A rosy narrative on decentralising school management is not helpful
9 August 2026
The narrative of a success story about reaching near-universal enrolment and closing the gender gap in primary education in Bangladesh is quite justified, but the achievement itself is neither exceptional nor improbable, as is sometimes claimed.
9 August 2026
How long must we ask the same questions about education?
13 July 2026
Recently, The Daily Star published an article titled “Why Bangladesh’s children are in school but not learning”, written by John Richards and Shahidul Islam, who cited data showing a sharp decline in enrolment in government schools and evidence from national and international assessments that many children complete primary education without acquiring foundational literacy and numeracy skills.
13 July 2026
Promises and pitfalls of the new education budget
16 June 2026
The proposed budget, the BNP government’s first in two decades, promises a shift away from physical infrastructure to human capital development and a journey towards a democratic, humane and inclusive economy. Can these promises be delivered?
16 June 2026
Why millions in training funds haven't solved unemployment in Bangladesh
1 June 2026
That schools do not prepare our young people well for the world of work is a frequent refrain.
1 June 2026
Why our education reform keeps missing the mark
8 May 2026
To kick-start education reform, a high-level expert task force should be appointed.
8 May 2026
Are teachers failing, or is the system failing them?
20 April 2026
Recently, Education Minister Ehsanul Haque Milon told the parliament that 60,295 teaching posts are currently vacant in about 26,000 MPO-listed (government grant-receiving) secondary schools and colleges in the country.
20 April 2026
A rebuttal to the rebuttal: ‘Evidence, not assumptions, should guide education reform’
30 March 2026
I am happy that Dr Shamsul Arifeen Khan Mamun has taken the time to read my op-ed piece on education reform (“We need education reforms that actually work,” The Daily Star, March 15) and wrote a rebuttal (“Evidence, not assumptions, should guide education reform,” The Daily Star, March 19).
30 March 2026
We need education reforms that actually work
15 March 2026
People’s expectations about real reform in education have been raised by the busy round of meetings and expression of resolve seen in Minister of Education Dr Ehsanul Haque Milon and State Minister for Primary and Mass Education Bobby Hajjaj.
15 March 2026
Education in budget 2022-23: Small mercies and dashed hopes
Educators and concerned citizens have been urging a major increase in public allocation for the education sector.
12 June 2022
Put education back on track
Educators in these columns have been asking for recovery and remedial actions to overcome the pandemic-induced learning losses that threaten a generational learning disaster.
24 May 2022
Building social cohesion: How can education help?
French sociologist Emile Durkheim described social cohesion as organic solidarity arising from peoples’ dependence on each other in a modern society.
9 May 2022
The playbook of student politics needs an overhaul
The tragedy of two innocent by-standers’ lives squandered, hundreds injured, shops damaged and burnt, and business worth crores of taka during the
22 April 2022
Unpacking the story of missing students
The Annual Primary School Census (APSC) 2021 shows that enrolment in primary schools came down in 2021 from the previous year by almost 1.5 million, while the number of teachers decreased by over 83,000.
11 April 2022
50 Years of Brac: An education legacy lighting the way
It hardly needs saying that the towering personality of Sir Fazle Hasan Abed left its indelible mark on Brac’s vision, mission and programmes in all the areas of development in which the organisation has been engaged.
20 March 2022
Learning loss from Covid-19: Can a generational threat be averted?
The United Nations has called it the “longest disruption to education in history” worldwide. In Bangladesh, schools remained closed non-stop for 543 days from March 17, 2020 to September 11, 2021.
12 February 2022
Schools should remain open—then what?
Schools re-opened on September 12 last year on a limited basis after 542 days of closure.
8 February 2022
Campus in Turmoil: The playbook must change
A sadly familiar playbook has been on display once again at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST). Students have been on “fast-unto-death” in front of the vice-chancellor’s residence.
25 January 2022
Should Covid caution supersede learning loss action?
On September 12, 2021, schools in Bangladesh reopened after 18 months of Covid-19 closure—partially, with restrictions.
5 January 2022
Our education in the next 50 years
It has been a season of reviewing and reminiscing about the past 50 years since independence and projecting into the future with expectation and hope.
23 December 2021
Education and The Pandemic: The ostrich syndrome is not the answer
The proverbial ostrich buries its head in the sand in the face of danger, assuming that if it cannot see the hazard, the hazard does not exist or will disappear.
11 December 2021
PECE Exam Board: What it says about decision-making in education
The Ministry of Primary and Mass Education has doubled down on its insistence not only to continue the nationwide Primary Education Completion Examination (PECE) at the end of Grade 5, but giving it a permanent institutional form by proposing the establishment of an examination board to conduct it.
18 November 2021
Improving education needs the right kind of political strategies
The elections held in the US in the first week of November this year had state and local representatives, including two governors, mayors and school board members, up for selection.
8 November 2021
Teachers also need support for learning loss recovery
We all can recall from our student days one or more teachers who touched our lives in a special way. They inspired us to aspire higher and served as our role models.
4 October 2021
Children’s learning and wellbeing, not testing, should be the priority
Examinees of PECE, SSC and HSC will attend in-person classes every day while the rest of the students will go to school once a week after schools and colleges reopen on September 12, Education Minister Dipu Moni announced on September 5. The SSC and HSC exams are planned to be held in November and December, respectively.
11 September 2021
The politics of mass literacy: Where we stand
On the occasion of International Literacy Day, proclaimed by the United Nations in 1966, there will be pronouncements with much fanfare about the vital role of literacy in national development and the progress that has been made.
7 September 2021
What Bangladesh can learn from the reopening of US schools
About 56 million children in 130,000 primary and secondary schools in the United States, including about six million students in 30,000 private schools, are returning to a second school year this autumn under the spell of the pandemic,
1 September 2021
500 Days of School Closure: Averting a generational catastrophe
UNESCO has called the learning loss caused by the Covid-19 pandemic “a generational catastrophe.” What does it mean, and how can we cope with it?
9 August 2021
Education budget ignores the pandemic
The education community’s plea for breaking the pattern of Bangladesh having the lowest public spending on education in South Asia and among developing countries has fallen on deaf ears.
6 June 2021