Education demands more budgetary allocation

This year's budgetary allocation for education has increased substantially but it still falls far short of the United Nations Education, Science and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO)-set benchmark of 20 per cent of the budget and 6.0 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP). As a signatory to the Dakar Declaration, Bangladesh is pledge-bound to spend at least 20 per cent of the total budget outlay each year. In the proposed budget for the fiscal year (FY), 2016-17, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education together with Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Division are likely to get Tk 508.45 billion with a share of 18.35 billion for the ICT. So, together the two sectors - education and ICT - are likely to get 15.7 per cent. Without the ICT, the share of the two education ministries stands at 14.40 per cent, a rise by 3.7 percentage point.  

Now if considered against the year-to-year increase in the budget size, the allocation to education has registered rises every year but not proportionate to the total budget increase. It is because of this allocation to education has mostly hovered at around 2.0 per cent for over the past 14 years. This time the slight improvement in the education budget cannot overturn the deficiencies of such a long period. 

Even though, allocation for development purposes in education has risen by 3.1 percentage point over the 9.5 per cent of the total outlay of the annual development programme (ADP) in FY 2015-16 to 12.6 per cent, it will prove insufficient for the purpose. Against non-development expenditure to the tune of Tk 144.52 billion and Tk 206.81 billion respectively under primary and mass education ministry and education ministry, development expenditure has been set at Tk 77.10 billion and 61.67 billion respectively. 

Still then, how the development allocation will be spent is very important. So far as the finance minister's budget speech indicates, most of this fund will be required for development of physical infrastructure. According to him, the government will go for construction of 63,000 classrooms. Besides, Tk 2.0 billion will be allocated for repairing and renovating dilapidated schools. Opening classes for VI and VII in 760 primary schools and recruitment of 3,000 more teachers will cost. Together, the lion's share of allocation to education sector will be spent on salary and infrastructure development. How much will be left for curriculum development, improving the quality of textbooks in terms of content and materials used and more importantly, imparting training to teachers is directly linked to the improvement of quality of education. 

The 26,000 schools nationalised in 2013 have left many questions unanswered. For the primary schools that were arranged by unemployed SSC or HSC certificate holders' initiatives and later on granted recognition, the quality is even more dubious. The self-employed teachers there did not have to face any test for their employment. Their quality and competence were never put to test. Many of those teachers do not know how to write a correct sentence in Bangla. Their certificates were not earned but they received those on the strength of mass copying. This is anarchy in education. 

At a time when highly qualified teachers, their training, development of teaching materials corresponding to the demand of the time and introduction of modern method of imparting lessons were necessary, the country's education is burdened with backlogs. Let teaching profession be placed in a pole position so that it looks attractive to brilliant students like those passing out from universities. The problem here is that meritorious students themselves make it to the higher education and they are required elsewhere. So how can this problem be overcome? One solution to the problem can be that highly qualified eminent educationists can give voluntary service after their retirement for a couple of years to train teachers and develop curricula as well as other materials in an effort at making education attractive to both teachers and students. 

The structured question papers introduced in order to evaluate students' merit have exposed their weakness. Indeed, the part of the multiple choice questions (MCQ) has been frustrating simply because teachers themselves are not inventive enough. They cannot get into the inner thematic core of subjects. Once again the guide books have been guiding the majority of teachers and students. This cannot be the purpose of education. To be familiar with the core issue, none other than a teacher will be able to help. But when a teacher gropes in the dark, how can s/he help his/her students? 

This is reason enough why reevaluation of the existing system of education at the primary and secondary level is all the more necessary. Even the higher education will have to be changed but first the problems facing the school education need to be addressed urgently. If higher education is a focus on research and reappraisal of the known facts in quest of the unknown, the primary and secondary education should make students inquisitive about the world all around them through contact and firing of their imagination. This can happen only when teachers are ready to play the role of a friend, philosopher and guide combined together. Investment in such teachers is the best option open to this country. 

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