AS BANGLADESH unveils its national budget for the 2025–26 financial year, the country stands at a defining moment. Despite repeated commitments, successive governments have failed to make significant increases in education funding. Public investment has consistently remained below the levels needed to deliver meaningful outcomes. With education funding hovering at just 1.7 per cent to 2.0 per cent of GDP, far short of UNESCO’s recommended 4–6 per cent, Bangladesh finds itself with a system burdened by poor infrastructure, insufficient teacher development, and weak alignment with job market demands. These shortcomings have hindered the country’s capacity to equip its population with the tools needed to compete in a global economy, increasingly driven by knowledge, skills, and innovation.
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party, in its recently declared 31-point national reform agenda, recognises the critical deficits in the education sector and places comprehensive reform at the heart of its vision for national development. Central to the BNP’s platform is the commitment to allocate at least 5 per cent of GDP to education, with a strong focus on rebuilding the system from the ground up—beginning with primary education. The party identifies universal, high-quality primary education as the cornerstone for an equitable and future-ready system, acknowledging that early learning outcomes profoundly shape lifelong academic achievement and workforce readiness. The agenda also prioritises need-based education, vocational training, digital literacy, and linguistics, each essential for equipping the nation’s youth with the skills required for meaningful employment and civic participation. This article outlines the current challenges, proposes solutions rooted in the BNP’s reform agenda, and explores the broader implications of a transformation that begins with strengthening the foundation: primary education.
Despite improvements in access and enrolment, the overall quality of education in Bangladesh remains troublingly low. Classrooms are often overcrowded, particularly in rural areas, and the learning environment is constrained by a shortage of trained and motivated teachers. Economic and social incentives to attract and retain qualified educators are lacking, resulting in high teacher turnover and insufficient professional development. Education delivery remains dominated by rote memorisation rather than critical thinking or problem-solving. Many students complete their schooling without acquiring foundational analytical, linguistic, or technological skills. Alarmingly, over 53 per cent of children aged 10 are estimated to be in learning poverty, meaning they are unable to read and understand a simple text — a clear indicator of systemic failure. A persistent and troubling disconnect continues between what is taught in schools and the competencies required by the job market, leaving graduates ill-prepared for both employment and entrepreneurship. This misalignment has contributed to widespread underemployment and a growing brain drain among educated youth.
One of the most glaring issues in the current education system is the lack of adequate public investment. With Bangladesh spending less than 2 per cent of its GDP on education — among the lowest in South Asia — resources are spread thin. Budgetary allocations are skewed heavily toward infrastructure and salaries, leaving little room for curriculum innovation, digital learning, or skills development. Moreover, families bear the burden of education costs, covering approximately 71 per cent of total spending through tuition, private tutoring, learning materials, and examination fees. This financial burden disproportionately affects low-income families, limiting their children’s access to quality education and widening the socio-economic divide.
BNP’s reform framework proposes a bold departure from the status quo. Increasing education funding incrementally to at least 5 per cent of GDP would allow the government to address critical gaps in staffing, teacher training, ICT infrastructure, and curriculum reform. The revised staffing policy should attract meritorious young graduates to take on the role of schoolteachers in rural and underserved communities in Bangladesh. More importantly, such an increase would send a strong signal that education is a national priority. However, the scale of funding must be matched by smart, equitable, and performance-orientated spending. For instance, budget allocations should prioritise disadvantaged areas and underserved communities to ensure that education becomes a vehicle for social mobility and inclusive growth.
A cornerstone of the BNP’s proposal is the integration of education with the domestic and international job market. This entails overhauling curricula to emphasise critical thinking, creativity, communication, linguistics, and digital skills. Vocational and technical education must be mainstreamed from the secondary level onwards, with targeted investments in district training centres tailored to local economic needs. Such reforms would not only reduce youth unemployment but also help align Bangladesh’s human capital development with global labour market trends.
Digital transformation must also be a central part of education reform. The BNP calls for a nationwide push to integrate digital literacy into all levels of schooling. Equipping students with the tools to navigate a technology-driven world is no longer optional. Schools should be supported with internet access, devices, and teacher training programmes that enable the effective use of educational technology in everyday instruction. At the same time, efforts must be made to bridge the digital divide by prioritising rural and low-income students in connectivity and device distribution programmes.
Another crucial aspect of the reform agenda is decentralisation. The current education system is highly centralised, resulting in delays, inefficiencies, and a lack of contextual responsiveness. Empowering local education authorities and school management committees at the upazila level would enhance flexibility and accountability. Communities should have a voice in how schools are run, how funds are used, and how performance is evaluated. Decentralisation also creates space for innovation, allowing schools to experiment with teaching models and student engagement strategies that reflect local needs and realities.
Affordability is another area that demands urgent attention. The BNP’s policy suggests introducing targeted subsidies to reduce the out-of-pocket expenses borne by families. These could include examination fee waivers, school midday meals, and transport stipends. In this regard, lessons can be drawn from the successful Food for Education programme introduced by the Begum Khaleda Zia-led BNP government in 1991-92, which provided food or cash incentives to families in exchange for their girl children’s school attendance. This initiative significantly boosted female enrolment rates by addressing both the direct and opportunity costs of schooling. Building on this experience, targeted financial support today can play a critical role in improving access and retention, especially for girls and marginalised communities.
In addition, the government should reform the monthly pay order system to make it more equitable and performance-based, ensuring that financial support is extended to institutions delivering real educational value — particularly in underserved areas and rural communities.
Equally important is the need for robust monitoring, evaluation, and accountability mechanisms. Increased investment must be accompanied by greater transparency. Establishing an independent National Education Evaluation Authority would allow for real-time tracking of outcomes, regular audits of fund usage, and the measurement of educational impact based on clear, publicly available indicators.
By aligning budgetary policy with the BNP’s forward-looking education agenda, Bangladesh can fundamentally reshape its approach to human capital development. The potential benefits are immense. A better-educated population will not only contribute to higher economic productivity and innovation but also help build a more inclusive, democratic, and cohesive society. Quality education promotes gender equality, reduces poverty, and empowers citizens to participate meaningfully in public life.
The budget provides a critical opportunity for the government to commit to this transformative vision. The window for reform is open, but it requires political will, public support, and coherent policy action. The BNP believes that if Bangladesh is to become a high-income, knowledge-based economy by the mid-21st century, need-based education and comprehensive skills development for youth must be placed at the core of national strategy, not just in rhetoric but in resource allocation, institutional restructuring, and curricular modernisation. The education system must be realigned to prepare students for the realities of both the domestic and global job markets, ensuring that young people are equipped with the technical, digital, and soft skills needed to thrive in a rapidly evolving economic landscape.
In conclusion, Bangladesh’s education sector stands at a crossroads. The challenges are deep-rooted, but so are the opportunities. A robust commitment to education reform — centred on increased investment, skill-building, digital inclusion, and equity — can unlock the vast potential of the country’s young population. The BNP’s 31-point education agenda offers a viable roadmap to this future. Now is the time to act.
Ìý
Dr SM Ziauddin Hyder is an adviser to Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairperson and former senior World Bank official.
