Bangladesh’s education crossroads: Beyond lotteries and admission tests

Bangladesh's education system has reached yet another critical turning point. The government's recent decision to replace the lottery system with admission tests for Class 1 has reignited a familiar debate: are we preparing children for learning, or simply recycling failed models?

The deeper problem lies well beyond the method of school admission.

The cracks in the system are already visible. Post-Covid cohorts have exposed how fragile foundational learning has become. By Class 5, many students struggle with basic arithmetic – unable to solve something as simple as 21 + 12.

Despite decades of investment – including more than Tk4,000 crore spent on literacy programmes – Bangladesh's literacy rate remains at 77.9%. Nearly one in five citizens still cannot read or write.

This is not a failure of children. It is a failure of the system.

For over two decades, the rise of coaching centres has reshaped the education landscape. What began as supplementary support has evolved into a parallel system driven by competition. Today, the coaching industry is estimated to be worth Tk30,000–35,000 crore annually.

Schools, in many cases, have been reduced to factories of rankings rather than spaces of curiosity and learning.

Reintroducing admission tests for six-year-olds risks reinforcing this culture. It threatens to push children back into an early race defined by memorisation, pressure and exclusion.

Global experience offers a clear warning. When education systems prioritise competition over learning, inequality deepens, creativity declines and long-term national capacity suffers.

Bangladesh cannot afford to follow that path.

There are viable alternatives. Countries such as India and Nepal have adopted readiness assessments – child-centred evaluations that focus on language, cognitive ability and social development rather than rote learning.

These approaches do not rank or exclude children. Instead, they help identify individual learning needs and ensure that each child receives the support required to thrive.

This is the direction Bangladesh should consider.

Education reform must begin by rethinking purpose. Schools should not mirror coaching centres competing to produce "top students". They should nurture curiosity, critical thinking and confidence.

At its core, education is not about manufacturing competitors. It is about developing thinkers.

Bangladesh has repeatedly demonstrated its ability to achieve ambitious goals. But sustainable progress depends on the strength of its education system.

If the country is serious about reform, it must move beyond cycles of policy reversal and address the structural culture of competition and exclusion that continues to define schooling. The question is not whether admission should be based on lotteries or tests. The question is whether the system is designed for learning at all.

Nusrat Jahan Puthee is a contributor. 

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