Education in Bangladesh: An illustration

Big advancements have been made over the last two decades in Bangladesh's education sector. Admission of pupils at the primary stage has increased enormously and there has been a rise in the numbers of schools, colleges, and universities. But despite this progress, questions remain over the quality of education. There is also concern over the high drop-out rate of pupils at primary and secondary levels due to high costs. The BBC's Pulak Gupta visited public and private schools of four north and north-western districts of Bangladesh, and prepared this report.

The biggest progress made in Bangladesh's education sector over the last two decades is the huge increase of school-going pupils at the primary level. Even in remote villages, it is hard to find a child who has never been to a school. From policy makers to researchers, this is considered to be no small achievement.

"It is a very visible change," says Rasheda K Choudhury, the Director of CAMPE, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) which works in the education sector. "Admission rates among children in primary schools has increased highly, almost by 97 percent."

All over Bangladesh there is now a demand for education among all parts of society. The ratio of boy and girl pupils is roughly equalan achievement which some argue has not been achieved anywhere else in South Asia, except Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

Education Secretary ANM Yusuf says that this success is due to the consistency of the government policies.

"Formulating laws to make primary education compulsory, introducing food-for-education initiatives for girl students and infrastructural development have meant more new schools, and higher teacher recruitment rates," he said.

But while there is little doubt that students are going to the school, questions remain over much they are actually learning and how useful their schooling will be in later life.

Researchers say it is gradually becoming evident that resolving this problem is key to the future success of the Bangladeshi education system. The findings of a recent survey seem to confirm their argument.

The Education Watch research revealed that in 1998 only 29 percent of students at primary achieved the principal competencies such as writing, reading, and general mathematical skills.

Another survey carried out in 2001 revealed that only 1.6 percent of pupils reached the required standard in 27 competencies.

Researchers argue that their findings show that the increase of pupils at primary level has resulted in a corresponding downfall in quality.

The survey shows that these deficiencies are more evident in rural primary schools, and that differences in quality between them and urban schools are mounting. They warn that the consequences of such disparities could be far reaching.

To witness this threat I went to a number of public and private primary schools in the Rangpur and Sungamganj districts in the north-eastern area.

Most of the government primary schools do not have teaching materials in the classroom except a blackboard. In each school, the ratio of teachers to students is huge, with many finding that the only way to tackle the imbalance is by running two shifts.

Sutopa Bhattachariya is a teacher of Rothpara primary school of Sunamganj.

"As the number of students is too high," she says, "we cannot give attention to all of the students. "We also cannot teach properly as we have to take classes continuously. The class hours have been shortened. They are not longer than 30-40 minutes."

"Lack of awareness among parents and guardians also exists, as most do not teach their children at home," she says.

Talking with students I found many, quite understandably, as not in a position to assess the quality of the education they are receiving. If asked, they say they can read anything in Bengali or English, and can do general calculations.

But their teachers paint a different picture, arguing that most students are not up to scratch because of the limitations of the educational system.

A reliable gauge of the quality of pupils can be provided when they cross the primary level and enter the secondary stage in class six. An assessment exam is taken at the beginning of the year in the class six. Most students who have finished class five do not do well in this exam.

Gul Ahmed, the headmaster of Vimkhali Government High School in Sunamganj, says that the deficiencies of students in subjects such English and Maths is frustrating. Three-quarters of pupils enrolling in the class six cannot differentiate between point five and point zero five.

"Because there is no exam to enter the secondary stage from class five, students who don't rvrn know the alphabet get admitted," said Gul Ahmed. Yet schools in rural areas have no choice but to admit these inadequate pupils in the interests of maintaining pupil numbers.

Another problem at the primary level is the high drop-out rate of students from or before class five. Rasheda K Choudhury says this is mainly due to the poverty, as parents and guardians cannot afford the expense of educating their offspring. Financial insecurity means that many students enter working life without being properly qualified, and hence the cycle of poverty remains unbroken.

Another reason for high drop-out rates after class five is because education at secondary level is not free, and in most cases it is not possible for poorer parents and guardians to bear the expense of books and pens.

The question of educational quality also raises its head in the higher education sector, especially when it comes to a few private universities.

Education minister Dr. M Osman Farruq says that one way of improving standards is to recruit trained teachers. He says the authorities will next year implement a project -- with the help of the Asian Development Bank -- which aims to produce more teacher trainers.

Many expert educationists vehemently oppose this policy, but Dr. Farruk insists that the quality of secondary level students will be improved by this initiative.

Although no-one doubts that Bangladesh's education system faces formidable challenges in the future, it has nevertheless made progressparticularly when it comes to pupil numbers.

So the end of term report reads "well done but could do better."

Bangladesh Sanglap 4: Education: Can The System Deliver Quality? will be broadcast today at 8 pm after the BBC's Bengali Programme Probah in Shortwave meter band of 31 and 41 (at 9395 and 7520 KHz) and in Dhaka at FM 100 MHz. It will be televised in Channel I television on Sunday at 8 pm. The Daily Star is the BBC's print media partner for this programme.