Steps needed to improve quality in primary education

The Department of Primary Education has taken on a large-scale project in the name of improving primary education, which is considered a waste of huge sums of money.

According to a newspaper report, preparations are underway to adopt a huge project worth Tk 45,000 crore called ‘PEDP-5’ to improve the quality of primary education in the country.

But analyzing past experience and the results of recent surveys, there is ample room to call this project a luxury one, rather than an educational development.

However, the reality is that despite spending about Tk 33,000 crore through PEDP-3 and 4, the learning deficit of students has not decreased.

In fact, there has been no significant progress in terms of learning.

As per the Bangladesh Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) 2025, only 24 percent of children in grades two and three have basic reading skills and 18 percent of children have basic numeracy in mathematics.

Reportedly, a large portion of the proposed cost of the PEDP-5 project has been allocated for building construction and the administrative sector.

However, the main conditions for ensuring quality education are the appointment of skilled teachers, modern training and effective classroom-based support, but much of which here is vague and secondary.

Questions also remain about how sensitive the project is to children from hilly areas, pastures, slums, or minority language speaking communities.

Education is not a building, rather the result of interaction between teachers and students.

But our development policy has repeatedly given more importance to brick and stone walls.

If a building worth thousands of crores of taka is constructed without trained teachers, the pockets of contractors and the people concerned will be heavy, but only the burden of debt and the darkness of illiteracy will weigh on the shoulders of future generations.

We believe that an impartial assessment of the failures of past projects is essential before undertaking such a hugely expensive project.

Instead of taking up such costly projects, we need to determine strategies to address the real learning deficit. Primary education is the foundation of the future. If that foundation is weak, the future will also be weak.

Therefore, what is needed now is a reconsideration of the goals, a verification of the reality of the plan, and a specific commitment to ensure the proper use of funds. We want to ensure effectiveness, not waste, in primary education.