Invest more to tackle BD’s ‘learning crisis’

Bangladeshi children lag behind at least 4.5 years from their 11 years of learning due to poor quality of schooling, says a new World Bank (WB) report.

The key factors behind this are the lack of access to early childhood development programmes, low quality of teaching practices, challenges related to poor school management, and low levels of overall spending on public education, according to the Bank's flagship report.

The World Development Report 2018 titled "Learning to Realize Education's Promise" was launched in Dhaka on Wednesday.

Some 35 per cent of grade three students scored too low to even be tested on reading comprehension in Bangla, and only 25 per cent of grade five students in the country passed the minimum threshold in math, said the report.

The Lego Foundation and the WB Dhaka office organised the report launching programme, where State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md. Shahriar Alam was present as the chief guest.

The Bank's Lead Economist Halsey Rogers and Practice Manager for Education Global Practice Cristian Aedo presented the global report and its Bangladesh perspective on Wednesday in Dhaka.

The report said despite Bangladesh's remarkable success in bringing nearly all children to primary school, the education quality remains a concern.

"Many young students in Bangladesh, as in other low and middle-income countries, find it hard to get good jobs because they leave the education system without required skills to read, write or do basic math," the report said.

The World Bank has suggested investing more in education and investing more effectively to overcome the learning crisis the country is facing.

The junior minister differed with the Bank statement on low investment in education, saying the government's spending over the last 10 years has increased at least five-fold.

"In the current year budget, the government allocated 12 per cent more funds than those of the last fiscal for the education development," he said.

That said, the minister noted that in some cases the quality of education in Bangladesh may have some questions, but the government is working on improving it.

Mr Bob Saum, acting WB Country Director for Bangladesh, said stunting and quality of education hold back a child from achieving his or her full potential in Bangladesh.

This means that with the current education and health conditions, a child born today in Bangladesh will be 48 per cent as productive as he or she could have been, he added.

"Bangladesh's share of public spending on education is lower than the South Asian average and about half of Malaysia's share of spending on education. But it's not just about the overall spending, it's also about how spending is being used," he said.

"Systematically measuring whether schooling is translating into learning is critical for ensuring that education spending is effective."

He said: "Bangladesh is among the few countries to achieve gender parity in school enrollment with more girls in school than boys. The country has the potential to create a globally competitive workforce by investing in education."

The WB report noted although the learning outcomes are worse for students from poor and vulnerable backgrounds, success is possible.

Vietnam's 2012 results from a worldwide test for high school students in math, science, and reading called PISA, showed that its 15-year-old performed at the same level as those in Germany - even though the country is a much poorer country, it said.

The report said the average worker in Bangladesh had completed more years of schooling by 2010 than the typical worker in France in 1975.

"This progress means that most enrollment gaps in basic education are closing between high-and low-income countries. By 2008, the average low-income country was enrolling students in primary school at nearly the same rate as the average high-income country."

Jaime Saavedra, Senior Director for Education of the Bank, said a big reason why schooling does not translate into learning is because in many countries there is a need for continued strengthening of investment in young children.

"Children from poor and vulnerable groups are left behind as early as six months of age as they do not have the right nutrition and the right stimulation….. Quality early childhood development programmes are fundamental and vital investments for Bangladesh to tackle the learning crisis," he said.

The WB report has suggested assessing learning to keep track of progress; improve school systems by attracting high-quality teachers, improving the teaching and learning process and motivating children to come to school and use data on learning to mobilise all stakeholders.

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