The number of madrasas at the secondary level increased more rapidly than the general secular institutions in the last decade. The government allocation for and per student spending in madrasas are also higher than in general non-government schools, said Dr Manzoor Ahmed, principal researcher of the study.

Campaign for Popular Education (Campe) launched the Education Watch 2005 Report titled 'The State of Secondary Education: Progress and Challenges' at the LGED auditorium in the city.

This is a matter of concern because the curriculum and teaching quality in these institutions (madrasas) do not groom young people as productive citizens, said Fazle Hasan Abed, chairperson of Campe and founder chairperson of BRAC.

He urged the government to make the madrasas accept the core curriculum of the education board to provide proper education to the large number of students.

He also called for bringing drastic changes to education system to improve quality of education, ensure proper management in higher secondary schools and establish a strict monitoring system.

The study was conducted in 600 secondary level educational institutions, covering 23,971 households in 1,088 villages across the country.

It also revealed that less than 45 per cent of eligible children enrol in secondary schools. Moreover, only one in five students, who starts studying in class six, can survive up to class ten and pass the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examinations.

Besides, rural-urban gap, socio-economic gap, dearth of learning facilities, low academic level of teachers and lack of accountability on the part of school management committee are also barriers to quality education, the report pointed out.

Finding the ways of combining growth with quality improvement is important, the speakers said at the launching ceremony.

They suggested that elements of quality enhancement, including teachers, curriculum, learning materials and facilities, and assessment of learning and school management committees, should be incorporated into the plans and strategies for the expansion of education system.

Acknowledging the problems in secondary institutions, Education Minister M Osman Farruk, who attended as chief guest, said it is not possible to change the situation in a day.

"It needs continuous effort and the government is trying to resolve the problems. A total of 2,000 more schools are being renovated this year with gender-friendly structure," he said.

Director of Campe Rasheda K Choudhury, Chairperson of Education Local Consultative Sub Group (ELCG) Tahsinah Ahmed, Member of Education Watch Samir Ranjan Nath, Advisor to former caretaker government Kazi Fazlur Rahman also spoke.