Foreign loans spent on repaying previous debts, says education adviser Abrar

A big chunk of foreign loans is being used to repay the ones that were previously taken, says Education Adviser Chowdhury Rafiqul Abrar.

“For years, we have been going through a situation similar to that of Sisyphus, where the amount of loans we receive, we need to spend the same amount or more than that to repay the previous loans. However, we’re trying to take initiatives that will be highly effective,” the interim government’s Adviser said.

Even as the government is stuck in this vicious circle, they are trying to take such initiatives on education and other priority sectors, he said.

He made the remarks at a seminar titled “2024-25 Budget: Education and Employment” organised at Dhaka University’s Mozaffar Ahmad Auditorium on Tuesday.

Regarding education sector reforms, Prof Abrar said: “Despite the constraints of time and resources, the lack of accountability and proper planning has become a challenge. In many cases, what could be done never happened, and that has created frustration.”

Teachers and trainers were not given adequate training, which was very important, he said. The disparity in including women in technical education was never resolved. This sector could earn enough foreign currency if proper training is provided and stigma is reduced.

”One cannot resolve problems by just forming commissions. We’re working to collect information from the grassroots level and use it.”

He highlighted the importance of the use of technology in education and translating the best global textbooks into Bengali for higher education.

Emphasising the need for a specific time frame and a specific action plan in the reform of the education sector, the Adviser said: “It is not just a matter of discussion, but also of taking effective steps in a specific time frame. We are committed to facing this challenge.”

Prof MA Razzak, a former teacher at Dhaka University and chairman of the Research and Policy Integration for Development, said that it was very important to introduce a three-month internship programme for fresh graduates to bridge the gap between academia and industries in Bangladesh.

The country needs to create 2 million new jobs every year, he said. Currently, Bangladesh can create 800,000 to 1 million jobs. If this continues, Bangladesh will eventually fall behind in the global market.

Prof Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir of the Department of Development Studies at Dhaka University stressed the importance of introducing an “Inter-University Loan Facility” to eliminate the “system costs” in the education sector of Bangladesh.

He said that good research work is not done in many educational institutions in Bangladesh due to a lack of equipment. Many students cannot study. To alleviate the situation, introducing an Inter-University Loan Facility among public universities will reduce the system costs to an extent.

He also said that if the academic calendar of Dhaka University is “followed timely”, the national economy will prosper.

Prof Titumir said every university around the world admits students in July and finishes (their sessions) in June after four years. However, Dhaka University does not seem concerned with sticking to that schedule.

“If we can follow the example of other universities around the world, the national economy will prosper.”

Students of the university suffer from lost time due to this issue, he added.

Prof Abu Yusuf of the Department of Development Studies presented an article on the calculation of income and expenditure in the current budget for education and employment sectors.