A UN Children’s Fund report, launched in Dhaka on May 7, shows that many students cross from primary schooling into the secondary level without having achieved the foundational literacy and numeracy skills that they are expected to. This is worrying. The report, Bringing Learning to Life: Innovations in Teaching, Learning and Student Engagement, says that the baseline assessment of Class VI students piloted in 24 schools shows that 91 per cent of the students could not correctly answer half of the Class V mathematics and 65 per cent of the Bangla questions. A primary education researcher says that the findings are nothing new. The World Bank’s Learning Poverty Index in 2022 reported that more than 47 per cent of children aged between 10 and 14 years could not read or write, noting that the figure increased to 58 per cent in 2024. The latest periodic national student assessment that the government carries out also shows that many Class III students could not read or do mathematics at the minimum level. The case remains the same with Class V students, about half of whom have shown similarly poor performance. And, this questions the investments that the government makes in primary education.
Both educationists and educationalists say that the problem lies with the absence of skilled teachers, teaching materials, teacher training, oversight, competence-based curriculum, proper assessment and the accountability of the authorities. An education researcher says, as New Age reported on May 8, that 32,000 out of the total 65,620 government primary schools have no headteacher and, therefore, there is none to take responsibility for planning, teacher training and accountability in the institutions. There are also other issues such as teachers’ qualification, skills and motivation that have been left mostly ignored. The teaching-learning method in primary schools is also reported to have been too weak, with a strong focus on memorisation. Many view that the terminal assessment system could also be replaced with formative assessment to improve the situation. There are arguments against dependence on notebooks and private tuition, which are often said to have degraded learning. The class hours in the primary cycle are reported to have spanned 500–700 hours, which are often reduced to 250–500 hours because of teachers’ negligence, absenteeism, school closure, holidays or natural disasters such as flooding. This has also been blamed as a major issue that harms the quality of primary education.
Only investments, which are still inadequate though, in an environment with even strong policies may not improve the situation unless the money is spent effectively and the policies are implemented sincerely. The government needs to take up an approach that deals with all the problems, from classroom to policy and investment, simultaneously if it means to improve education outcomes.
