Bangladesh ready to raise education spending to 5% of GDP, says minister

The announcement follows a UNICEF report on classroom conditions, raising questions on field-level performance

Education Minister ANM Ehsanul Hoque Milon says the government is prepared to allocate 5 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to improve the quality of education.

At a UNICEF-organised research report launch at Sheraton Dhaka in Banani on Thursday, he said the prime minister has pledged higher investment in the sector.

Milon noted that the UNESCO commission had recommended raising the figure to 6 percent, while previous governments never invested more than 1.70 percent of GDP in the sector.

“But now we are ready to invest,” he said.

The minister, however, questioned whether increased spending alone would bring meaningful results.

“Teachers are the key issue. Policymakers are also responsible,” he said.

He said the authorities are ready to do their utmost to overhaul the system and upgrade the department, but he remains uncertain about how ministry officials, field officers, teachers, and trainers are performing their duties.

Milon also questioned whether large infrastructure projects had actually improved educational standards.

“Why do research findings still show that 80 percent of students cannot read properly?” he asked.

Expressing frustration over the state of education, the minister said Bangladesh was still struggling with longstanding problems more than five decades after independence.

“Fifty-five years have passed since independence. Why do these problems still remain? Why is our system not functioning properly? Where are our failures? Even I have not found the answer,” he said.

He recalled serving as a state minister in the same ministry nearly 20 years ago, saying he had yet to witness any major transformation through the ministry’s work.

“That is my observation,” he said. “At least UNICEF has worked at the field level and shown us the real picture of classrooms. Perhaps we do not know, or maybe we all know but refuse to admit it.”

Outlining the government’s strategy, Milon said there is a specific action plan to improve the quality of both education and teaching.

He added that the country must follow that path as there is "no other alternative".