EDUCATION in Bangladesh has lost its way. Instead of helping young people grow, think and create, it has become a system obsessed with exams, grades and rote memorisation. Students spend their childhoods preparing for tests rather than for life. The result is a generation holding certificates yet lacking the skills, creativity and confidence to thrive.
Across the country, students crowd into coaching centres after school, endlessly repeating lessons they have already memorised. Studies show that three out of four secondary students and more than one-third of primary students receive private tutoring. For many, this leaves little time for social life or critical reflection. The coaching industry has also deepened inequality: wealthier families can afford tutors for every subject, giving their children an edge in competitive exams, while poorer students are left behind.
This exam-centred culture discourages genuine learning. The Japanese educator Tsunesaburo Makiguchi described education as nurturing three values: beauty, gain and good. Beauty is the joy of learning and the wonder of discovery. Gain is the practical benefit of skills that enable independence. Good is the highest value, using knowledge to serve others and contribute to society. Yet in Bangladesh, students are pushed to focus only on exams and jobs. They are deprived of beauty, unsure of how to gain real skills and rarely guided towards discovering the good that education can bring to communities.
The consequences are stark. Around half of Bangladeshi children at the age of ten cannot read with comprehension. By the time they reach higher education, they are conditioned to memorise and repeat rather than to think or question. Even those who excel in examinations often find themselves unprepared for real-world challenges.
At the same time, unemployment and underemployment haunt the youth. The number of graduates is rising, but so is the number of jobless young people. Many dream of entering the Bangladesh Civil Service not out of a desire to serve the nation, but because BCS jobs offer power, prestige and security. These positions promise stability and benefits that private jobs rarely match. The pursuit of civil service has become a symbol of status, reducing education to a race for survival and social standing.
Education thinkers have long warned against such an approach. John Dewey argued that education is growth, a process of learning through experience, reflection and engagement with the real world. Paulo Freire opposed the 鈥榖anking model鈥� of education, where students are treated as empty containers to be filled with facts. Instead, he called for education that awakens critical awareness, helping learners understand their place in society and act to change it.
None of this is visible in Bangladesh鈥檚 system today. Classrooms too often function like businesses. Teachers chase income, students chase grades and both lose sight of education鈥檚 greater meaning.
Reform has been discussed for years. UNESCO has urged better teacher training, while the World Bank has funded infrastructure, stipends and innovation projects. Some universities are rethinking curricula. Yet these steps are insufficient.
If Bangladesh truly wants to transform education, change must begin at the very start of schooling. Waiting until university or even high school is too late, because by then the culture of memorisation is already entrenched. Children must learn early that education is not about passing exams but about questioning, exploring and discovering meaning.
The values of curiosity, creativity and responsibility must be nurtured when students are at their most inquisitive age.
As educators, parents and policymakers, we must accept responsibility. Education should prepare young people not only for jobs, but for life. Exams will always have a place, but they cannot define the system.
Bangladesh must change course. We need an education system that helps students enjoy the beauty of knowledge, gain practical skills, and use their learning for the good of society. Only then will we prepare a generation ready to build a future that is not merely secure, but truly meaningful.
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Arwin Ahmad Mitu is a lecturer on study leave from the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh and a graduate student in Educational Leadership and Societal Change at Soka University of America.
