As the BNP government prepares major revisions to school textbooks for the 2027 academic year, the changes reported by the media once again reveal a familiar pattern—authorities continuing to alter curriculum content, historical narratives, and learning priorities without addressing the deeper structural crisis in education itself.
According a report by Prothom Alo, the new revisions include descriptions of the Liberation War sectors, the events of November 7, 1975, and the role of former prime minister and BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia in the 1990 mass uprising. Material related to the July 2024 student-led uprising has already been added to textbooks for Grades 6 to 10. New subjects such as “Sports and Culture” for Grade 4 and “Learning with Happiness” for Grade 6 are also being introduced, alongside greater emphasis on artificial intelligence (AI), technical skills, and vocational education. The authorities say 99 secondary-level and 36 primary-level textbooks are being revised under the framework of the 2012 curriculum, while an entirely new curriculum is planned for 2028.
These changes do contain some positive elements. But they also represent the longstanding problem of our education system being repeatedly subjected to curriculum shifts, political revisions, and “donor-driven” reforms while the foundations of public education remain deeply fragile. Textbooks continue to change, governments continue to announce reforms, but the basic realities facing millions of students and teachers remain largely unchanged.
Since independence, perhaps no sector in Bangladesh has suffered from such sustained neglect as education. Even today, the constitutional commitment that the state would take responsibility for ensuring education for all remains largely unfulfilled. Instead of building a strong public education system, successive governments have failed to invest adequately, formulate long-term policies, or treat education as a national priority. As a result, public education has weakened while private and commercial forms of education have rapidly expanded, creating one of the deepest forms of inequality.
At the bottom are poorly funded Bangla-medium public schools for the poorest families. There are also English-version schools within the public system, low-cost private schools, elite private schools, English-medium schools, English-medium madrasas, Alia madrasas, Qawmi madrasas, cadet colleges, and other parallel systems. This stratified structure means that the more money a family has, the better the quality of education that their children can access. In other words, those without the necessary financial means, regardless of their academic merit or talent, are effectively denied quality education.
Every government claims to prioritise education, especially during budget speeches. Yet, while spending 4-6 percent of GDP on education is widely recognised as a minimum benchmark internationally, Bangladesh consistently spends around two percent or less. Even the limited allocation that exists is often undermined by waste, corruption, inefficiency, and poor planning. This chronic underinvestment is one of the central reasons behind the deterioration of the education sector.
Another major problem is the absence of a unified vision for ensuring standard, quality education for all. We know about the importance of primary education, that childhood learning forms the foundation of a person’s entire life. If early education is weak, that weakness often persists for life. If it is strong, it becomes a lifelong asset. Despite that, primary education remains among the most neglected parts of the system.
The condition of many government primary schools is alarming. Even within Dhaka, from Jatrabari to other densely populated areas, there are schools housed in buildings that appear unsafe and vulnerable to collapse. Some schools remain without repairs for years. During dengue outbreaks, mosquito infestation around school premises create fear among children and parents alike. Recently, a ceiling fan fell and injured five students in a Narayanganj primary school, an incident that could also have resulted in a far greater tragedy. Examples like this reveal the absence of even minimum safety standards in many schools.
The shortage of teachers is another severe crisis. Many government primary schools operate with only two to four teachers. At the same time, these schools lack office assistants, librarians, cleaners, or technical staff. Teachers are expected to handle every administrative responsibility themselves. On top of that, education authorities impose endless reporting requirements and bureaucratic tasks on teachers. They frequently promote “digital” and “multimedia” education, requiring teachers to submit reports online, yet many schools still do not have computers, reliable electricity, internet access, or technical support. Teachers are also assigned to government surveys and non-academic administrative activities, creating an environment where they struggle to focus entirely on teaching.
The rise of coaching centres and guidebooks is another symptom of the system’s decline. The explosion of private tutoring, coaching businesses, and guidebook dependency reflects the deterioration of classroom education. Students now face pressure to attend both schools and coaching centres—because many classrooms no longer provide effective learning environments—while guidebooks, for many, have become more important than textbooks. This commercialisation of education has grown significantly in recent decades. One reason for this is the shortage of teachers and the additional burdens imposed on them. Low salaries also force many teachers to seek extra income through private tuition or coaching work.
Equally concerning is the absence of a consistent national education policy. Bangladesh has formed several education commissions over the decades, including the important 2010 Education Commission that included many of the country’s leading educationists. It proposed some significant reforms, such as extending primary education to Grade 8, increasing investment in schools, and creating a more unified curriculum across different streams of education. But despite remaining in power for more than 15 years, the Awami League government failed to meaningfully implement most of those recommendations.
The frequent curriculum changes seen in recent years often appear disconnected from any coherent national vision. Instead, many reforms seem politically motivated or driven by donor-funded projects supported by institutions such as the World Bank or the Asian Development Bank. New curriculum models, assessment systems, and policy frameworks are introduced without sufficient transparency, accountability, public debate, or critical evaluation.
Textbooks themselves have increasingly become politically contested documents. During the Awami League period, some major literary and cultural elements were revised or removed following demands from groups such as Hefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh. Now, under a changed political context, new historical narratives and political events are being added once again. The problem is not whether history should be taught; it absolutely should. The problem is that educational content too often changes according to the priorities of the government of the day rather than through stable, transparent, and research-based educational principles.
There is only one sustainable path forward: the state must genuinely recognise education as its highest national priority.
First, education spending must increase substantially. Second, the state must strengthen and expand public education infrastructure across the country. If quality public schools become widely accessible, the extreme inequalities dominating the sector will gradually decline. Third, teachers’ salaries and benefits must improve so they can focus fully on classroom teaching instead of relying on coaching centres. Fourth, vacant teaching posts must be filled by qualified teachers, while regular professional training must become a permanent feature of the system. Finally, Bangladesh needs a comprehensive, transparent, and participatory education policy shaped through public consultation with teachers, students, parents, and experts at every level. Educational reform cannot be driven by donor priorities, abrupt curriculum changes, or political transitions.
One symbolic but powerful step could begin immediately and it would require no additional budget or foreign loans: ministers, MPs, bureaucrats, and political leaders should enrol their own children in public schools. If those who govern the system depend on public education themselves, it could act as a catalyst for real education reform. Real change begins when education is treated not as a political battleground or a commercial commodity, but as the foundation of an equitable society.
Anu Muhammad is former professor of economics at Jahangirnagar University.
Views expressed in this article are the author's own.
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