The number of students in secondary-level schools decreased significantly in 2023, while the number of students continued to increase in madrassah, technical, and English-medium educational institutions.
The number of students in secondary-level schools has declined by over 10 lakh in the past four years, reaching its lowest point since 2014.
Since 2009, the number of students at the madrassah, technical and English-medium levels has been increasing.
These statistics were disseminated on Thursday at a workshop on Bangladesh Education Statistics 2023 held by the Bangladesh Bureau of Educational Information and Statistics at its office in the capital.
Terming the matter of the declining number of students in secondary level schools as ‘worrying’, senior educationists blamed different reasons, including poverty, increased education expenses, low-quality education, and inflation, for the situation.
Suleman Khan, secretary of the Secondary and Higher Education Division under the education ministry, said at the workshop that they did not know why the number of students in secondary-level schools decreased but increased in other educational institutions.
‘We just collected the data from different educational institutions, and then we presented it,’ he said. ‘Further studies are required to find out the reasons.’
At the workshop, BANBEIS statistics department chief Sheikh Md Alamgir presented the summary report prepared based on data collected between January and September 2023.
The report showed that in 2023, the number of students in secondary-level schools was 81,66,188, compared to 92,03,427 in 2019.
The number of secondary-level students in schools was 84,13,876 in 2014 and 69,29,206 in 2009.
In 2023, the number of students in the madrassahs was 27,58,504, compared to 24,91,268 in 2019, 23,66,372 in 2014, and 20,67,590 in 2009.
In the case of technical-vocational educational institutions, the number of students was 7, 44,347 in 2023, 7,00,458 in 2019, 4,61,496 in 2014, and 2,55,948 in 2009.
As for the students in English-medium schools, their number was 28,013 in 2023, 26,697 in 2019, and 24,507 in 2014.
The report read that the dropout rate at the secondary level was 32.85 per cent in 2023, compared to 36.73 per cent in 2019.
However, the dropout rate at the higher secondary level was 21.51 per cent in 2023 compared to 18.55 per cent in 2019.
According to the report, in 2023, the total number of post-primary educational institutions—school, school and college, college, madrassah, professional, teacher education, technical-vocational (independent), university, and English medium—in the country was 39,788, while the numbers of students were 1,92,16,261 and the teachers were 6,19,160.
Similar findings can also be seen in the recently published Bangladesh Sample Vital Statistics 2023 report of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.
As per the report, the percentage of students in religious education was 7.29 per cent in 2023, compared to 6.57 per cent in 2022.
The students in general and technical education were 91.02 per cent and 1.22 per cent in 2023, respectively, compared to 91.93 per cent and 1.10 per cent in 2022.
Education Watch chairman Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad blamed the Covid-19 pandemic for increased dropout in the past four years.
The rate of dropout is higher among girls, he said, adding that many girls married off during the pandemic while many boys also left schools to join work.
‘We can also assume that after the pandemic, many faced economic problems due to inflation and sent their children to madrassahs, many of which offer free education,’ Kholiquzzaman said.
He also mentioned that though 18.7 per cent of people were under the poverty line in 2022, many were just over the line and had been struggling to make ends meet.
Kholiquzzaman added that an increase in the number of students in technical educational institutions was a positive sign.
‘Currently, 18 per cent of students are studying at technical educational institutions, which should have been increased more as we need them,’ he added.
Manzoor Ahmed, professor emeritus of BRAC University, said that due to economic reasons, the dropout rate at secondary-level schools had increased.
Citing a recent study by Education Watch, he said that they found that due to an increase in expenditure on education, dropouts at the secondary level increased.
‘Poverty and inflation are other major reasons,’ he observed.
Manzoor said that some students migrated to the madrassahs as educational expenses were lower there.
‘This is not a good sign at all, as there are many questions about the quality of madrassah education,’ he added.
He, however, observed that the quality of education had also dropped in secondary-level schools.
‘The increase in students in technical educational institutions is a positive sign,’ he added.
Manzoor lamented that many people were still out of school.
As per the recently published Bangladesh Sample Vital Statistics 2023 report by BBS, 40.72 per cent of people in the age group of 5–24 years are not in any kind of education.
The number and percentage of these people in the total population are 2.59 crore and 37.23 per cent respectively.source: newage
