The Role of World Bank as a Development Partner in Bangladesh: A case study of Education Sector

Abstract

Bangladesh is identified as one of the next eleven emerging economies in the world. The country has met several Millennium Development Goals ahead of time and reduced poverty substantially over the last decade. It has a large and relatively young population—there were 160 million people in 2015, and 31 percent were below the age of 15. A few major cities are undergoing rapid urbanization—Dhaka being one of the eight most populated cities in the world—which affects the educational access and completion of children, especially those living in urban slums. The country also has one of the lowest nutrition rates in the world. In view of the importance of education in the development of the country, the government has been giving most importance for the expansion of education. For the past decade, Bangladesh has been investing heavily to achieve the education Millennium Development Goals. Besides reducing poverty, Bangladesh has made spectacular success in improving access to primary education. The gross enrollment ratio in primary education in 2015 had reached 108% and net enrolment rate 97.7% (grace). The gross enrolment ratio in secondary education in 2015 reached 55.84% while net enrolment rate 50.27%. Bangladesh has achieved gender parity for educational access in both primary and secondary education. The number of out of schoolchildren has been continuously decreasing both in absolute and relative term. The Bangladesh education system is large, catering to over 38 million students (2015), involving many stakeholders; for example there are 14 types of providers in primary education, 10 examination broads at the secondary levels and about 98.33% secondary educations are privately managed. The education system of Bangladesh is comprised of a mix of heterogeneous providers. A variety of schools operate within the country; government run schools, privately run schools and madrasaha, English medium schools, schools run by NGOs and kindergarten schools. Bangladesh has a centralized education system administered by the Ministry of Education (MOE) and the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education (MOPME). The MOPME and Directorate of Primary Education (DPE) are responsible for planning and management of primary, mass and pre-primary education. The MOE, The Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE) and The Directorate of Technical Education (DTE) are responsible for post-primary education. The MOE and the University Grant commission (UGC) look after the overall management of higher education. The survey report based on educational data does not fully address issues such as management, governance, equity and non-teaching staff. The sociodemographic characteristics of students and teachers were not considered. One limitation of the survey is the difficulty in obtaining data from schools management committee. The survey methodology was similar to the one adopted in survey. The survey used 25questionnaires, one for each type of institution. The questionnaires were pretested before finalization. The data collection started on 01.01.2013 and continued up to 31.03.2016. Primary data collection was collected from different schools. The selected thanas were Lalbag, Kotuali, Keranigong, Kamrangircha and Savar of Dhaka district. We selected purposively Five Thana’s to compare between urban and rural education system and its progress. Five Thana’s were purposively selected from different project and programs areas. About 25 primary schools (5 schools per Thana) and 25 high schools (5 schools per Thana) were selected & 500 respondents are interviewed through structured questionnaire.