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Does Bangladesh education need salvaging? The official narrative is equivocal. Most young children are in primary school. The system has expanded to comprise 40 million students, over 200,000 institutions, and over a million teachers. Girls and boys are equally enrolled in schools, a feat not achieved by many developing countries. We do need to work more on improving quality. So why is the despair?
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The end of the pandemic is not quite in sight. Schools have remained closed for a full six months now since March 17.
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The decision to recommend by concerned ministries to the government to scrap primary level PEC and junior secondary level JSC exams as reported in the press is welcome news (Daily Star, August 12, 2020).
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On June 14, the ministry of education extended school closure, imposed on March 18 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, to August 6. Earlier, the prime minister had said the closure may continue to September.
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It is disappointment again for the advocates of education who have been pleading for stronger public commitment to education. The new budget maintains Bangladesh’s record for having one of the lowest allocations in South Asia and among developing countries for education as share of GDP and of the national budget. Moreover, there is no sign of an education rescue and recovery plan to offset the impact of the pandemic.
