Is budgetary measure enough to transform education?

The allocation Tk 1,366.06 billion for education sector in the proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year (2026-27) has, as expected, drawn the concerned quarters' attention, if only for its size in comparison to that of the previous fiscal's. But given that the FY27's budget amounting to Tk9.38 trillion is bigger by 18.73 per cent than the previous FY26's Tk7.90 trillion, it may appear to be nothing out of the ordinary that along with other sectors, the education, too, would proportionally get a larger chunk of the budgetary pie. But no, when measured in percentage rates of the total budget, the education sector has indeed made its mark as it has been allocated 14.56 per cent of FY27's total budget, whereas in the previous fiscal it got 12.11 per cent of FY26's total budget. In terms of percentage rates, it is an increase by 2.45 percentage points. When the change is converted into per cent, it will come to around 20.23 per cent, which is no doubt a significant increase in comparative terms. From that point of view, education has evidently received the incumbent government's special attention, which is commendable. Now, the question is what the government wants to achieve with this higher allocation which is roughly 2.0 per cent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP). This is still behind some of our South Asian neighbours' budgetary allocations for education.  For instance, Sri Lanka dedicates 2.4 per cent of its GDP to education, while India's share is between 2.9 and 4.5 per cent of its GDP, not to speak of the UN's standard.  The UN suggests that education's share should range from 4.0 per cent to 6.0 per cent of a nation's GDP. The UN further says that a government should allocate at least 15 per cent to 20 per cent of its public expenditure for education. Notably, the benchmarks were established as part of the UN's 'Education 2030 Framework for Action'.  So, considering the international standards, the allocation for the education sector is yet to receive the share of the national budget or of the GDP that it ideally should.  

Now coming to the FY27's budget as read out by the Finance Minister, Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury at the Jatiya Sangsad,  the budget aims to transform the education sector into an employment-oriented, skills-based, and technology-driven system. Well, that, too, is a long-felt need reflected in the promises made by the successive governments in the past, but never fulfilled. So, it remains to be seen whether the incumbent government can live up to its promise. Time will also tell, if the government's professed long-term goal of elevating allocation for education to 5.0 per cent of the GDP over the next five years is a mere promise or a goal that would be achieved in practice.  So far as the intention is concerned, that, too, is a praiseworthy one, if not an ambition. In this connection, the said strategic roadmap and allocated funds that aim to achieve specific targets through changes in the curriculum such as introduction of technical and vocational education progressively for all students starting from class VI have been in the different government's agenda since long. Also, incorporating a compulsory third language  (e.g., Japanese, Mandarin, Korean, Arabic, French, or German) alongside Bangla and English is not a novel idea seeing that prospects of overseas employment in the East Asian countries are increasing by the day. The idea of introducing technology and AI-based learning through expanding multimedia classrooms, providing free Wi-Fi, and launching the 'One Teacher, One Tab' programme to bridge the digital divide was also under consideration of the immediate past governments. Similarly, the ideas of expanding free education for girls up to the undergraduate level, introducing a nationwide mid-day meal programme to improve nutrition, and provide necessary materials for underprivileged and special-needs students are also nothing new. The mid-day meal programme, for instance, was also in practice to some extent even in the pre-independence days.  However, the provision of student loans (of up to Tk 10 lakh) for higher education abroad is something new, though the suggestion of strengthening industry-academia collaboration has been around for quite some time. Whether the ongoing phenomenon of 'brain drain' can be transformed into one of  'brain circulation' would depend on the overall growth of the economy and not just on slogans. If truth be told, it cannot be said that the governments whether in the past or at present were ever short of ideas. In fact, the bureaucracy which is rather good at committing great ideas to paper as asked by political government leaders, have been performing their task efficiently.  That is why when read out at different local as well as international forums by government leaders, those sound impressive. In fact, so far as our experience goes, the ideas have always been grand on paper. Now the question is whether the incumbent government has the will to implement the budgetary goals of transforming education into reality. What matters here is not just ideas, but if those would be materialised in the real world. To make that happen, the government will be required to change not only the curricula, but also the method of instruction in class rooms. Take the case of English, which is being taught as a second language in our schools from the primary level since the period under the British colonial rule.  But still English is the most dreaded subject for students till today. In fact, the general students, not exceptional ones, have never been able to use English properly in real life. (Here, we are not talking about the privately-run English medium schools). The weakness lies both in the method of instruction as well as the quality of instructors. So, a change in the curricula won't be enough. It would be necessary to employ experts in modern educational methodologies as instructors from the primary level. It is not to say that the existing teaching staff should be retrenched. On the contrary, there should be intensive teachers' training programmes conducted by the experts as mentioned earlier. The same rule would apply for other subjects including science, math as well as vocational. In fact, English as a universal language of communication, science and math should get the topmost priority from the primary level not just in word but in action. In that case, allocations for teachers' training and for engaging experts on the respective subjects have to be generous and not stingy. Of course, for proper utilisation of funds once allocated would, first and foremost, depend on how better the government is able to rid the education sector of corruption. Unfortunately, corruption in Bangladesh's education sector is pervasive and deeply entrenched. According to the Transparency International Bangladesh, bribes and favouritism are widespread in the education sector which is seriously compromising quality of learning and institutional integrity.  Can the government address this age-old problem ailing the education sector?

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