Education System

Structure of the Education System

Education in Bangladesh has three major stages-primary, secondary and higher education. Primary education is a 5-year cycle while secondary education is a 7- year one with three sub-stages: 3 years of junior secondary, 2 years of secondary and 2 years of higher secondary. The entry age for primary is 6 years. The junior, secondary and higher stages are designed for age groups 11-13, 14-15 and 16-17 years. Higher secondary is followed bygraduate level education in general, technical, engineering, agriculture, business studies, and medical streams requiring 5-6 years to obtain a Masters degree. In the general education stream, higher secondary is followed by college/university level education through the Pass/Honors Graduate Courses (4 years). The masters Degree is of one year's duration for holders of Bachelor Degree (Honors) and two years duration for holders of (Pass) Bachelor Degree. Higher education in the technical area also starts after higher secondary level. Engineering, agriculture, business, medical and information & communication technology are the major technical and technological education areas. In each of the courses of study, except for medical education, a 5- year course of study is required for the first degree.

Different Steams in Education Primary level education is provided under two major institutional arragements (stream)-general and madrasha, while secondary education has three major streams:general, technical-vocational and madrasha. Higher education, likewise, has 3 streams:general (inclusive of pure and applied science, arts, business and social science), madrasahand technology education. Technology education in its turn includes agriculture, engineering, medical, textile, leather technology and ICT. Madrashas (Arabic for educational institution),functional parallel to the three major stages, have similar core courses as in the general stream (primary, secondary and post-secondary) but have additional emphasis on religious studies.

MoE Overview Ministry of Education is the apex policy making institution of the Government regarding administration and development of post-primary education sector. Ministry of Education formulates policies and programs for the development of post-primary to higher education including Madrasah, Technical and Vocational education. It also formulates laws, rules andregulations for the management and administration of post-primary education sector and its stitutions of the country. There are several attached bodies for supervision and management of formal education in post-primary and secondary schools, colleges, madrasahs, technical schools and colleges, polytechnic institutes, engineering colleges and universities.There are about 30864 post primary secondary schools/colleges/madrasahs and 26public and 56 private universities. History of MoE at a glance March 1972 Ministry of Education, Religion, Sports & Cultural AffairsDecember 1974 Ministry of Education and Cultural AffairsMarch 1984 Ministry of Education and Science & TechnologyAugust 1993 Ministry of Education Policies and Guidelines of Ministry of Education Human resource development is at the core of Bangladesh's development efforts and access to quality education is critical to poverty reduction and economic development. The Government is committed to undertaking structural reforms that are expected to bring significant improvements in the education sector. Bangladesh's commitment to education has been clearly stated in its Constitution and development plans with education being given the highest priority in the public sector investments. Education sector allocations are currently about 2.3 percent of GDP and 14 percent of total government expenditure. Maintaining this commitment to the education sector is imperative in order to achieve Education for All (EFA) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The management of the education system falls under two ministries - the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education (MoPME, responsible for primary education and mass literacy) and the Ministry of Education (MoE, responsible for secondary, vocational and tertiary education). Overall there are more than 17 million students at the primary level, and over 8.0 million at the secondary level. Enrolments at the tertiary level are relatively small but growing very rapidly. Bangladesh has made significant progress, especially in regard to increasing access and gender equity, both at primary and secondary levels. Gross primary enrollment rates rose from 90 percent in the late 1990s to 98 percent in 2003, while a corresponding increase in enrollment rates at the secondary level rise to 44 percent. Gender parity in access to primary and secondary education has also been achieved. These achievements are particularly spectacular when compared to countries in the South Asia region and other countries at similar levels of per-capita income. The Government is strongly committed to alleviating the existing problems in respect of management and quality through reforms across the education system. At the primary level, MoPME is supported by a multi-donor group through the Primary Education Development Program II (PEDP II), which aims to strengthen educational access, quality and efficiency. In order to address issues at the secondary and higher levels, MoE has developed a medium-term framework for the secondary education sub-sector, focusing on quality improvements, policy measures and specific actions needed to reform the system. The development of this medium-term framework has benefited from an extensive range of consultations and workshops with stakeholders at the central, district, and upazila levels. The main objective of reforms being proposed is to address systemic governance issues aimed at raising the quality and cost-effectiveness of service delivery, and improve equity of access in secondary education. MoE is aiming to move towards a devolved system of governance within the current administrative structure. In this system the central government will be responsible for formulating policies, financing, setting quality standards, and monitoring and evaluation etc., while lower levels of government will be responsible for administering the system. MoE is empowering officials at the district and upazilla levels to take greater responsibility in monitoring school performance and ensure public disclosure of information (e.g., SSC passing rates, teacher absenteeism, class sizes, etc.) related to school quality. To ensure appropriate financial controls, MoE is implementing a Financial Management Reform Program (FMRP). This is intended to increase accountability and transparency in the use of resources Education Management Education System in Bangladesh is being managed and administered by two Ministries, Ministry of Education (MoE) and Ministry of Primary and Mass Education Division in association with the attached Departments and Directorates as well as a number of autonomous bodies.

Ministry of Education This Ministry is concerned with policy formulation, planning, monitoring, evaluation and execution of plans and programs related to post primary secondary and higher education including technical & madrasah education. The line directorates, viz.. Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education and Directorate of Technical Education are responsible for management and supervision of institutions under their respective control.Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE): This Directorate is headed by a Director-General who is responsible for administration, management and control of post primary secondary and higher education including madrasah and other special types of education. It is assisted by sub-ordinate Offices located at the division and district levels with project offices at upzillas.The Directorate of Technical Education (DTE): This Directorate is headed by a Director-General and is responsible for the management and administration of technical & vocational institutions like polytechnics, monotechnics and other similar types of institutes. It has Inspectorate Offices at the Divisional Headquarters.Bangladesh National Commission for UNESCO (BNCU): This organisation functions as a corporate body within the MoE. This is headed by the Minister of Education as Chairman and the Education Secretary as the Secretary-General. The Commission consists of 69 members constituted by eminent educationists and intellectuals interested in educational, scientific and cultural fields of the country. The Secretariat of the Commission is normally headed by a government official designated as Secretary.Chief Accounts Office (CAO): In pursuance of the Government policy of decentralization the accounting function of the MoE is done by a separate accounts office under a Chief Accounts Officer (C.A.O).In addition, the following Staff Departments/Professional Bodies of the MoE perform specialised functions assigned to them:(i) National Academy for Educational Management (NAEM) This Academy is the apex training institution under the MoE responsible for providing foundation training to BCS (general education) cadre officers. it also provides in-service training to senior educational administrators and teachers of the secondary and higher secondary levels. This academy is headed by a Director General. (ii) National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) This Board is an autonomous organisation under the Ministry of Education (MoE). It is responsible for the development of curriculum, production and distribution of textbooks at primary, secondary and higher secondary levels. (iii) Bangladesh Bureau of Educational Information and Statistics (BANBEIS) This organisation is responsible for collection, compilation and dissemination of educational information and statistics at various levels and types of education. This organisation is the main organ of the MoE responsible for collection and publication of educational data and statistics. It also functions as the Educational Management Information System (EMIS) of the Ministry. It is also the National Coordinator of RINSACA (Regional Informatics for South & Central Asia). (iv) Directorate of Inspection and Audit ( DIA) This Directorate is headed by a Director and is responsible for inspection and audit aimed at improving the standard of education of the Non-governmental institutions at the secondary level. Further-more, a number of autonomous bodies have a share in the administration of education. These are :(i) University Grants Commission (UGC) The University Grants Commission is responsible for supervision of the public and private universities and allocation of government grants to them. (ii) National University This is a public affiliating university responsible for academic control of all the affiliated colleges offering courses in Graduate level Pass, Honours and Masters and for conducting Bachelor Degree and Masters examinations. (iii) Education Boards Seven Boards of Intermediate and Secondary Education are responsible for conducting the public examinations such as Secondary School Certificate and Higher Secondary Certificate level public examinations. The Boards are also responsible for the recognisation of the Non-government and private sector educational institution. (iv) Madrasah Education Board This Board is responsible for conducting public examinations from Dakhil to Kamil levels.The Boards are also responsible for the recognisation of the Non-government madrasahs. (v) Technical Education Board This Board is entrusted with the task of conducting certificate and diploma examinations in technical education.The Boards are also responsible for the recognisation of the Non-government technical and vocational educational institutions. (vi) Non-Governmental Teachers' Registration & Certification Authority (NTRCA) The NTRCA has been established in February 2005 with the mandate to conduct examination for the registration of successful candidates who would be eligible for appointment in the non-government educational institutions. The NTRCA has been created by the government with the objective of improving the teaching quality of the non-government secondary, graduate and post graduate level teachers excluding public and private universities. Strategic Plans Major Initiatives taken by the Ministry Education Commission 2003 submitted its report in March 2004 and GOB has initiated actions to review and prioritize its 880 recommendations concerning each stream and level of education. Actually many of the recommendations made by the Education Commission are already in the process of implementation and many are in the pipeline for implementation. Some of the actions are taken in this respect are described below: Government has enacted Primary Education (Compulsory) Law in 1990 to achieve the universal primary enrolment by 2005 More then 98% of secondary schools are non-government. But Government pays 90% of the teacher and staff salary of these institutions Bangladesh has sustained increased government allocation in education sector from the 1990s Government is currently providing subsidies to create demand for education in favor of the poor and girls Government has initiated the decentralization of primary and secondary education management structure Government has established an autonomous Nongovernmental Secondary Teachers Registration and Certification Authority in order to recruit qualified and trained teachers in secondary level institutions A large project for the improvement of teaching quality at the secondary level institutions is underway A new apex body named National Teachers Training Authority by restructuring existing National Academy for Education Management (NAEM) is on card. This proposed institution would train both public and private sector teachers from 2005/06 Reorganization of National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) has also started with the objective to separate functions of the Board into two units, e.g., curriculum and textbook. This would enhance competition in textbook production and publishing and enable Board to concentrate on curriculum development A separate entity named Independent Textbook Evaluation Committee (ITEC) has been established for designing transparent criteria under which individual textbook manuscripts will be evaluated Privatization of textbook production and publication has already started for grades 6 to 10. Publication of all textbooks at the secondary level will be privatized by 2007 An Accreditation Council is being established which would function as a watchdog over the private universities in order to monitor the teaching standard of universities Major Reforms Undertaken by the Government for Improving Quality of Education Introduction of unitrack curriculum in secondary level education from 2006 School based assessment (SBA) in secondary level education Reform of existing examination systems in secondary level education Privatization of Textbook Writing and Publication Re-organization of Managing Committee/Governing Body of the Non-Government Educational Institutions Formation of Oversight Committee for Supervision of Teaching at Classrooms Sanction of MPO on the basis of performance of educational institutions Strengthening of Teachers' Training Delivery of Textbooks to the Students on Time Development and Modernization of Secondary, Technical and Madrasah Curricula Retirement and Welfare Fund for Non-Government Teachers Establishment of 10 Foreign Language Centers Distribution of 20000 computers in secondary level educational institutions including Madrasahs Training of secondary level teachers' in computer applications Restructuring of Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education Restructuring of National Academy for Education Management (NAEM) Restructuring of Personnel of Boards of Intermediate and Secondary Education (Dhaka, Rajshahi, Chittagong, Jessore, Barisal, Comilla, Sylhet) and NCTB