The Centre on Budget and Policy of Dhaka University (DU) has expressed frustration over the downward trend of budgetary allocation for the country's education sector, particularly tertiary education.
The policy research centre said although the total allocation for the country's education sector slightly increased in size, but in terms of its share of the GDP (gross domestic product) it declined significantly.
The university's research centre gave its formal budget reaction on Wednesday over the allocation for education at a press meet in the capital.
The centre's director and professor of Development Studies Department of the university Dr M Abu Eusuf said the government proposed 1.8 per cent of its GDP for the education sector for the next fiscal against 2.2 per cent in the previous budget.
The senior policy analyst was presenting a keynote paper on the budget for education.
DU Teachers' Association (DUTA) general secretary Prof Dr ASM Maksud Kamal, chairman of the Development Studies Department Prof Dr Niaz Ahmed Khan and Prof Dr Taiabur Rahman, among others, spoke at the press meet.
The national budget for the fiscal year (FY) 2015-2016 proposed an allocation of Tk 316.05 billion (Tk 31,605 crore) for the education sector, of which only 6.0 per cent has been allocated for the tertiary education.
Saying that the education sector's allocation is inadequate for the sector, Prof Eusuf called upon the government to put more emphasis on the sector to attain its goal.
He underscored the need for preparing an inclusive education budget and the views of all stakeholders should be accommodated.
"Unfortunately the authorities prepare the budget without having any consultation with the stakeholders," he noted.
He also criticised the government for its insufficient allocation for research and study, the focal area of tertiary education.
"Because of inadequate funding support, we couldn't conduct extensive and innovative research," he said adding that university teachers were now doing study with fund support from the private sector.
"Such funding support sometimes hampers free speech of the researchers," Prof Eusuf added.
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