Bangladesh is seeking to bring more technology and artificial intelligence (AI) into primary education, but the move will have to contend with persistent weaknesses in basic learning, teacher preparedness and the use of existing technology in schools, speakers at a roundtable discussion said yesterday.
They made the remarks at the discussion titled “Digital Preparedness for Future-Ready Primary Education”, jointly organised by The Asia Foundation and The Daily Star at The Daily Star Centre in Dhaka.
M Moazzem Hossain, programme head for development at Brac Education Programme, presented the keynote paper at the event.
Citing the Education Sector Analysis Bangladesh 2026, prepared by Unicef and the education ministry, Hossain said only 50 percent of children aged seven to 14 had foundational literacy skills, while 40 percent had foundational numeracy skills at the expected level.
Only 30 percent of primary school completers achieved the expected competencies in mathematics, while nearly half failed to reach grade-level proficiency in Bangla, according to the presentation. Around one million primary-school-aged children also remained out of school.
Image
According to the presentation, the “One Teacher, One Tab” initiative received funding in the national budget for fiscal year 2026-27. Under the proposed phased rollout, teachers would receive tablets containing lesson plans, question banks and tools for uploading evidence of pupils’ learning.
Students would be included in later phases, while multimedia classrooms and free school Wi-Fi would be expanded.
Teacher preparedness, however, remains a major concern. A National Academy for Primary Education study involving more than 13,000 primary teachers found that around 60 percent considered themselves digitally proficient, but only about 25 percent used those skills in the classroom, according to the keynote.
Bangladesh has established more than 15,000 multimedia classrooms in primary schools, while 6,74,711 teachers are registered on the national Teachers’ Portal, figures cited in the presentation showed.
State Minister for Primary and Mass Education Bobby Hajjaj said the government’s reform agenda would centre on what he called the “three Cs” -- curriculum, classroom and consistency -- alongside plans to raise education spending to 5 percent of GDP within five years.
Hajjaj also said there were misconceptions about the “One Teacher, One Tab” initiative.
“The initiative will cover both hardware and software ends to design a new ecosystem,” he said, proposing a uniform regulatory framework for all public and private entities concerned with primary education.
Sheikh Kasif Mahboob, technical specialist - education at The Asia Foundation, proposed two measures: an AI-enabled tablet app to assess students and a digital teachers’ competency framework to identify training needs.
Shahir Chowdhury, CEO at Shikho, called for a unified digital education system, greater collaboration with private education technology firms, and a shift from project-based procurement to flexible licensing and public-private partnership models.
Kazi Faisal Bin Seraj, country director at The Asia Foundation, highlighted their free multilingual “Let’s Read” app and said AI could help narrow learning and skills gaps if teachers and infrastructure were adequately supported.
Md Abdur Rahim, additional director general of the Directorate of Primary Education, called for reforms in teacher recruitment, including an aptitude test to determine whether candidates genuinely want to become teachers.
Korvi Rakshand, founder of JAAGO Foundation, proposed developing a teacher-led, AI-enabled platform using existing multimedia classrooms to assess students and adapt lessons, with teachers, private firms and other stakeholders involved in its design.
Mirza Mohammad Didarul Anam, education specialist, future of education at Aspire to Innovate (a2i), called for centralised systems to track learning gaps and interventions, stronger AI training for teachers, and greater government collaboration with private education platforms.
Munem Shahriar, founder and CEO of Tinkers Technologies, emphasised the need to prioritise foundational learning, logic and critical thinking before introducing advanced AI tools.
He also advocated using existing digital infrastructure more effectively, training teachers to create interactive lessons with AI, and using student data for early identification of learning gaps.
Also speaking at the event were Tabibur Rahman, deputy secretary of Ministry of Primary and Mass Education; Tahera Jabeen, social development adviser (British High Commission); Fasbeer Eskander, founder of The Front Page; Dipti Das, head of English and School Education of British Council; Khalid Bin Helaly, AI consultant of Asiatic Marketing communications; Farhana Islam, head Of Environmental, Social and Governance of Grameen Phone; Md Akhtaruzzaman, curriculum and digital learning specialist of Australian Government Department of Education; Sukla Dey, project lead of The Asia Foundation; and Nafees Maharuf Shafakat, senior research manager at the Asia Foundation.
Tanjim Ferdous, head of strategic partnerships at The Daily Star, moderated the event.
