All English medium schools must have government registration: Ministry

The Ministry of Education has said all English medium schools must be brought under government registration.

The ministry has asked the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education and all education boards of the country to take necessary steps in this regard.

The ministry also has asked them to make lists of registered and non-registered English medium schools in the country.

According the directives of the education ministry, it is mandatory for these educational institutions to obtain a registration certificate from appropriate registration authorities (Board of General Education) by submitting registration fees as per the private school registration rules, reports Prothom Alo.

However, there are allegations that most English medium schools in the country are operating without having government registration and this in turn leads to no accountability on their part. On the other hand, the government does not have precise information about the institutions and students studying there.

According to latest data provided by the Bangladesh Bureau of Educational Information and Statistics, there are 146 English medium schools in the country with 78,000 students studying there.

Although a set of guidelines was set in 2017 regarding the registration of these institutions, it is yet be thoroughly implemented.

According to Section 19(3) of the Education Ministry's guidelines, these institutions may charge from students for conducting co-curricular activities in schools, for providing special facilities and use of high-quality equipment or technology in providing the students with better services.

But in this case, the full expenditure statement must be approved by the management committee and must be notified to the parents in writing, reports Prothom Alo.

In addition, the ministry guidelines have also reminded these educational institutions that there are rules to mention the amount and details of tuition fees, admission fees, sports fees, library fees, tiffin fees, printing fees and other fees collected in different categories every month or year in the registration forms. 

Guardians on the other hand say that these institutions do not fully disclose the details of these fees with them.