tasin-newaz

[tasin-newaz]

Policy Brief

April 2022

What will this nation do after being educated in this way? Reform the traditional education system of schools in Bangladesh

Overview 

Though Bangladesh has made notable progress in the education sector, the quality of the primary education in Bangladesh remains low. Besides all the short term effects this low rate of education has some long term effects also. Complex platform systems, lack of physical education, absence of real life and job related activities, absence of extracurricular activities and lack of soft skills in the primary and secondary schools in Bangladesh are the main problems in this traditional schooling system in Bangladesh. These problems emerge because of the minimum allocation of the national budget for education and the lack of skilled teachers in the schools (Islam, 2019). An article published in the Dhaka Tribune shows that the allocation of the national budget for education is lower than the required rate by UNESCO.   

These basic problems of the national traditional schooling system have long term effects along with short term effects. Some of the short term effects are the shortage of enough knowledge in the young generation, absence of norms and moral values, absence of career oriented learning that actually create the unemployment problems which is the long term effect. So to solve these kinds of long term bad effects we need to solve the basic problems with the education system. For that, to reform the traditional education system of schools in Bangladesh is necessary. 

Drawing on data from some secondary sources, this policy talked about the basic problems with the traditional primary school system in Bangladesh and its short and long term effects. It concludes with recommendations to accelerate progress to address the problems and the recommendations to solve the problems with the traditional primary school education system.

Methodology 

This brief draws on secondary method data collection. There is a collection of information from some articles published in some renowned newspapers like the business standard, some research by the world bank, some research by some famous authors and some steps taken by the governments of the neighboring countries. This policy included the initiatives taken by the neighboring countries of Bangladesh to address the problem which Bangladesh is suffering for.  This publication clearly shows the problems with our present national primary education system and the short and long term effects of this system. See  figure 01, which focuses on Govt. expenditure by the neighboring countries for education. It compares other countries with Bangladesh. Figure 02 focuses on the trained teachers in the primary education sector of the neighboring countries of Bangladesh. Finally, this policy came up with some policies to solve the problems and work for the betterment of education.

Scope and scale of the challenge:  key findings

Lack of national budget for education: Though education is the backbone of a nation, Bangladesh still does not allocate the percentage of the total budget that is needed for the improvement of the education sector. This is because since independence, Bangladesh has been facing economic and political instability. In Bangladesh about 44.7% of the total population is estimated to live below poverty (visitant, 2015).  The current allocation of the national budget for primary education is less than the required amount by any kind of standard. An article published in the Business Standards is clearly blaming the poor spending for the low quality of education in Bangladesh (Islam, 2019). It has been clear by a survey conducted by the World Bank that the allocation of total GDP for the education sector by Bangladesh is the lowest than any other neighboring country. This survey found that the allocation percentage for education by Nepal is 4.4% (2018), by Bhutan is 6.85% (2018), by India is 3.45% (2016), by Sri Lanka is 2.14% (2018). Where this rate for Bangladesh is only  1.33% (2019). (UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2021).  Again the majority of this amount is used by the higher education institution. An article published in the Dhaka Tribune is saying that the primary education sector gets only TK26, 314 crore that is well below what is required (Abdullah & Shovon, 2021). So here it is clear that Bangladesh has the lowest allocation rate of total GDP for primary education on average than most of the neighboring countries. To begin with, for this minimum amount of allocation, the primary sector has to face some major problems like this sector can not use sufficient money for the training for teachers, research and the modernization of the teaching environment. There is a huge lack in the number of classrooms, hygienic toilets. Majority of the schools don't have pure drinking water facilities. Primary students do not get opportunities to use modern equipment for details and further learning.  Because of the lower amount of investment for primary education in Bangladesh, it gained 0.48 points which is lower than Sri Lanka. To make the primary education system better all the neighboring countries of  Bangladesh are spending a standard amount of money from the national budget. Exactly this is why they are going forward day by day. Bangladesh also could apply this policy. 

Figure 1: Govt. expenditure by the neighboring countries for education

Source: The world Bank

Complex educational system:

The overall educational system of a country is very much dependent on the educational structure. A simple educational system helps a government to run the process very simply and clearly. Also it requires less cost. But from the very beginning the educational system of Bangladesh is very complex. A research by Dr. Moniruzzaman clearly shows the complexity of the present educational  system in Bangladesh. According to this research, primary school education can be categorized into 04 forms. They are Govt. primary schools, private schools, madrasas and non formal schools. These schools follow a very complex educational supply process and curriculum. The curriculums are Bangla medium, English medium, Cadet curriculum and the madrasa curriculum (Moniruzzaman, 2019). Also it includes non formal education curriculums. These complex platforms require  more management that actually creates hassles. Again for this reason we are losing intelligence. When a brilliant student is studying in the madrasa curriculum, we can not use his intelligence in engineering or any other  path. So here the one way educational curriculum is necessary. Though in Asian region the one way educational curriculum is still rare, it can be found in Finland which is in Europe. It is found that Finland is following the one way curriculum from the beginning and their literacy rate is 99.5% which is very high compared to the countries of Asia which are following a very complex educational system (hechinger report 2010). But currently Pakistan, which is an Asian country, is trying to start the one way education system in the primary level and they found huge benefits in it (Azam, 2022). So, finally it can be seen that for the complex primary educational structure, we are losing the intelligence from some sectors that are actually creating unemployment in the long run.  

Poor number of trained teachers in primary education sector hampers the education quality:

Teachers help a nation to acquire knowledge and to prosper. The teachers of the primary education sector do the elementary work of developing a nation. But a matter of great sorrow is that in Bangladesh the number of trained teachers in the primary education sector is very low than any other neighboring countries of Bangladesh. Several surveys and researches are showing this clearly.  A report by the World Bank is showing that where countries like India has 77.74%, Nepal has 97.27%, Bhutan has 100% (2018) , Sri Lanka has 83.32% of trained teachers (2020) in the primary education sector, as per 2017 the amount  for Bangladesh is only  50.43% (UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2021). which is the lowest amount among all the neighboring countries. That means half of the teachers of our primary education sector do not know how to deliver modern education or are not suitable with the technology based education system. 

Sometimes it can be seen that teachers are totally dependent on guide books to solve new math problems or sudden faced problems. Most of the teachers are not ready yet to cope up with the creative  curriculum that has been introduced in 2009 (Azad, 2016). For this reason often students do not get the opportunity to get enough basic knowledge of Math or English that basically hampers the basic knowledge of a primary student. An article published in the Business Standard is saying that from a survey by the World Bank it is found that 57% of Bangladeshi children at the late primary age are not fluent in reading. (Islam, 2022). This is one of the main causes why the quality of primary education in Bangladesh remains low. An article published in the Dhaka Tribune says that, ``In a country where a GPA 5 holder in SSC examination says the capital of Nepal is Neptune, it is only natural that Bangladesh ranks last in South Asia on the Global knowledge index”. By this way this nation is lagging behind day by day due to the poor amount of trained teachers.

Figure 2: Trained teachers in primary education section sector of the neighboring countries of Bangladesh

Source: The world Bank

Policy and programming implications

The findings of this policy highlight the urgent need for policy and programming that enhance the quality of the primary education in Bangladesh. Key priorities include the following:

1. Increase the allocation amount of national budget for the education sector:

As the allocation of the national budget is the very first stage to develop the national education system, it is vital to increase the investment of the national budget for the primary education sector of Bangladesh. Also some articles published in the newspapers written by some renowned researchers are suggesting to enhance the national budget for primary education. An article published in the Business Standard is saying that the national budget for education should be at least 3% of the GDP which is currently 1.33% only (TBS Report, 2022). So enhancing the national budget for the education sector could be the very 1st step to take for the improvement of the Bangladeshi primary education sector. 

2. Education structure should be one way:

Sometimes the success of education depends on the structure of the system of knowledge supply. To be more successful, the structure requires to be more straight and clean. This is why some European countries like Finland have been following a one way curriculum from the beginning. And they are more successful. But the educational structure of Bangladesh is complex from the very beginning. Understanding the bad effect of a complex educational structure, some of the Asian countries like Pakistan are moving forward to establish a one way educational structure. Pakistan already has proposed an one-way education supply structure (Azam, 2022). As the one way national educational curriculum is more effective and one of neighboring countries of Bangladesh is moving forward to that, it can be an effective step to follow for Bangladesh as well to be more successful. 

3. Increasing the number of trained teacher in the primary education sector:

To find out the main problems behind the lack of knowledge among the primary school students, it has been found that 50% of the primary school teachers are not well trained and cannot cope up with the new and creative curriculum. And also they are well trained for subjects like English and Math. For this reason the primary school teachers who do the primary work for the development of the nation should be well trained and should be able to solve creative problems. So to make them trained, Bangladesh should organize several training sessions for the teachers, and the recruitment of the primary school teachers should be more  transparent and straightforward.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

References

Abdullah, M., & Shovon, F. R. (2021, June 03). Experts for proper planning as education budget up. Dhaka tribune. https://archive.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/education/2021/06/03/experts-for-proper-planning-as-education-budget-up

Azad, S. I. (2016, May 12). Problems of primary and secondary education in Bangladesh. EDITORIAL. https://m.theindependentbd.com/arcprint/details/43527/2016-05-12

Azam, M. (2022, January 23). Single National Curriculum (SNC) in Pakistan. Iqbal Institute of Policy Studies. https://iips.com.pk/single-national-curriculum-snc-in-pakistan/

AZAM, M. (2022, January 23). SINGLE NATIONAL CURRICULUM (SNC) IN PAKISTAN. IQBAL INSTITUTE of POLICY STUDIES. https://iips.com.pk/single-national-curriculum-snc-in-pakistan/

Islam, J. (2019, November 22). Low quality primary education results from poor spending. The Business Standard. https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/education/poor-quality-primary-education-results-thrifty-spending

Islam, J. (2022, April 25). Low quality primary education results from poor spending. The Business Standard. https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/education/poor-quality-primary-education-results-thrifty-spending

Moniruzzaman, D. (2019). PROBLEMS OF PRIMARY EDUCATION IN BANGLADESH: A PRAGMATIC STUDY. http://ijariie.com/AdminUploadPdf/PROBLEMS_OF_PRIMARY_EDUCATION_IN_BANGLADESH__A_PRAGMATIC_STUDY_ijariie9476.pdf

TBS Report. (2022, April 26). Experts for raising education budget to minimum 3% of GDP. The Business Standard. https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/education/experts-raising-education-budget-minimum-3-gdp-82816

UNESCO Institute for Statistics. (2021, September). Government expenditure on education, total (% of GDP) - Bhutan, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal. The World Bank. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.XPD.TOTL.GD.ZS?locations=BT-IN-LK-BD-NP&most_recent_value_desc=false

UNESCO Institute for Statistics. (2021, September). Trained teachers in primary education (% of total teachers) - Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka. The World Bank. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.PRM.TCAQ.ZS?locations=BD-IN-NP-BT-LK

visitant. (2015, April 26). Challenges for Education in Bangladesh. CULTURA CRÍTICA. https://www.culturacritica.cc/2015/04/challenges-for-education-in-bangladesh/?lang=en