Action agenda for education sector

PRIMARY EDUCATION

Access: As the compulsory primary education law has already been enacted, it is important to find ways and means to get all children admitted into primary schools.

Quality: Nationwide survey by CAMPE in 1998 revealed that only 29 per cent of primary students achieved certain basic competencies which is not satisfactory. The quality has to be improved further.

Relevance: Reforms in curriculum of primary education widened the scope for primary education but failure to improve quality has contributed little to enhancement of its relevance.

Efficiency: The dropout rate came down to 35 per cent in 1999, but still it is quite high. CAMPE survey revealed that average attendance at schools was 62 per cent only. 38 per cent students repeated their courses. As a result, it took 6.6 years to complete the five-year course indicating to poor efficiency.

SECONDARY EDUCATION

Access: Most secondary schools belonging to the private sector operate generally under commercial considerations. Significant improvement in access of children to secondary education and removal of all existing gender disparities at different levels of secondary education are required.

Equity: Tuition fees and other costs (for school uniform, textbooks, transport, private coaching, etc.) of secondary education, including considerable opportunity cost, serve as effective barriers to access of children from poorer households. Moreover, at this level of education, the social divide is also getting prominent. An elite, mostly English medium, system that functions with a degree of efficiency, and a mass system (bifurcated into a secular stream and a religious stream).

Quality: Performance of students in public examinations is not satisfactory. In 2001, nearly two-thirds of all students who sat for the SSC examination failed.

Relevance: Both in adequately preparing the students for higher education, and for meeting the manpower needs of the economy, secondary education in Bangladesh could not play an effective role.

Efficiency: With dropout rates at 21.3 per cent, and 52.1 per cent at junior and secondary levels respectively in 1999, and failure rate at 65 per cent at SSC examinations in 2001, one can definitely raise questions about the efficiency of our secondary education system.

TERTIARY EDUCATION

Access: Access has to expand substantially to meet the challenges of today's knowledge economy and information society. In 1999, compared to total enrolment of 12,47,674 at higher secondary level, enrolment at degree and masters levels were 6,50,277 and 74,979, respectively. Girls seem to have much lower access to tertiary education. At degree and masters level, they accounted for 32.6 and 26.3 per cent respectively of total enrolment during the period.

Equity: Inequities at the previous levels are magnified by highly subsidised public education at tertiary level. Access to private universities is limited as only those who can pay extremely high tuition fees can get themselves enroled in such universities.

Quality: It is a grave problem in tertiary education even at universities, both public and private. The University Grants Commission (UGC) has failed miserably in discharging its role as a guardian of public universities, and as a promoter of quality. It has also failed to institute a self-regulatory accreditation system for private universities.

Relevance: In the absence of any linkage between public universities (excepting few departments) and the job market, education imparted at public universities had little relevance to the needs of the economy. Private universities, on the other hand, responded only to market signals, relevant to the economy in the short run, and neglected long-term interest of the economy.

Efficiency: Long session jam, a characteristic feature of public universities, is a clear indicator of inefficient management of public universities of Bangladesh