Manzoor Ahmed

Our vision and aspiration as a nation is expressed in Vision 2021, marking 50 years of independent Bangladesh, and objectives set for 2041, when Bangladesh aims to become a developed nation.

Raleigh, North Carolina. In the mixed neighbourhood of Oakwood in this capital city of the state of North Carolina, where this writer was on a visit recently, in a front-yard among the myrtle grove, a handwritten poster hung with the words:

There is an expectation that school is the setting where young people can learn and practice ethics and values. The reality is that society sets the boundaries of what schools can do. Does society make teaching values and morality through school a fool's errand?

An Economist Intelligence Unit and British Council survey in 2014 reported that Bangladesh had the lowest employability among university graduates in South Asia—nearly half (47) of graduates out of a hundred were unemployed compared to 30 out of 100 in India and Pakistan. There are methodology issues about the calculation. Even then, they indicate a serious problem.

Children who are in grade one today will be in grade twelve, the final year of high school, in 2030. The Sustainable Development Goal number 4 (SDG4 out of 17 global SDGs) is to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning for all by 2030. Where do we stand in reaching the education goals to which Bangladesh is committed?

A spate of question leaks in public examinations has left the education authorities deeply embarrassed and, it appears, at a loss about what they can do.

The two-day Bangladesh Development Forum hosted by the Economic Relations Division on January 17-18 was an occasion to

There is sometimes a jostling about which of the two ministers of education should represent Bangladesh in any international forum for education, such as a Unesco meeting or a UN System consultation in relation to the SDGs.

Innovation and technology are seen as the solutions to the educational deprivation of millions of children in the developing world.

Saleh Chowdhury, veteran journalist, freedom fighter, and president of the Bangladesh chapter of Commonwealth Journalists Association, passed away on September 1, at age 82.

Smoke and mirrors” is an idiom based on illusions created by magicians, where they make objects appear or disappear by extending or retracting mirrors amid a distracting burst of smoke.

Political leaders and political parties professing a vision of a modern and progressive society need to take a stand based on principles and idealism and lead the people, appealing to and awakening their best instincts, instead of giving in to fear and prejudice.

Jagannath University recently appointed 12 leaders of Bangladesh Chhatra League as “special officers” without advertisement - a practice that Vice Chancellor Mijanur Rahman justified as the natural right of the ruling party men (April 27, Prothom Alo).

Today, around 40 percent of the population aged between 15 and 24 years in Bangladesh are classified as “not in education, employment or training (NEET)”, according to a recent ILO report. The actual number adds up to 11.6 million youth or about one-fifth of the total working age population.

The opening words of an education blog posted under the auspices of UNESCO Global Education Monitoring report concludes that the

It is hardly a run of the mill event when nine of the most highly populated countries (Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria and Pakistan) get together to discuss the challenges of achieving the goal of Education for All.

That the Sundarbans, the unique world heritage site and a lifesaver for the coastal people, is in grave danger, with or without the planned Rampal coal-based power plant is not in dispute.

Those who have done well in the higher secondary exam results on Thursday (August 18, 2016) have earned the right to show their exuberance as depicted in the media.

The Holey Artisan Café victims in Dhaka were killed by the young assailants apparently because they were foreigners or non-Muslims though three Bangladeshi Muslims were also not spared. The attackers were particularly brutal towards the women victims.

The ill-advised decision taken in 2009 to subject children to a high-stake public examination at the end of class 5 is to continue. The