Call for urgent education reforms for quality, future-readiness

Bangladesh is failing to ensure future-ready quality education as its academic curriculum remains outdated and misaligned with the demands of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, while inadequate budgetary allocation further hampers progress, educationists and industry experts warned at a roundtable today (25 August).

They stressed the need to strengthen academic infrastructure, expand research and innovation facilities, ensure quality teaching, and bridge the industry-academia gap to produce a skilled workforce and reduce unemployment.

The roundtable titled "Futuristic Quality Education to Ensure Youth Empowerment, Innovation and Investment" was jointly organised by The Business Standard and United International University (UIU) at the TBS conference room. It brought together policymakers, educationists and private sector representatives to discuss strategies for equipping students with the skills required for a knowledge-driven global economy.

"If we do not build a foundation for our students, it will be tough at the secondary and tertiary levels. Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education should be implemented from primary schools through to master's level programmes, as in developed countries," said Mohammad Omar Faruq, head of Economics at UIU and independent director at United Finance.

He also stressed the need for good governance and an integrated national planning framework to ensure the delivery of quality education.

Poorly functioning education infrastructure

Muhammad Anisuzzaman Talukder, professor of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (EEE) at Buet, criticised the country's poorly functioning education infrastructure, citing low teacher salaries, weak classroom maintenance, and limited research support.

"Interdisciplinary programmes and microcredit courses alongside major programmes can generate more comprehensive learning opportunities for young innovators," he said, adding that industry-embedded learning can help graduates adapt to the changing dynamics of the job market.

The education allocation in the 2025-26 fiscal year remains 1.53% of GDP, below the international benchmark of 4-6% by the "Education 2030 Framework for Action" of Unesco.

Over the past two decades, the education budget has consistently been below 2% of GDP, raising concerns by educators.

Technology gap

Sharing his experience with the US education system, Sadid Muneer, associate professor and undergraduate coordinator of EEE at UIU, said, "I found that my children were learning about robotics in grades 1 and 2 in the United States. By grades 3 and 4, they already knew how to build robots. In contrast, where does our primary education stand?"

He added, "Artificial Intelligence (AI) is now being used in power plants and circuit design. Yet, in Bangladesh, AI is completely absent from the curricula of relevant academic disciplines."

Education quality

Md Sariful Islam, head of Influencing, Communication, Advocacy and Media at Oxfam, pointed out that education is still not recognised as a basic right in Bangladesh. He urged for stronger public-private partnerships (PPPs) and leveraging the knowledge of the Bangladeshi diaspora to improve education quality.

Referring to World Bank data, Sariful said, "Approximately 2.2 million Bangladeshis enter the job market each year. Among them, 8-10 lakh find jobs abroad, mostly less-skilled due to lack of proper education."

The experts linked the higher unemployment to the lack of skilled graduates.

Bangladesh's unemployment rate has surged to its highest level in recent years amid ongoing economic and political instability.

According to the quarterly labour force survey released yesterday by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, the country's unemployment rate stood at 4.63% in the December quarter of the last fiscal year. This marks a significant increase from 3.95% recorded during the same period last year.

The number of unemployed individuals in the country rose to 27.3 lakh, up from 24 lakh in the same quarter of the previous year.
Prawma Khan, country manager of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, underlined the role of technology-driven education and research facilities in fostering youth-led innovations with economic and social impact.

She emphasised the need to develop a teachers' training blueprint, similar to Malaysia and Vietnam, to enhance teaching quality across the country.

Moderating the event, Sharier Khan, senior executive editor at TBS, said, "Well-educated individuals are not rewarded in Bangladesh. That's why many top graduates leave the country."

He added, "You won't find many people who become schoolteachers out of passion or dreams here, because there's no honour or reward in it. As a result, we're losing our most creative minds to other professions."

The roundtable concluded with calls for stronger collaboration between media, academia, industry, and policymakers to spotlight youth innovation, attract investment in education, and implement policies that foster a skilled and future-ready workforce.

Other discussants included Mohammad Solaimun Rasel, chief technology officer at Grameen Telecom Trust; Syeda Afzalun Nesa, head of sustainability at HSBC Bangladesh; Sharif Ahmed Mukul, associate professor of the Department of Environment & Development Studies at UIU; Farhana Hossain Shammu, head of Grameenphone Academy, Grameenphone; and Khusnur Binte Jahangir, lecturer of CSE at UIU.