Education in Bangladesh: Promises on paper only

In 2023, Bangladesh's adult literacy rate reached 75.6% and the number of children out of primary school dropped below 13.15%. Over the past 50 years, primary schools in the country have quadrupled in number, while those in secondary schools have doubled. Bangladesh is the only country in the world to distribute free textbooks to students in primary and high school on the first day of the year. 

Yet, according to the Global Knowledge Index 2023, Bangladesh is in the 112th place among 133 countries. It is behind all South Asian countries except Pakistan; behind failed or fragile states like Zimbabwe, Ghana, Rwanda, El Salvador, Honduras, Eswatini or Laos; or even war-torn countries like Ukraine or Palestine. 

Moreover, no Bangladeshi university is in the top 800 spots of the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings for 2025, whereas India has secured 22nd spot and Pakistan the ninth. 

So, what is holding Bangladesh back? 

Bangladesh spends just 2% of GDP on education, among the lowest globally, compromising student learning outcomes.

Achieving the four education-related targets under the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 will require Bangladesh to provide universal, quality, equitable and inclusive education up to the secondary level, while also expanding opportunities for higher education. 

The previous regime has talked about mass education or a high literacy rate. They boasted about the quantity but not the quality. Yet, the poor education quality was evident even in government surveys. 

The National Student Assessment 2022, conducted by the Directorate of Primary Education and UNICEF, reveals concerning gaps in foundational skills among primary school students. Over 60% of third graders and 70% of fifth graders lack maths proficiency at grade level, while 51% of third graders and half of fifth graders similarly fall short in Bangla. 

Research conducted by the BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD) revealed that 84% of students can identify the Bangla alphabet, only 56% can fluently read a Bangla paragraph and 43% can read a Bangla story. In mathematics, 90% can identify single digits, yet only 29% can perform subtraction with borrowing and just 8% can divide a 3-digit by 1-digit problem, indicating limited advanced numeracy skills. 

English proficiency is notably low, with 43% of children lacking basic English literacy; only 57% can recognise English alphabets, and just 11% of private school students, 4% of public school students, and 1% of madrasa students can interpret simple English sentences.

These findings echo those from the 2017 assessment. An Education Watch report showed a significant rise in education costs for Bangladeshi families, with out-of-pocket expenses increasing by 51% for secondary and 25% for primary education in the first half of last year alone.

Bangladesh allocates a mere 2% of its GDP to education, one of the lowest rates globally. According to the World Bank, Bangladesh's per-student expenditure for primary education is only $149, just 17% of Sri Lanka's and 30% of India's. This limited investment results in a substandard learning environment, with a 57% learning poverty rate — indicating a majority of primary-aged students cannot read age-appropriate texts. Such statistics starkly contrast with the Education 2030 agenda, which urges countries to allocate at least 15-20% of their budget or 4-6% of GDP to education.

Among other Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Bangladesh ranked as the third lowest in average education expenditure as a percentage of GDP between 2016 and 2023, with only Haiti and Somalia spending less. 

The share of Bangladesh's total budget allocated to education has seen a significant decrease, dropping from 14% in the revised budget for FY2016 to around 10% in FY2024. Similarly, education spending as a percentage of GDP has declined from 1.79% in FY2016 to 1.48% in FY2024. 

This level of investment places Bangladesh among the lowest of the 38 Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in terms of average education expenditure, with only two countries spending less as a percentage of GDP from 2016 to 2023. 

Notably, at least 33 LDCs allocated 2% or more of their GDP to education over this period. Although the Eighth Five-Year Plan set a target to increase the education budget to 3.5% of GDP by FY2025, the allocation remains well below this goal, reaching only 1.69% in FY2025.

Specifically, in FY2019, Bangladesh allocated just 1.8% of its GDP to education, the lowest among 28 LDCs and the second lowest out of 104 countries globally. At least 33 LDCs, including Senegal and Djibouti, consistently spent 2% or more of their GDP on education during this period.

In terms of per capita government spending on primary education, Bangladesh averaged $136 from 2016 to 2022, ranking as the 15th lowest among 112 countries. During the same period, Senegal spent an average of $159 and Djibouti, notably higher, at $709 per capita. 

Bangladesh's per capita expenditure on primary education even saw a decline, from $161 in 2021 to $149 in 2022, reflecting ongoing challenges in prioritising education funding.

The country has achieved almost universal primary school enrolment, with a rate of 98%. However, as reports from the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics show, only 49% of children aged 7-14 possess basic reading and maths skills, a rate that points to serious gaps in foundational learning. 

Only 25% of primary students meet grade-level reading and maths standards and 55% do not reach minimum proficiency by the end of primary school.

Enrolment gains are overshadowed by low retention and academic outcomes, with only 82.6% completing primary education and fewer advancing to secondary levels. This emphasis on access rather than quality leaves many students unable to perform even grade-level tasks, a situation that threatens future workforce competency and the national goal of becoming a middle-income country by 2031.

The shortage of qualified teachers and inadequate training exacerbate the quality issue. Effective teaching relies on skilled instructors, yet in many Bangladeshi classrooms, the student-to-teacher ratio stands at 1:30, particularly low in science and mathematics, leading to poor performance in these subjects.  

Moreover, a significant percentage of teachers lack proper training, with teacher training often insufficient to build necessary classroom competencies. Teachers' status and incentives remain low, and poor salaries limit the talent pool, perpetuating a cycle of under qualified educators.

The issues in primary and secondary education carry into the tertiary level. Although the number of universities has increased to over 175, infrastructure and faculty development have not kept pace. Outdated curricula and a lack of practical skills training render many graduates unemployable, with 28% of unemployed youths holding tertiary degrees. 

The overemphasis on theoretical knowledge without practical experience further alienates students from job markets, as evidenced by the 8 lakh unemployed graduates in 2023. 

According to UGC, 15 private universities did not allocate any funds for research in 2022, a stark indication of the disconnect between higher education and research opportunities critical to student development.

The examination-centric assessment system in Bangladesh rewards rote memorisation over critical thinking. Mass failures in university entrance exams and low scores in the National Student Assessment are regular reminders of the system's inefficiencies. 

Research by Dhaka University's Professor Mohammad Tariq Ahsan revealed that while students are exposed to mathematics, they rarely gain the ability to apply concepts in real life. These foundational deficiencies in early education contribute to long-term economic consequences as unprepared graduates struggle to enter competitive job markets.

Dr Manzoor Ahmed, the professor emeritus at BRAC University in Dhaka and also the chair of the board of management of the Institute of Child and Human Development (ICHD), said that the problem starts at the beginning. 

"There should be a holistic approach to integrate all the steps to improve our education quality. Problems need to be identified at the roots, and the solutions should be catered towards the specific community. Not one size fits all; not one approach fixes all problems. 

"There should be plans for individual communities and localities. Instead, we are seeing that investment in education for every child is decreasing in real terms. The problem lies in the vision, the planning, and the allocation of funds," Dr Ahmed explained.  

The policymakers took superficial decisions, and hence, the decisions ended up not bringing qualitative changes, thinks Dr M Nazmul Huq, professor of Education at the Institute of Education and Research (IER) at the University of Dhaka and a member of the Research Board of the National Academy of Educational Management (NAEM). 

"It is because the ones who make these decisions are not education experts. If you want to develop education policy, you need to be an expert, but in our country, it didn't happen." 

Dr Huq thinks that the training quality of the teachers is not up to the mark, and it affects their performances. At the same time, the low allocation of the budget is hindering progress. 

"With such a paltry budget, you can only pay the teachers' salary. Unless the allocation is increased, the quality of education can not be improved," he said.

Without significant changes to current policies, Bangladesh risks becoming a low-skill, low-wage economy. Reforms such as teacher development, curriculum updates and classroom resource improvements can help align the education system with these aspirations.

The student-teacher ratio of 1:30 might seem manageable but for specialised subjects like science and maths, ratios are significantly lower, leading to large class sizes and reduced interaction in core subjects. 

Moreover, only 3.7% of students aged 7-14 have access to reading material beyond textbooks, indicating limited support for critical literacy development. Infrastructure also lags, with approximately 60% of public university students lacking housing facilities, impacting their overall learning experience and academic engagement.

The World Bank's learning poverty index reports that 57% of 10-year-olds in Bangladesh cannot read or understand basic text, slightly better than the South Asian average but still far from the global standard. With a Human Capital Index (HCI) score of 0.48, Bangladesh ranks below regional averages and even lags behind Nepal, underscoring the challenges in developing human capital at par with economic aspirations. 

The country also remains absent from the top 90 countries in R&D funding, with only 0.17% of its budget going toward research. This limits Bangladesh's capacity to innovate and build a competitive, knowledge-driven economy.