Education in Bangladesh is administered by the country's Ministry of Education. The Ministry of Primary and Mass Education implements policies for primary education and state-funded schools at a local level. Education in Bangladesh is compulsory for all citizens until the end of grade eight. Primary and secondary education is funded by the state and free of charge in public schools.
Bangladesh conforms fully to the UN's Education For All (EFA) objectives and the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) as well as other education-related international declarations. Now, the government of Bangladesh tends to align the curriculum that meets the "Goal: SDG-4" that is the "Quality Education" characterized in the charter of “Sustainable Development Goal 4”. Article 17 of the Bangladesh Constitution provides that all children receive free and compulsory education.
The Human Rights Measurement Initiative (HRMI) finds that Bangladesh is fulfilling only 82.5% of what it should be fulfilling for the right to education based on the country's level of income. HRMI breaks down the right to education by looking at the rights to both primary education and secondary education. While taking into consideration Bangladesh's income level, the nation is achieving 88.7% of what should be possible based on its resources (income) for primary education but only 76.3% for secondary education. Again, the budgetary allocation is too inadequate that the following source reiterates "Out of the total budget of taka 678,064 crore (approximately 62.6 billion dollars) for FY23, the allocation for the education sector is taka 81,449 crore (approximately 7.5 billion dollars) or 12 percent of the total, compared to 11.9 percent in FY22. In terms of GDP ratio, it is 1.83 percent, lower than the outgoing fiscal year's allocation. This is one of the lowest in the world – far below the recommended minimum of 4–6% of GDP and 20% of the national budget." Over the course of the past five decades, Bangladesh has achieved commendable advancements in the domain of education. As education stands as an indispensable human right, dedicated efforts are being exerted to guarantee its accessibility for every individual. Looking ahead to the next decade, it is conceivable that Bangladesh will attain a full literacy rate of 100 percent.
A noteworthy facet in Bangladesh is the near-universal enrollment of children in schools, evident through a primary school net enrollment rate of 98%. Additionally, an increasing number of women are joining the ranks of school attendees, subsequently entering the workforce and making substantial contributions to the expansion of various economic sectors. The government in recent years has made notable efforts at improving women's educational condition in the country.
Education system
The main education system is divided into three levels: Primary level (class 1–5) Secondary level (class 6–12) Tertiary level
At all levels of schooling, students can choose to receive their education either in English or Bangla.
Bangladesh has allocated 60 percent of primary school teaching positions specifically for women.
There is no middle school in Bangladesh.
National curriculum
The National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) (Bengali: জাতীয় শিক্ষাক্রম ও পাঠ্যপুস্তক বোর্ড) provides textbooks, takes standardized tests via one of two languages: English and Bengali. Bengali and English are mandatory subjects for all students following the national curriculum despite their chosen languages or versions. The Bengali version of the national curriculum is called "Bangla version" and the English version of the national curriculum is called "English version". Those who follow these individual curriculums are called "Bangla version students" and "English version students" respectively. Bangla version of alternate curriculums are called "Bangla Medium" and English version of alternate curriculums are called "English medium". Those who follow these individual alternate curriculums are called "Bangla medium students" and "English medium students" respectively.
A student is expected to complete 12 years of education up to class 12. The curriculum does not include pre-school.
There is no choice of subjects offered to students under this curriculum until class 9 and again at class 11 when a student is expected to choose between 3 streams of education. The 3 streams of education are as following: Arts Commerce Science (Total 11 subjects must be studied for science students).