Each six-year-old child would be admitted to a neighbourhood primary school without being subjected to a qualifying test – this is how it should work because the country has a mandatory education law in place since 1990. But it hardly works this way.

A report published in this daily yesterday revealed the awful conditions of Islamia UP Government Primary School in Sutrapur of Old Dhaka. Four other schools in the same area are in no better state.

The primary education authorities – especially the Directorate of Primary Education (DPE) and the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education (MoPME) – must be busily preparing for the Primary Education Completion Examination (PECE) or Shomaponi to be held in November.

In an exclusive interview with The Daily Star, Robert D. Watkins, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Bangladesh talks to Amitava Kar about some development ideas for Bangladesh.