first Division6#lass*nly /G-/M of all teachers of secondary schools +ere trained%+o3year hi!her secondary education is imparted in intermediate colle!es and intermediate sections of de!ree colle!es- In 8BBA3BB, students enrolled for hi!her secondary education num&ered B,G:,7G9 ;.,7A,:A0 in 88/9 intermediate colle!es, and G,GG,9A7 in A87 de!ree colle!es=- *nly .A0 colle!es ; includin! .:: de!ree colle!es = &elon!ed to the pu&lic sector +hile the rest +ere non3!overnment colle!es- Female enrolment in intermediate colle!es increased from 0.-/G percent in 8BBG to 0G-0B percent in 8BBB indicatin! an improvement in the access of !irls to hi!her secondary education%he ,uality of education as reflected &y the results of 4-S-#- e"aminations seem rather am&i!uous and raises serious dou&ts a&out the e"amination system-- In 8BB7, the pass percenta!e +as .0-GG only, +hereas in 8BBB, it more than dou&led reachin! :/-0: percent for reasons not kno+n. .) Madrasah Education

In 8BBB, there operated G8.. Madrashs offerin! post primary education in Ban!ladesh%otal enrolment +as 8:,AG,/G/ ; accountin! for 80-B9M of total post primary enrolment= of +hich 7,/A,:/8 ;09-.M= +ere !irls- 'ural areas accounted for B8-0BM of total Madrasah enrolment- G/,7G7 teachers tau!ht at Madrasahs, of +hich /-.M +ere females#ompared to secondary schools, the Madrasahs seemed to have a relatively &etter ,ualified teachin! staff - *f all teachers, ma>ority, :9-:AM attained their hi!hest academic certificate6 de!ree in second Division6#lass- Ma>ority teachers ;78-.0M= of secondary schools , it may &e recalled, attained their hi!hest academic ,ualification in / rdDivision6#lass- *nly G-/M of Madrasah teachers +ere ho+ever trained, compared to /G-/M in case of secondary school teachers- %here e"isted only / Madrasahs in the pu&lic sector offerin! education upto NkamilN i-e- Masters level- All other Madrasahs &elon!ed to the private sector, of +hich 7B. ;B-G.M= +ere e"clusively for !irls*ver the period 8BA/38BBB, at secondary level Madrasah education re!istered hi!h rate of !ro+th - )um&er of Dakhil Madrasahs re!istered an annual !ro+th rate of G-90M compared to .M, and /-B:M in case of >unior secondary and secondary schools respectively- *ver the same period, annual !ro+th rate of enrolment had &een 80-8M,

CPD %as& 'or(e) Edu(a!ion Poli(y

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:-.:M, and G-/0M in case of Dakhil Madrasah, unior Secondary, and Secondary schools respectivelyEducation imparted in the a&ove Madrash education sector is a &lend of &oth secular education tau!ht at the !eneral stream, and reli!oius educationMadrasah Education Board is responsi&le for conductin! all pu&lic e"aminations3Dakhil, Alim, Fa2il, and Lamil E"aminations, and the pass percenta!e at the a&ove e"aminations in 8BBA +ere 70-AA, :.-B0, GA-:7, and A:-GB respectively- %he same year the pass percenta!e at S-S-#- e"amination +as 0G-B7Althou!h e,uivalence of different levels of Madrasah and !eneral education have already &een esta&lished that allo+s movement of students from one stream to another , as Madrash !raduates are yet to &e allo+ed to sit for the B-#-S E"amination, the nation does not &enefit from the services of the Madrasah !raduates at certain levels, and there occurs a sharp drop in enrolment, particularly from Fa2il to Lamil level- Enrolment at different levels of Madrasah education in 8BBA +ere, B,09,9:: in E&tedayee Madrasahs i-e at primary level, 88,BA,:99 in Dakhil Madrasahs i-e- at unior and Secondary level, /, /0,.:9 in Alim Madrasahs i-e at 4i!her Secondary level, .,B0,B99 in Fa2il Madrasahs i-e at under3!raduate level, and 07,999 at Lamil Madrasahs i-e at !raduate levelIn addition to the a&ove !overnment reco!ni2ed and state supported Madrasah education stream there also e"ists a separate stream kno+n as Oa+mi6Lhare2i Madrasah stream +hich imparts only reli!ious education, essentially in a non formal manner- A&out the si2e of this sector i-e- num&er of institutions and enrolment, and also a&out their activities and sources of finance very little ho+ever is kno+n. .3 Education at De"ree Colle"es In 8BBA3BB, students enrolled at de!ree level in de!ree colle!es num&ered 0,:7,.7G- *ut of .,/.,G9B students +ho appeared at de!ree ;pass= e"amination in 8BBA, /G-9A percent passed- Percenta!e of pass +as much hi!her at de!ree ; honours = e"amination- *ut of .8,0:. e"aminees A/-/8 percent passed#olle!es suffer from inade,uate infra3structural facilities ;li&raries and la&oratories= , and lack of ,ualified teachers. .4 5ni%ersity Education In 8BBB, Ban!ladesh had 8/ pu&lic and 87 private universities +ith a total enrolment of G7,:/: of +hich .9 percent +ere femalesBecause of limited num&er of seats in pu&lic universities , and hi!h tuition fees char!ed &y the private universities, access to university education is rather limited in Ban!ladeshPrivate universities +ith a limited num&er of full time faculty mem&ers depend heavily on part3 time teachers dra+n primarily from pu&lic universities, +hich adversely affect ,uality of education in those universities- (ith a fe+ nota&le e"ceptions, most private

CPD %as& 'or(e) Edu(a!ion Poli(y

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universities impart education of uncertain ,uality, and mentioned earlier, &ecause of hi!h tuition fees char!ed &y such institutions, they cater to only the affluent sections in the society- Pu&lic universities, primarily dependent on limited !overnment fundin! shrinkin! in real terms, una&le to !enerate additional resources &y raisin! tuition fees due to political constraints, are hardly in a position to improve their ,uality of education throu!h !reater investment in li&raries and la&oratories- Moreover, many democratic provisions of the University Acts such as those related to electin! Deans, $ice #hancellors, Syndicate and Senate mem&ers, &y keepin! a lar!e num&er of teachers al+ays &usy in active politics, and in election related activities, not only encroach upon the limited teachin! time of the faculty mem&ers &ut also fail to ensure accounta&ility of the teachers as those responsi&le for ensurin! discipline have to depend on votes of the delin,uent teachers for maintainin! their positions, that contri&utes to len!thenin! of session >ams 3 a uni,ue feature of pu&lic universities in Ban!ladesh- Moreover, as it happens ,uite often, @voters@, not @teachers@ are recruited that adversely affect the ,uality of university educationAnother serious pro&lem confronted in university education of Ban!ladesh is the tradition of active participation of students in national politics as mem&ers of student fronts of the ma>or political parties- Inter and intra party feuds leadin! to violent clashes not only vitiate the academic environment in the campus , &ut also ,uite often result in si!nificant loss of academic time that contri&utes to len!thenin! of session >amsAs there hardly e"ists any linka!e &et+een pu&lic universities on the one hand, and employers and the >o& market on the other, many university !raduates, produced at considera&le cost to the society, ;pu&lic universities &ein! almost entirely state financed +ith little sharin! of costs &y the &eneficiaries=, have to remain unemployed for a considera&le period of time &efore they find employment often in areas outside their fields of study- Private universities on the other hand remain confined only to a fe+ disciplines that have hi!h market demand. .6 'echnical Education %he need for technical and vocational education in enhancin! productivity of la&our throu!h skill formation can hardly &e over emphasised- Until mid nineties, vocational education in Ban!ladesh +as imparted in :8 $ocational %rainin! Institutes ;$%I= operated &y the Ministry of Education, and 88 %echnical %rainin! #entres ;%%#= run &y the Ministry of ?a&our and Employment- As indicated &y different studies, vocational education imparted in these institutions could hardly play an effective role in producin! ade,uate num&er of skilled +orkers for our industries- In addition to the a&ove !overnment institutions, several )1*s and private institutions are also en!a!ed in producin! skilled +orkers- 1iven the total needs of skilled manpo+er in the country ho+ever the capacity of the a&ove institutions seems much too inade,uate %he main pro&lem +ith technical education in Ban!ladesh is lack of linka!es to employers and the >o& market- Employers complain that the trainin! institutions do not produce skills they re,uire- %he ri!id and hi!hly centralised trainin! system limits the possi&ilities of capitalisin! on local responsi&ilities and initiatives- %echnical education

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&ein! ,uite e"pensive, as the !overnment has to shoulder the entire financial &urden, the &eneficiaries3students and enterprises sharin! no cost at all, e,uipment and consuma&le supplies remain chronically under financed adversely affectin! the ,uality of technical education in the countrySince mid nineties, in order to promote vocational education alon!side !eneral education, at secondary level, S-S-#- ;$ocational= #ourse has &een introduced in a num&er of non !overnment secondary schools, funded entirely &y !overnment@s o+n resources in the a&sence of necessary donor support- Different studies indicate that the pro!ramme en>oyed considera&le support at local level, as people think that e"posure to vocational education +ould contri&ute to !eneratin! interest in manual +ork &esides ac,uisition of hi!her levels of skill- %here ho+ever e"ists serious reservation a&out +hether the a&ove pro!ramme +ould at all &e a&le to contri&ute to producin! skills employa&le in industries particularly in the a&sence of ade,uately skilled instructors at the school level and curriculum accepta&le to employers, and lack of necessary trainin! materials).0 7ey Issues that need to be addressed Based on the a&ove discussion, for improved functionin! of the education sector +ith a vie+ to enhancin! its role in promotin! !ro+th +ith e,uity in Ban!ladesh, the #PD %ask Force on Education Policy has identified the follo+in! as key issues that need to &e addressed durin! the ne"t term of the !overnment- %he issues of access, e,uity and ,uality ho+ever &ein! intert+ined have to &e looked at in totality in an inte!rated manner, and the strate!ies to address them must also look at the key areas simultaneously, not in a piecemeal fashion).1 Primary Education ).1.1 $ccess

Since provision of universal primary education has &een reco!nised &y the Ban!ladesh #onstitution as a state responsi&ility, and #ompulsory primary Education ?a+ has already &een enacted to+ards that end , it is e"tremely important to find +ays and means to &rin! all school a!e children to primary schools #AMPE Survey conducted in 8BBA found that the net enrolment at primary education in Ban!ladesh +as GG percent- %hat means, in 8BBA, ./ percent of all children of Ban!ladesh a!ed 7389 did not have access to primary education- %he correspondin! fi!ure for #hitta!on! re!ion +as .7 percent, and in the ur&an slums of Dhaka the e"tent of deprivation turned out to &e as hi!h as 09 percent-

CPD %as& 'or(e) Edu(a!ion Poli(y

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/-8-.

E8uity

%hose left out included the +orkin! children from e"tremely poor households, physically and mentally handicapped, ur&an slum d+ellers, residents of inaccessi&le rural areas, tri&als, adivasis ets).1.) 9uality

%here e"ists at present no mechanism for assessin! learnin! achievement at primary level- A nation +ide survey conducted &y #AMPE found that in 8BBA, only .B percent of primary students achieved certain &asic competencies- Althou!h it +as sli!htly hi!her compared to .G percent achieved in 8BB/, it can hardly &e called satisfactory- Even this sli!ht improvement +as confined only to rural areas, as ,uality of primary education re!istered a marked decline in ur&an areas- #hildren from poorer families o&viously suffered most from the a&ove declinin! standard of education in ur&an primary schools).1.3 Rele%ance

Althou!h &y effectin! necessary reforms in the curriculum of primary education, it +as possi&le to +iden the scope for primary education to play an increasin!ly important role in the national economy, failure to si!nificantly improve its ,uality has contri&uted little to enhance its relevance).1.4 Efficiency

Althou!h the drop out rate came do+n to /: percent in 8BBB, it still remains ,uite hi!h%he #AMPE Survey revealed that the avera!e attendance at schools +as 7. percent only/A percent students repeated their courses- As a result it took 7-7 years to complete the five year course- All these indicate to poor efficiency of the system). Secondary Education

). .1 $ccess In a +orld of !lo&al market competition, the secondary level has &ecome part of &asic education that should &e universally availa&le- In Ban!ladesh, ho+ever, as most secondary schools &elon! to the private sector operatin! !enerally on commercial considerations, +hile prosperous re!ions e"perience a proliferation of such schools, many poor re!ions remain totally un3served &y any secondary school that acts as an effective &arrier to access of children to secondary education- )et enrolment ratios at 0A-7 percent, /9-. percent, and 87-. percent at >unior secondary, secondary, and hi!her secondary levels respectively can hardly &e called satisfactory- Althou!h !ender disparity has si!nificantly &een removed up to secondary level, thanks to the stipend pro!ramme for !irls, !irls@ enrolment at hi!her secondary level is considera&ly lo+er compared to &oys@At >unior secondary level on the other hand &oys@ enrolment rate is lo+er compared to

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!irls@- %he key issue therefore is ho+ to si!nificantly improve access of children to secondary education, and at the same time remove all e"istin! !ender disparities at different levels of secondary education-

). .

E8uity

%he pro&lem of e,uity is +orse compared to primary education- %uition fees and other costs ;for school uniform, te"t &ooks, transport, private coachin! etc= of secondary education includin! considera&le opportunity costs serve as effective &arriers to access for children from poorer households- Moreover, at this level of education, the social divide also !ets prominently displayed- An elite mostly En!lish medium system that functions +ith a de!ree of efficiency, and a mass system ;&ifurcated into a secular stream and a reli!ious stream= considered lar!ely dysfunctional are o&served to coe"ist). .) 9uality

Ouality of education as reflected &y performance of students at pu&lic e"aminations can hardly &e called satisfactory- In .998, nearly t+o thirds of all students +ho sat for the S-S-#- E"amination failed). .3 Rele%ance

Both in ade,uately preparin! the students for hi!her education, and for meetin! the manpo+er needs of the economy, secondary education in Ban!ladesh could hardly play an effective role). .4 Efficiency

(ith drop out rates at .8-/ percent, and :.-8 percent at >unior secondary, and secondary levels respectively in 8BBB, and failure rate at 7: percent at S-S-#- E"amination in .998, one can definitely raise ,uestions a&out efficiency of our secondary education system).) 'ertiary Education

).).1 $ccess Access cannot &e universal at this level, &ut it has to e"pand su&stantially to meet the challen!es of today@s kno+led!e economy and information society- In 8BBB, compared to total enrolment of 8.,0G,7G0 at hi!her Secondary level, enrolment at de!ree and masters levels +ere 7,:9,.GG, and G0,BGB respectively- 1irls seem to have much lo+er access to tertiary education- At de!ree and masters level, they accounted for /.-7, and .7-/ percent of total enrolment at correspondin! levels respectively).). E8uity

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E,uity is a ma>or concern- Ine,uities at the previous levels are ma!nified &y hi!hly su&sidi2ed pu&lic education at tertiary level- Access to private universities &ein! restricted only to those +ho can pay e"tremely hi!h tuition fees , only the children from affluent families can !et themselves enrolled in such universities-

).).)

9uality

Ouality is a serious pro&lem in tertiary education even at universities, &oth pu&lic and private- %he University 1rants #ommission ; U1#= has misera&ly failed in dischar!in! its role as a !uardian of pu&lic universities, and as a promoter of ,uality- It has also failed to institute a self3re!ulatory accreditation system for private universities).).3 Rele%ance

In the a&sence of any linka!e &et+een pu&lic universities ; +ith the e"ception of a fe+ Departments like Business Administration, Pharmacy etc-= and the >o& market, education imparted at pu&lic universities had little relevance to the needs of the economy- Private universities on the other hand responded only to market si!nals, relevant to the economy in the short run , and ne!lected lon! term interests of the economy).).4 Efficiency

?on! session >ams, a characteristic feature of pu&lic universities, is a clear indicator of inefficient mana!ement of pu&lic universities of Ban!ladesh-

).3

:ocational and 'echnical Education

Scope and access to vocational and technical education need to &e much +ider- Most critical vocational preparation in today@s !lo&ali2ed economy is a !roundin! in science, mathematics, and lan!ua!e skills offered throu!h sound !eneral secondary education%hose +ho do not !o for secondary education or drop out3a lar!e num&er3 need to have access to fle"i&le and market responsive skill development opportunities- Pu&lic 3private partnerships are especially important for this purpose- For older adolescents +ithout &asic education3a!ain a lar!e num&er3 a second chance that com&ines !eneral education and skill formation need to provided).4 0on-formal and Continuin" Education

(ith lar!e non3participation and drop3out in primary and secondary education and an overall lo+ literacy level of the people, there is a hu!e need for non3formal and continuin! education- Supported &y lar!e e"ternal fundin!, a vi!orous movement has already &een launched &y the !overnment in this particular area of literacy and post literacy education in the form of %otal ?iteracy Movement ;%?M= and other )on Formal Education ;EFE= pro!rammes- Unfortunately, ho+ever, a total ne!lect of effective

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performance standards, ,uality criteria, inept mana!ement and lar!e scale corruption com&ined +ith official declarations of increase in literacy every other month have turned these efforts into a meanin!less farce and a source of hu!e +aste of pu&lic resourcesA proper literacy and continuin! education pro!ramme3the foundation of life3lon! learnin!3+ith enforcea&le ,uality criteria and performance standards is very much needed3.0 Priority $ction Points *n the &asis of e"perience in countries +hich have re!istered rapid pro!ress in education and national development as +ell as independent studies and analyses, the %ask Force recommends the follo+in! key measures to address the ne"us of access, e,uity, and ,uality at different levels of education, and also for enhancin! the relevance of education, and efficiency of the delivery mechanism3.1- Mobili;ation of additional resources and ensurin" their efficient utili;ation# %he education sector in Ban!ladesh, at present, is seriously under3resourced lackin! the threshold of per capita e"penditure needed at different levels to maintain a minimum accepta&le standard of performance , resultin! in +asta!e of most of +hat is spent no+At the same time systemic measures are needed ;su!!ested &elo+= that +ould create conditions for cost3effective use of resources- %he %ask Force, therefore, stron!ly recommends enhancement of allocation of pu&lic resources to education sector &y reducin! 6cappin! at current level ;in a&solute terms= e"penditure on unproductive sectors, such that its share !ets !radually raised to : percent of 1DP from its current level around . percent, &y the end of the five year term'e!ardin! the source of additional resources needed for the education sector, it may &e mentioned that there already e"ist a num&er of avenues- (ith increasin! market orientation of the economy +here private sector is e"pected to play the leadin! role in the economic arena, there has developed a scope for dismantlin!6restructurin! of a num&er of unnecessary pu&lic institutions such as %#B, the State %radin! *r!ani2ation, and many sector corporations- 'evenue thus saved, and additional revenue mo&ili2ed throu!h imposition of a ne+ ta" called Education %a"C and enhancement of tuition fees at all pu&ic educational institutions, +ith !enerous provision of scholarships for meritorious needy students, +ould surely contri&ute to mo&ili2ation of additional resources for the education sector1iven the current lo+ level, and declinin! trend in per student e"penditure at primary level, adversely affectin! the ,uality of education, and also for makin! provision for raisin! the duration of primary education to ei!ht years i-e- upto class $III, the share of primary education in total education &ud!et has to &e enhancedShare of secondary education in total education &ud!et increased over the last fe+ years &ut most of it +ent to pay salary to the teachers- Increased allocation to secondary

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education must !o for improvin! li&rary and la&oratory facilities, teacher trainin!, and teachin! aids to improve the ,uality of education3. Decentrali;ation

Althou!h Ban!ladesh has in the recent past e"perienced considera&le administrative decentrali2ation in the arena of primary education ; many important decisions are no+ taken at the Upa2ila level=, the school authorities +ho are primarily responsi&le for delivery of the education services at the school level en>oy very limited po+er and authority- It is e"tremely important that the school authorities, particularly the 4ead %eacher, is !iven ade,uate po+er and authority commensurate +ith his6her responsi&ilityAlso important is adoption of appropriate measures that +ould help transformin! the educational administrators from playin! the role of a 'e!ulator as they are doin! at present in a &ureaucratic set up, to that of a FacilitatorMana!ement of secondary education in the pu&lic sector is hi!hly centrali2ed at presentInstead of implementin! measures of administrative decentrali2ation, similar to those in primary education, if the head masters of !overnment secondary schools are !iven necessary po+er and authority so as to ena&le them dischar!e their responsi&ilities more effectively, educational outcomes in !overnment secondary schools +ill si!nificantly improveIn Ban!ladesh, non3 !overnment secondary schools are currently &ein! mana!ed &y their respective School Mana!ement #ommittees ;SM#=- Althou!h the responsi&ility of runnin! the school is shouldered primarily &y the head master he6 she en>oys little po+er and authority- %his anomaly needs to &e removed, and the role of SM#s should ideally &e transformed from that of a 'e!ulator to a Facilitator- At present there e"ists no educational ,ualification re,uirement for mem&ership of SM#s that has allo+ed capturin! of SM#s &y vested ,uarters in many places- %he mem&ership rules need to &e amended so that only those !enuinely interested in promotin! education &ecome mem&ers of SM#s- %he current practice of local MP &ecomin! #hairman of SM#s of all schools in his6her constituency should &e discontinued, and none should &e allo+ed to chair more than one SM#%he responsi&ility of primary and secondary education should &e vested +ith the local !overnment- %o+ards that end , alon!side settin! up of local !overnment &odies, educational authorities should also &e esta&lished at an appropriate local level- %he functions of these education authorities +ould &e , mo&ili2ation of necessary resources, provision of technical assistance, and administerin! academic supervision- A &e!innin! should &e made to+ards this !oal &y initiatin! in the ne"t five years the trial of District Education Authorities in several districts and developin! a plan for its nation +ide implementation3.) Partnerships Althou!h it is !overnment that is ultimately responsi&le for provision of &asic education for all, involvement and active participation of all stake holders includin! parents,

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communities, private sector, &usinesses, )1*s, reli!ious &odies +ill surely contri&ute to effective functionin! of a nation +ide learnin! net+ork, &esides !eneratin! additional resources for the education sector- A comprehensive approach to+ards &uildin! partnerships, reco!ni2in! all potentials for contri&ution and participation, therefore need to &e properly articulated- %o+ards that end, the %ask Force recommends reintroduction of e"emptions for educational e"penditures from personal income ta" lia&ility, and also for donations, personal and institutional, to education sector-

3.3 Impro%in" Mana"ement Capacity %he hu!e and comple" education enterprise in Ban!ladesh is currently &ein! mana!ed rather amateurishly +ithout reco!ni2in! the need for professional and speciali2ed skills in educational mana!ement and plannin!- %his +ould in fact turn out to &e a !reater handicap as and +hen measures of decentrali2ation +ould &e implemented-- %he %ask Force recommends esta&lishment of a system of professional development of mana!ement, plannin!, administration , and supervision in education alon! +ith needed reforms in recruitment, incentives, human resources mana!ement, and or!ani2ational structures to make use of professional skills in educational mana!ement and plannin!3.4 $ 5nified-not necessarily uniform- System of !asic and Secondary Education %he three3 +ay division of !eneral schools, makta&s and madrassahs, and elite En!lish medium schools need to &e unified into a common system- %his common system comprisin! different types of schools under different sponsorships has to ensure that a set of core kno+led!e and competencies are ac,uired &y all learners in primary and secondary education- %his +ould re,uire a core curriculum and common core of standards re!ardin! teachin! and learnin!, and assessment of learner achievement3 not the elimination of diversity in provisions for schoolin!, or control of all schools &y the !overnment%here is also a need for increasin! contact hours particularly at primary level%he %ask Force also recommends introduction of a unified science &ased education at secondary level in place of early speciali2ation practised at presentAs many En!lish medium schools and the entire Oa+mi6 Lhare2i Madrasah system are currently operatin! outside the state re!ulatory frame+ork, one does not really kno+ +hat e"actly is happenin! in these institutions- %he %ask Force stron!ly feels that no educational institution +hether they receive pu&lic resources or not, should &e allo+ed to operate in Ban!ladesh +ithout !overnment reco!nition3.6 Curriculum and *earnin" Materials In line +ith the principles of decentrali2ation and partnership, the current centrali2ed, NstatistN, control oriented, system in respect of curricula and te"t &ooks must chan!e- %he task of the curriculum authorities should &e to define core curricula, allo+in! schools and
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local authorities to supplement the core- %he curriculum &odies should also +ork +ith teacher trainin! institutions and other parts of the education system to improve skills for implementin! curricula in class rooms and assessin! student achievements- In order to avoid the recurrin! fiasco and associated corruption in providin! te"t &ooks and learnin! materials, the private sector should &e allo+ed to prepare and produce te"t &ooks and other materials3 +ith curriculum &odies remainin! responsi&le for !eneral approval of te"t &ooks and +atchin! compliance +ith the o&>ectives of the core curricula-

3.< 'eachers %eachers are at the core of ,uality improvement in education- %hey need to meet professional standards, have ample opportunities for continuous professional development, and must receive a livin! +a!e- In turn, teachers must &e accounta&le for their performance, +hich should &e su&>ected to professional and pu&lic assessment, and +hich is eventually reflected in their pupil@s achievement'ecruitment of teachers in !overnment primary and secondary schools throu!h competitive e"aminations conducted &y respective Directorates ensures reasona&le standards in ,uality of teachers- Imposition of a ,uota for recruitment of female teachers, 79 percent at present, has improved the participation of +omen ; //-B percent in .999= in teachin! at primary level- Most of the primary teachers have already received trainin!#lose supervision &y officers stationed at the Upa2ila level has contri&uted to si!nificant improvement in attendance of teachers in schools- %he e"tremely poor performance of students at !overnment primary schools in ur&an areas ho+ever point to the need for speciali2ed trainin!, as most of the students in such schools happen to &e child +orkers, comin! from very poor householdsAt the secondary level a&out BG percent of secondary schools and B/ percent of teachers &elon! to the private sector- Althou!h there e"ist +ell defined rules relatin! to recruitment of teachers in non !overnment secondary schools, ,uite often under political and other influences incompetent teachers !et recruited- %his happens to &e a ma>or +eakness of the secondary education system in Ban!ladesh- In the a&sence of an appropriate ,uota for recruitment of female teachers at secondary level, their participation has &een rather limited, only a&out 8G percent in 8BBB- *nly a&out /G percent of secondary school teachers, and G percent of Madrasah teachers received trainin! that points to lack of ade,uate trainin! facilities at present- Ade,uate teacher trainin! facilities need to &e developed for trainin! on a continuous &asis &oth secondary school and Madrasah teachers, for raisin! their level of competence in vie+ of their poor academic &ack!round- %here e"ists a serious shorta!e of En!lish, and Science ; Mathematics, Physics and #hemistry= teachersAt the university level also, ,uite often , due to !roup politics, no+ linked to national politics, less ,ualified candidates are recruited as teachers in preference to more deservin! ones- As there e"ists at present no institutional mechanism for ensurin! accounta&ility of teachers, ,uite often it is noticed that classes are not held re!ularly,

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e"aminations do not take place in time, and there is inordinate delay in pu&lication of results, all contri&utin! to development, and len!thenin! of session >ams*n the &asis of the a&ove findin!s, the %ask Force recommends settin! up of a Service #ommission for recruitment of secondary school teachersC imposition of an appropriate ,uota for recruitment of female teachersC special incentives for teachers +ith ma>or in En!lish6 Mathematics, Physics and #hemistry C recruitment of only those +ho did ma>or in Physics, #hemistry and Mathematics as Science teachersC e"pansion of trainin! facilities for secondary school and Madrasah teachersC appropriate amendment of University ActsC improved facilities for research C and academic supervision of universities, &oth pu&lic and private, &y the U1#3.= $ssessment of *earnin" %he circus that !oes on in the name of pu&lic e"aminations has made Ban!ladesh a lau!hin! stock of the +orld- %he infiltration of the +orst forms of self3seekin! and corrupt politics into education is the main cause of failure to control this rot in the educational system- %eachers and their professional or!ani2ations im&ued +ith a sense of professional and moral responsi&ility, the local civil administration, and the parents need to +ork to!ether to restore the inte!rity of e"aminations%here is also a need for improvin! technical and professional competence and skills in the e"amination &odies such as the Education Boards and the )ational University#onsiderin! the sharp increase in the num&er of e"aminees there is a need for settin! up a fe+ more education &oards, and decentrali2ation of the national universityFinally, the %ask Force recommends development of an institutional mechanism for learnin! assessment similar to SA%3.1 De- Politici;ation of Education %he education system is in a vicious stran!le hold of corrupt and partisan politics- All reform and development efforts, ho+ever sensi&le and +ell intentioned are th+arted &y politics- %he influence of corrupt politics is manifested in pervasive corruption in all aspects of education and in the most cynical use of students and teachers &y political parties in their political stru!!le)o part of education is e"empt from the corruptin! influence of politics33recruitment and mana!ement of personnel, production and supply of te"t &ooks, pu&lic e"aminations, su&ventions to non3!overnment institutions, construction and maintenance of schools, distri&ution of food3for3education, and stipends for poor students3are all frau!ht +ith all forms of corruption ima!ina&le includin! &ri&ery, stealin!, influence3peddlin!, falsifyin! records, rampant cheatin! in e"aminations, appointin! and promotin! un,ualified personnel, phantom schools and teachers in !overnment &ud!et and so on%he use of students and teachers directly in partisan po+er stru!!le includin! raisin! of armed cadres, and their involvement in violence includin! murders, terrorism, e"tortion,
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ro&&ery, and other crimes +orthy of any notorious crime syndicate has &ecome the norm practised &y all ma>or political parties%heoretical and philosophical ar!uments a&out students@ democratic ri!hts to participate in politics and the political parties@ ri!ht to or!ani2e student supporters are irrelevant in the face of the national crisis that has arisen- It is the hei!ht of irony if not hypocrisy to condone the current &rand of political activism of students in the name of their democratic ri!hts- E"traordinary situations demand e"traordinary measures- %he most important education reform measure +ould &e to institute a moratorium on students@ active involvement in national politics- %his +ould re,uire persuadin! political parties to a!ree on a moratorium on sponsorship of party3&acked student fronts and to cease &y common a!reement the involvement of students and teachers in partisan politics for a decade- %his sin!le step +ould help create the condition for effective of other re forms in education0-89 Education Policy-ma>in" %he recent education policy statement announced &y the !overnment, &oth in respect of the process of its formulation and its content, is an e"ample of ho+ an education policy is not to &e made- It has lar!ely &een a closed and non3transparent process involvin! mostly officials- It has &een presented and adopted in the parliament +ithout much of a de&ate and +ithout makin! the report pu&lic- Its content has failed to address &urnin! educational issues seriously- Specific action proposals focus on or!ani2ation and duration of pro!rammes sand physical e"pansion rather than the difficult issues of ,uality assurance, relevance and outcome of education, or indicatin! effective measure for fulfillin! the ri!hts and entitlements of citi2ens in education%he %ask Force ho+ever does not recommend another policy e"ercise- It su!!ests a pra!matic approach to solvin! pro&lems &ased on e"perience and relevant international lessons +ithout the fanfare of a ne+ policy, +ith ample dialo!ue and participation0-88 *in>a"e bet&een Education and Society Finally, +ith a vie+ to !roomin! up the students as socially conscious, responsi&le citi2ens of the country, the %ask Force recommends compulsory participation of all students as $olunteers in certain national development pro!rammes for a specific period of time durin! their student life%he %ask Force also recommends promotion of lifelon! education for all citi2ens of the country &y non3formal means under an appropriate institutional arran!ementFinally, the %ask Force recommends spread of computer education throu!h out the country, up to villa!e level, usin! &oth formal and informal education systems-

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References
8- BA)BEIS ;.999= 5 !an"ladesh Educational Statistics - $t a +lance/( Ministry of Education 1ovt- of Ban!ladesh 000(

.- BA)BEIS ;.998=5 0ational Education Sur%ey - Post Primary/ 1111# ?inal Report( Ministry oF Education, 1ovt- of Ban!ladesh /- 1*B ;.999=5 !an"ladesh Economic Re%ie& 1overnment of Ban!ladesh 0- 1*B ;.998= # !an"ladesh Economic Re%ie& 1overnment of Ban!ladesh :000, Ministry of Finance, 001( Ministry of Finance,

#AMPE3UP? ;8BBB=5 2ope not Complacency- State of Primary Education in !an"ladesh( 1111( #ampai!n for Popular Education, and University Press ?imited

7- Plannin! #ommission ;8BBA/# 'he ?ifth ?i%e @ear Plan( 111<- 00 ( Plannin! #ommission, 1overnment of Ban!ladesh G- Plannin! #ommission ;.999=5 Mid-'erm Re%ie& of the ?ifth ?i%e @ear Plan(111<- 00 , Plannin! #ommission, 1overnment of Ban!ladesh A- U)I#EF ;8BBA=5 Pro"otir Pathey, U)I#EF, Dhaka B- (orld Bank ;8BBB=5 !an"ladesh Education Sector Re%ie& $ol- II Main 'eport ;Draft=

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