'Allocations very low compared to increase in education expenditure'

In the budget for FY24, the education sector saw a 25% or Tk17,654 crore increase in allocation compared to last year's revised budget. In fact, it is not an increase, considering the rate at which the prices of goods have increased in the country since the last year.

The new allocation is less than 2% of GDP whereas experts have been recommending a 5-6% allocation here. However, it would be better to rise the allocation gradually, for example over 10 years, instead of doing it at once. Then there will be a proper use of money without wastage.

In this budget, the allocation for primary education has increased, but not much for secondary, madrasa and technical education. As some irregularities have been reported in the past, we have to ensure that the infrastructure for education sector meets proper standards.

Besides, the allocation of funds should be increased directly in the academic sector so that talented people get interested in the teaching profession. Their benefits should also be increased so that they do not move to another job having better facilities after a few years.

Emphasis should also be placed on spending more money on teachers' training for their gradual professional development.

Apart from that, the mid-day meal programme for students should be given more emphasis because many students in our country come to school without regular meals. Providing mid-day meals will not only increase student attendance at school but also meet their nutritional requirement.

The damage that occurred to education during Covid-19 has yet to be recovered. Students have learning gaps as they were taught a short syllabus, which has already affected various competitive exams, including university entrance exams.

Prof Siddiqur Rahman is member of National Education Policy 2010, and former director of the Institute of Education and Research, Dhaka University