Low spending, fragmented curricula weaken education system: Study
The researchers warned that Bangladesh’s demographic dividend could turn into a “demographic massacre” unless education quality and skills training are prioritised.
Bangladesh's education sector is facing a growing structural crisis as public investment continues to decline, graduate unemployment rises and institutional fragmentation deepens, researchers and political leaders warned at a pre-budget dialogue in the capital today (19 May) ahead of the FY2026-27 national budget.
The dialogue, titled "Education Budget Allocation and National Development," was held at the National Press Club and organised by Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami.
Researchers from the School of Business and Economics at North South University presented findings showing that actual education spending had dropped to only 1.3% of GDP in FY2023-24 despite repeated government commitments to raise education allocation to 3% under the 8th Five-Year Plan.
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According to the six-member research team led by Professor AKM Wares ul Karim, Bangladesh's investment in education is now among the lowest in the Asia-Pacific region.
Data from the Ministry of Finance and the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics showed that while education was allocated 2% of GDP in FY2017-18, actual spending stood at 1.8%. By FY2023-24, the figure had fallen to 1.3%.
The dialogue also identified major weaknesses in the education system including curriculum fragmentation and an imbalanced student-teacher ratio. Researchers said Bangladesh currently operates 13 different primary education curricula and 24 categories of primary schools.
In technical and vocational education, they challenged official claims of 18% enrolment, arguing that the actual rate is only 5%. Teacher vacancies in the sector have reached 82%, while the student-teacher ratio stands at 92:1 against the policy target of 12:1.
The researchers warned that Bangladesh's demographic dividend could turn into a "demographic massacre" unless education quality and skills training are prioritised. They argued that strengthening skills-based education could increase annual remittance earnings from $30 billion to nearly $100 billion.
Speaking at the event, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Nayeb-e-Ameer Mujibur Rahman stressed the need to prioritise quality education over numerical expansion, while AB Party General Secretary Asaduzzaman Fuad criticised what he described as the philosophical failure of the country's education system.
Jamaat MP Engineer Mardiya Mumtaz called for integrating vocational and mainstream education, and alleged corruption in the mid-day meal programme.
Professor Mohammad Billal Hossain of Jagannath University urged the government to place education at the centre of national reconstruction in post-uprising Bangladesh.
