E D U C AT I O N S E C T O R I N B A N G L A D E S H

A P R O P O S A L F O R D E V E LO P I N G A S U S TA I N A B L E D E V E LO P M E N T F R A M E W O R K

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

• The educational system in Bangladesh is three-tiered and highly subsidized. Bangladesh Govt. operates primary, secondary & higher secondary, and tertiary level education system. In the tertiary system (e.g. College and University), the infrastructure is insufficient which eventually can’t accommodate higher education at maximum coverage and hampers the growth of the economy. To solve this problem, E-Learning model is proposed. One prototype solution, eVarsity, is illustrated in this work.

PART 1OV E R V I E W

INTRODUCTION

• Development is sustainable if it meets the need of the present without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their own needs. Three major objectives are achieved through sustainable development: Social, Economic and Environmental.

INTRODUCTION (Cont…)

• Keeping the SGDs in mind, in this work, I will discuss about the 4th Goal (Quality Education) of the SDGs in terms of Bangladesh Perspective. This work will discuss about the education sector of Bangladesh and the offer a solution, which is sustainable, efficient and innovative from Bangladesh Perspective.

OBJECTIVES & STRUCTURE

This work will cover the following objectives• Illustrate the scenario of the

Education Sector of Bangladesh• Pinpoint a specific problem of the

education sector of Bangladesh• Offer a sustainable solution.

This work is exploratory type with secondary data usage. General people and any other interested group are the target audience of this work.

PART 2E D U C AT I O N S Y S T E M I N B A N G L A D E S H

SCENARIO

• The educational system in Bangladesh is three-tiered and highly subsidized. The government of Bangladesh operates many schools in the primary, secondary, and higher secondary levels. It also subsidizes parts of the funding for many private schools. In the tertiary education sector, the government also funds more than 15 state universities through the University Grants Commission.

Tertiary

Secondary & Higher Secondary

Primary

SCENARIO

• Bangladesh conforms fully to the Education For All (EFA) objectives, the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) and international declarations. Article 17 of the Bangladesh Constitution provides that all children between the ages of six and eighteen years receive secondary education free of charge.

• Bangladesh has 78.56% literacy rate. There is a total of 33,907,151 enrolled students of which Primary students are 19,550,000, Secondary students are 10,400,000, and Post secondary students are 1277,151.

• Adult and Youth Literacy, 1990-2015: Analysis of data for 41 selected countries UIS/2012/LIT/TD/0" (PDF). UNESCO Institute for Statistics. 2012. ISBN 978-92-9189-117-7.Adult and Youth Literacy, 1990-2015: Analysis of data for 41 selected countries UIS/2012/LIT/TD/0" (PDF). UNESCO

Institute for Statistics. 2012. ISBN 978-92-9189-117-7.

THE PROBLEM

Table 1: Education Index of Bangladesh  

Total Primary Level Institutions (nos.) 104017 Private Dental College (Nos.) 18

Secondary Schools (Nos.) 19208 Public University (Nos.) 34

Madrasha (Nos.) 9441 Private University (Nos.) 60

College General (Nos.) 3547 Student & Teacher Ratio

Govt. Medical College (Nos.) 22 Primary (Public) 1:50

Private Medical College (Nos.) 53 Secondary (Public) 1:34

Govt. Dental College (Nos.) 9 College (Public) 1:100

    University (Public) 1:19

Statistical Pocket Book Bangladesh 2013, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, Statistics and Information Division, Ministry of Planning.

Before defining the problem some important statistics are needed to illustrate. Here these are

THE PROBLEMAs discussed previously, the number of students, from primary to post-secondary level, is drastically decreasing. The illustration is as below:

Category 10

5,000,000

10,000,000

15,000,000

20,000,000

25,000,000

Student Enrollment Aross Primary to Post-secondary Level

Stud

ent N

umbe

r

THE PROBLEM

Analyzing the Table 1 it is found the ratio of the teacher and student in the college level (post-secondary) is very high (1:100). To find out the reason, in the Table 1, it is found the number of college and university (in the post-secondary level) is quite low. Analyzing the above ground, it may be inferred - Since enough infrastructure is not available, the number of post-secondary students is remains low.

So, let us think about an infrastructural solution, which will deliver post-secondary education in Bangladesh with high coverage.

PART 3S O LU T I O N

THE SOLUTION

The solution is – E-Learning.

E-Learning is learning utilizing electronic technologies to access educational curriculum outside of a traditional classroom. In most cases, it refers to a course, program or degree delivered completely online.

FEASIBILITY AND PROSPECTTo develop e learning system, internet penetration is very important. According to GSMA Intelligence report, Bangladesh has 100% 2G internet penetration and 23% 3G internet penetration. This growth is increasing rapidly. The number of smartphone user is also increasing. Bangladesh Govt. has special ICT Policy, which emphasize the IT infrastructure development. The growth is tremendous. Therefore, it is viable in Bangladesh.

• https://gsmaintelligence.com/research/2013/07/bangladesh-asias-untapped-mobile-broadband-opportunity/394/• http://www.btrc.gov.bd/ict-policy

GLOBAL & BANGLADESHI SCENARIOIn the developed countries, E-Learning is very popular. Most of these services are offering education free of cost, which is playing a vital role for the development. Initiatives like – Coursera, e-Institute by World Bank, Udemy are some renowned global names. In Bangladesh, several basic initiatives are taken. One of the renowned initiative is – Dhaka University E-Library. Though the initiative is a bit slow here, because the concept is new. But hopefully some giant initiatives will be taken very soon.

http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2015/aug/11/asias-largest-e-library-opens-dhaka-university

A PROTOTYPE PROJECT IN BANGLADESH

At this point it is my pleasure to introduce eVarsity, a small scale E-Learning platform, to you. In 2013 it was co-founded by me, Mr. Koushik Prashad Pathak and my student Mr. Sajal Kanti Ghosh). The details about eVarsity is given in the next part.

PART 4e VA R S I T Y

ABOUT eVARSITY

eVarsity is a voluntary Bangladeshi initiative to provide education over online for free. Here we offer several amazing courses which will help to enrich a student’s knowledge even more!

All of these courses are conducted by renowned university teachers, several professionals from different organizations and some meritorious university students. Here we provide- lectures, lecture notes, slides, videos, audios and other necessary materials. In addition to these, we also take online exams of the enrolled students to assess their learning after delivering the lesson. A certificate will also be given to the students upon the course completion.

ABOUT eVARSITY

Our Mission: We want to make this world prosperous by providing free education.

Our Value Proposition: We provide education for free.

To know more please visit www.evarsity.wordpress.com

eVARSITY MODEL

eVarsity is an internet based education service system. Like any traditional brick and mortar education institution system, eVarsity also provides full length academic courses. The lessons are provided here over online including book, lecture note, lecture slide, lecture audio and video file. After delivering the lesson, exam is also taken over online including student assignments and home works. The system is internet based which enables the students learn from distant places. The total service delivery system is illustrated in the next slide.

eVARSITY MODEL

HOW eVARSITY IS MORE EFFECTIVE THAN TRADITIONAL SYSTEM

The eVarsity model suppresses the benefits of traditional brick and mortar education system in several ways. In addition to that, the eVarsity model has several unique features what traditional brick and mortar model lacks. These are illustrated now:

HOW eVARSITY IS MORE EFFECTIVE THAN TRADITIONAL SYSTEM

PART 5P R O J E C T V I A B I L I T Y A N D C O N C LU S I O N

OBSTACLES

The main obstacles to implement this model are:• Efficient Leadership: First obstacle in this model is to take the leadership. Someone

has to initiate the process. Someone, with proper assistance, is needed to take the initiative. It may be Govt. initiative, or it may be Private Initiative or it may be PPP (Private Public Partnership).

• Degree of Perceived Newness: This concept is quite new in Bangladesh. Except some highly educated people, E-Learning model is not familiar to mass people. So, it will take a bit time to be used to this method.

• IT Infrastructure: Bangladesh needs to invest in developing the infrastructure for this model. Internet speed and smart phone density will be needed to improve even more to ensure the maximum coverage.

BENEFITS

The benefits of this model are huge. With minimum investment, it will derive the highest benefits, which have already been discussed.

CONCLUSION

Bangladesh Govt. is doing extremely good over the last several years. The vision 2020 of Bangladesh is of great impact. The present govt. is highly emphasizing on ICT by developing ICT Policy. The education sector is also being improvised and modernized. Govt. have made the education free up to secondary level, earlier which was only limited to primary level. With the limited resources, Bangladesh Govt. is trying hard to ensure higher education. In this regard, it is suggested to adopt digital technology to deliver better service and ensure maximum coverage. E-Learning will be the next giant and high impact initiative to modernize the education system which will be cost efficient, sustainable and effective.

KOUSHIK PRASHAD PATHAK