The percentage and number of trained teachers in secondary schools and secondary to tertiary madrassahs have decreased over the years while the numbers of students and institutions have increased.
The decline in the percentage and number of untrained teachers is significant in madrassahs, as government data show.
Of the untrained teachers, the percentage and number of females are higher than males in such institutions.
Teachers receive training to enhance their professional skills, ensure quality education and introduce them to the new curriculum.
The Bangladesh Bureau of Educational Information and Statistics has no data on trained teachers in colleges.
It also has no updated statistics on qawmi madrassahs as they are not registered with the government.
The statistics were revealed at a time when the quality of teachers is one of the most discussed issues in the country.
Educationists and campaigners termed the situation alarming and said that, without skilled and trained teachers, the government would not achieve the sustainable development goal on ensuring quality education.
SDG-4 that focuses on 鈥榪uality education鈥� aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all by 2030.
The Campaign for Popular Education鈥檚 deputy director (research and advocacy), Mostafizur Rahaman, said that the trend of training teachers had reduced after the Covid pandemic and that there was also a gap in training teachers in 2024 due to political unrest.
A vacuum has been created as new teachers did not get training during this period, and the trained teachers were going to retirement, he said.
鈥榃e are now clearly observing the impact on our education sector,鈥� he said, and added that this trend聽 would create a 鈥榣ost generation鈥�, who lost attention in classrooms due to the crisis of skilled teachers.
In 2024, the number of teachers in the secondary level was 2,93,289, including 92,492 females, according to the Bangladesh Education Statistics 2024 released recently by the BANBEIS.
Among the total teachers, 66.1 per cent or 1,93,851 were trained, while 60 per cent or 55,492 of the female teachers were trained.
In 2023, the number of teachers in the secondary level was 2,78,518, including 85,751 females. Among the total teachers, 71.86 per cent or 2,00,147 were trained, while 68.26 per cent or 58,530 of the female teachers were trained.
In 2011, the number of teachers in the secondary level was 223,555, including 52,001 females. Among the total teachers, 75.36 per cent or 1,68,472 were trained, while 77.43 per cent or 40,266 of the female teachers were trained that year.
In cases of madrassahs, in 2024, the number of madrassah teachers was 1,28,522. Of them, 26,785 were females. Only 9.19 per cent or 11,816 of the total teachers were trained and, among the female teachers, only 8.25 per cent or 2,211 were trained.
In 2023, the number of madrassah teachers was 1,18,280, including 23,156 females. Of the total madrassah teachers, 27.69 per cent or 32,747 teachers were trained, while 30.11 per cent or 6,973 of the female teachers were trained in that year.
In 2011, the number of madrassah teachers was 1,07,177, including 10,997 females. Of the total teachers, 24.48 per cent or 26,242 teachers were trained in the year, while 37.66 per cent or 4,141 of the female teachers were trained.聽
Professor Shah Shamim Ahmed of the Institute of Education and Research at Dhaka University said that trained teachers perform well in classrooms and make learning easy and interesting to their students.
Usually, females are preferred in the teaching profession for their inherent quality of convincing students easily and making learning easy for their students, he said.
鈥業f the percentage of trained female teachers drops, it is a blow to our quality education,鈥� he said.
The professor termed the increase in the percentage of unskilled and untrained teachers in classrooms 鈥榓 very bad sign for the education sector鈥�.
Mostafizur Rahaman feared that the government might fail to achieve the goal of SDG-4 by 2030.
According to the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education, the country has 14 government teachers鈥� training colleges and five higher secondary level teachers鈥� training institutes.
The Bangladesh Madrassah Teachers鈥� Training Institute, under the Directorate of Madrassah Education, provides training to the madrassah teachers.
Additionally, the National Academy for Educational Management offers training to teachers.
According to BANBEIS, the number of students in secondary schools (junior secondary and secondary schools and school and school sections of colleges) was 90,63,422 in 2024, 94,05,785 in 2023, and 75,10,218 in 2011.
In madrassahs, the number of students in Dakhil (secondary level), Alim (higher secondary level), Fazil (honours level) and Kamil (Master鈥檚 level) was 27,96,191 in 2024, and the number was 21,97,877 in 2011.
Recent data on the country鈥檚 qawmi madrassahs are not available from BANBEIS, the government agency responsible for collecting and disseminating statistics related to education in Bangladesh.
According to a 2015 BANBEIS survey, there were 13,902 qawmi madrassahs in the country, with 13,98,252 students studying in those madrassahs.