The country’s secondary education is mostly in disarray when it comes to quality, a member of the Planning Commission told a discussion in the capital yesterday.
Dr Shamsul Alam said, “Arbitrary enlistments of educational institutions on MPO left them in a complete mess.”
“How quality education can be ensured without recruitment of quality teachers?” he asked at the discussion on “Accountability for Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) for education and citizen participation.”
Recruitment based on lobbying instead of competence cannot ensure quality in any sector, he said, adding Japan and South Korea in East Asia achieved national development by virtue of quality education.
Campaign for Popular Education (CAMPE) and Citizen’s Platform for SDGs, Bangladesh jointly organised the discussion as part of Global Action Week for Education 2017 at Brac Centre Inn.
After satisfactory primary enrollment as per the Millennium Development Goal, now achieving quality of education remains a foremost challenge, said Mostafizur Rahman, minister for primary and mass education.
The crisis of quality persists at both public and private schools, he said, adding that the government had recruited 1.26 lakh primary teachers, with 50,000 posts still remaining vacant.
For Bangladesh, inclusion and quality are the two biggest challenges in achieving the SDG target in education, said Shaheen Anam, executive director of Manusher Jonno Foundation.
About the characteristics of education, she said it must contribute to making responsible citizens and respectful human beings and enable them to embrace diversity.
In his keynote speech, Dr Mustafa K Mujeri, executive director of the Institute of Microfinance, identified two biggest challenges — poor quality of education and its irrelevance to the local context.
The four preconditions to achieving the SDG in education are accountability at all levels, people’s participation, transparency, and inclusion, said Mujeri.
Md Mohiuddin Khan, additional secretary to the education ministry, said none of the SDGs would be achievable without achieving the education goal.
As per SDGs, education is a human right and a public good, said CAMPE executive director Rasheda K Choudhury, adding that 535 million children including those in Bangladesh were still out of school in the world.
Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, convener of the Citizen’s Platform for SDGs, chaired the discussion.
