THE BANGABHABAN : The President House of Bangladesh

Speech of

His Excellence

Professor Dr. Iajuddin Ahmed

Honorable President

People's Republic of Bangladesh

Education System in Bangladesh

Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center
Wooster, Ohio
01 November 2007


	Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim.

	Honorable President of the Ohio State University, Members of the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center, Learned Faculty Members, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

	Assalamu Alaikum and a very good afternoon.

	I am, indeed, very happy to be present here at this auspicious gathering at the premises of the world renowned of the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center. At the outset of my speech, on behalf of the people of Bangladesh and on my own behalf, I extend sincere thanks to the people of the United States of America as well as the people of my own country who are living here. I am also thankful to the organizers for holding this event and giving me the opportunity to deliver my speech before this erudite gathering. I also express my felicitations to the President, faculty, researchers and students of the Ohio State University, distinguished guests and participants for their sincere cooperation and gracious presence in this assembly. I hope, through this deliberation, I shall be able to introduce to you a general idea about the education system of Bangladesh. I also hope it will help to know Bangladesh better and thus open up a new horizon for bridging the relationship between the two countries as well as the educational institutions of the two countries.

	Ladies and Gentlemen,
	As you know, Education is learning what one didn't even know he didn't know. That�s mean education attempts to make people knowledgeable about the unknown things. Father of the Modern Science, Albert Einstein said, �Imagination is more important than knowledge.� Education inspires to imagine. It brings out the innovative ideas and creativity from an individual. Education broadens the vision and outlook of a person. The great aim of education is not knowledge, but action. The object of education is to prepare the young to educate themselves throughout their whole lives. There is a quotation �If you are planning for a year, sow rice; if you are planning for a decade, plant trees; if you are planning for a lifetime, educate people� which describes the importance of education.

	Bangladesh is a land of ancient civilization. It is indeed difficult to depict the system and nature of education in ancient Bengal due to non-availability of authentic sources of information. However, a much generalized idea about the educational system in ancient and medieval Bengal is that during 6th and 7th centuries, Bengal was the center for the cultivation of Buddhist learning and for imparting education. It included philosophy, medicine, astronomy, music and arts which played important role for flourishing general education to the people. In this connection I would like to recall the great scholar, saint and philosopher of tenth-eleventh century Atish Dipankar Srijnan, who was born in 980 AD in a royal family in the village of Vajrayogini of Vikrampur area, near my native village, Dhaka in Bangladesh. He studied Buddhism several years in Java and Sumatra. He devoted himself in disseminating the knowledge in different monasteries in India. He was the Chancellor of Vikramshila Mahavihar. The teaching of Atish Dipankar Srijnan was spreaded throughout whole India, Tibet and China.

	During Medieval age, the Hindus and the Muslims, the major religious groups, developed separate educational structure on the basis of their livelihood and religious traditions. The traditional system of education thus developed in the medieval Bengal was gradually stratified with the fall of the Muslim rule in 1757. During the colonial rule (1757-1947), there had been a significant change in the educational system and we inherited the British system of education. In 1971, Bangladesh was liberated from Pakistan and the consecutive Governments took various initiatives for the development of education in consonance with the world�s perspective and domestic need.

	Ladies and Gentlemen,
	Over the last few years, the Government of Bangladesh has undertaken a number of important reforms in order to bring about significant improvements in the education sector. It includes highest budgetary allocation in the education sector, free education along with general stipend for the female students up to the 12th grade, increasing the number of educational institutions giving more importance on technical education and vocational training, establishing more public and private universities etc. These actions manifest the government�s highest commitment to accelerate growth and reduce poverty through sustained improvement in education for human resource development. Pragmatic policy actions of the Government have been playing very important role in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the Government�s own goal of human resource development. �Education for all�� is being vigorously pursued in the country.

	With the passage of structural reforms, Bangladesh has made significant progress, especially in increasing access and achieving gender equity, both at the primary and secondary levels. Gross primary enrollment rate rose from 90 percent in the late 1990s to 97.6 percent in 2005, while at the secondary level it rose from a scanty 20 percent in early 1990s to 47 percent in 2005. There have been spectacular achievements in gender parity both at primary and secondary levels.

	Ladies and Gentlemen,
	Now I would like to introduce to you about the education system of Bangladesh. We have five tiers of education levels that comprise primary (grades 1-5), junior secondary (grades 6-8), secondary (grades 9-10), higher secondary (grades 11-12) and tertiary education at the University levels. There is also a parallel Madrasha system, which in addition to the general education provides Madrasha education. Vocational and technical education starts either at 9th grade or at 11th grade after secondary school. Education in Bangladesh is governed at the national level by two Ministries namely Ministry of Primary and Mass Education and the Ministry of Education. Public Universities are run by its won statutory rules in consonance with the government regulations. In line with the Public Universities, we have Private Universities too, and these universities are run by the Private University Act, which was enacted in 1992. For better understanding, I would like to mention some statistics on education at different levels. At primary level, we have eighty thousand and four hundred schools and Madrashas (6,768) with 16.22 million students. It is noticeable that the overall enrolment at primary level is more than 95 percent. At secondary level there are 27 thousand 7 hundred and 14 high schools and Madrashas (2,532) with 8.99 million students. It can be mentioned that the ratio of boys and girls students are almost 50:50. At higher secondary level we have 5 thousand 6 hundred colleges with about 1 million students and at University level, Bangladesh has 29 Public universities and 51 Private Universities with more than 2 hundred thousand students. Side by side we have about 2 thousand 7 hundred 28 Technical institutions with 2 hundred 41 thousand students. (Sources: Bangladesh Bureau of Education Information and Statistics-BANBEIS, 2006)

	Ladies and Gentlemen,
	Now I would like to mention some significant aspects about the higher education. As you know, the University of Dhaka, was established in 1921 during the regime of British rule. This university has been plying pivotal role in disseminating quality education to the students since its inception. This educational institution is also the source of our inspiration at the socio-economic, politico and cultural arena. Apart from Dhaka University, almost all public and private universities provide Arts, Commerce, Science, Fine Arts, Business Administration, Information Technology and some contemporary subjects such as Development Studies, Marine Resources, Biotechnology, Pharmacy, Population Science, Forestry, Peace and Conflict Studies, Women and Gender Studies, Fashion Design, Ceramic and Leather Technology etc. Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, well known as BUET, and Bangladesh Agricultural University have been playing significant role in providing Engineering and technological education. It is encouraging to note that many students of our country are contributing significantly to the nation building activities as well as to the international arena in their respective fields. Our Universities are increasingly striving to combine the pursuit of knowledge and truth with the values and needs of an evolving society. Indeed they are operating as a vanguard for democracy and free thought, and nevertheless playing a critical role in extending man�s vision of the world, connecting knowledge with realities of life, as an integral part of an ordered society; and as agents for setting societies tune contributing for sustainable future. The higher degree in medical science �Fellow of the College of Physicians and Surgeons� � FCPS which is provided by the Bangabandhu Sheihk Mujib Medical University, has also earned very high degree of professional reputation, both nationally and internationally.

	Ladies and Gentlemen,
	It goes without saying that the challenges in the education sector are still formidable. Despite the momentum of increasing access at all levels, particularly among the disadvantaged communities, the country needs to put major emphasis also on the quality of education. The Government is undertaking reforms in three key areas of secondary education. These are (a) systemic improvement to ensure better performance of institutions, greater efficiency, community participation and transparency in resource allocation; (b) teacher effectiveness through development of transparent and high quality teacher recruitment and training system; and (c) curriculum and textbook improvement through effective separation and allocation of functions.

	While the achievements made are quite significant, there is still a long way to go in ensuring quality education for all children of Bangladesh. As a developing country, Bangladesh is making great strides in the way of its development process. It needs huge competent and capable human resources in order to cope with the present global challenges. The Government of Bangladesh has continued to pursue comprehensive reforms in education to ensure access and quality education for all children. I believe it will help a lot to develop the human resources as well as to develop a knowledge based society in the country.

	Ladies and Gentlemen,
	I am very happy to share with you regarding the education system of Bangladesh. I must emphasize that since academic institutions worldwide stem from common historical roots and face common contemporary challenges, it is especially appropriate that international dialogues take place on emerging issues. While academic systems function in a national environment, the challenges play themselves out on a global scale. We can learn much both from national experience and international trends. It is true that the experience of one country may not be directly relevant to another, but issues and solutions touch many nations. Besides, there is considerable convergence among the world�s universities and higher education systems. Given the centrality of the knowledge economy to 21 century development we need to work together in educating people for the new economy and in creating new knowledge.

	Once again, I express my sincere gratitude to the university authority for providing warm hospitality and honor to me as well as to my entourage. I am also thankful to the erudite gathering for giving me patient hearing. I would like to draw the kind attention of the authority of the Ohio State University to enhance educational exchange program on higher education for the students of Bangladesh. I hope that the world class universities like Ohio State University have ample opportunity to provide more scholarships to the students of developing countries for disseminating contemporary knowledge and flourishing talents around the world. I sincerely hope that the renowned universities of the US will come forward in this regard. I am happy to know that a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is going to be signed today in the area of educational cooperation. I welcome this path breaking and noble endeavor and wish it all success.

	Finally, I invite all of you to visit Bangladesh at your convenience and enjoy the worm hospitality of our friendly people. I believe you would be enchanted by seeing our diverse ethnic tradition, historical and archaeological sites of our glorious past, ever-green hilly forests, the mangrove Sundarbans, the longest unbroken sea-beach at Cox�s Bazar and the panoramic scenic view of rural folk.

	With these few words, Ladies and Gentlemen, I conclude my speech.

	I thank you all once again.

	Allah Hafez, Bangladesh Zindabad.


	Speech of the Hon�ble President of the People�s Republic of Bangladesh on "Education System in Bangladesh"
	Venue: Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center
	Date: 01 November 2007.