Government to allocate 2% of GDP for 2026-27 education budget, says education minister

He says the prime minister has promised to gradually raise allocation to 5 percent

Education spending in the 2026-27 fiscal year will be set at 2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), Education Minister ANM Ehsanul Hoque Milon has said.

Speaking to reporters at the Secretariat on Thursday after a meeting with Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, the minister said the allocation had been finalised for the budget.

The meeting was held as the minister invited the premier to the final match and closing ceremony of the Primary School Gold Cup Football Tournament, scheduled to be held at the Army Stadium on Jun 20.

The minister said the education sector had initially sought 3.5 percent of GDP in allocations for the next fiscal year.

“Instead, we have received up to 2 percent this year,” he said.

He added that the prime minister had given an assurance that education funding would be gradually increased to 5 percent of GDP in the future.

The allocation will cover expenditure from primary to higher education, the minister said.

Referring to previous budget structures, the minister said education and technology were presented together in last year’s budget.

“There was no Shubhonkor’s trap (Shubhonkorer Fanki, a popular Bengali idiom used to describe a deceitful trick or deception hidden within complex mathematical calculations) this time.

“Last year ICT, the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant and other elements were included together in the education and technology allocation,” he said.

International benchmarks suggest education spending of 6 percent of GDP or 20 percent of the national budget is considered ideal.

However, Bangladesh’s allocation remains below this level.

In the 2025-26 fiscal year, education received 1.53 percent of GDP.

It was 1.69 percent in 2024-25 and 1.76 percent in 2023-24.

The minister also addressed the longstanding financial grievances of retired non-government teachers under the Monthly Pay Order (MPO) system.

He reminded reporters that former prime minister Khaleda Zia had introduced the retirement benefit and welfare trust allowances for the teachers back in 1991.

However, disbursements of these funds have remained suspended for retired teachers since 2022.

He alleged that thousands of millions of taka had been embezzled from the MPO-based retirement benefit board and welfare trust in previous years.

He expressed hope that pension and welfare payments for retired teachers would partially resume within the next month.

The education ministry has received a Tk 20 billion bond allocation to support payments for teachers’ retirement and welfare benefits, he added.