Why millions in training funds haven't solved unemployment in Bangladesh
1 June 2026, 10:00 AM
That schools do not prepare our young people well for the world of work is a frequent refrain.
1 June 2026, 10:00 AM
Why our education reform keeps missing the mark
8 May 2026, 10:00 AM
To kick-start education reform, a high-level expert task force should be appointed.
8 May 2026, 10:00 AM
Are teachers failing, or is the system failing them?
20 April 2026, 09:00 AM
Recently, Education Minister Ehsanul Haque Milon told the parliament that 60,295 teaching posts are currently vacant in about 26,000 MPO-listed (government grant-receiving) secondary schools and colleges in the country.
20 April 2026, 09:00 AM
A rebuttal to the rebuttal: ‘Evidence, not assumptions, should guide education reform’
30 March 2026, 11:00 AM
I am happy that Dr Shamsul Arifeen Khan Mamun has taken the time to read my op-ed piece on education reform (“We need education reforms that actually work,” The Daily Star, March 15) and wrote a rebuttal (“Evidence, not assumptions, should guide education reform,” The Daily Star, March 19).
30 March 2026, 11:00 AM
We need education reforms that actually work
15 March 2026, 00:32 AM
People’s expectations about real reform in education have been raised by the busy round of meetings and expression of resolve seen in Minister of Education Dr Ehsanul Haque Milon and State Minister for Primary and Mass Education Bobby Hajjaj.
15 March 2026, 00:32 AM
Decisive action is needed to deliver on education pledges
19 February 2026, 00:51 AM
The overwhelming support of voters received by the BNP thrusts upon the new government a special responsibility and a challenge to meet people’s expectations.
19 February 2026, 00:51 AM
An education law – does it matter?
11 February 2026, 01:38 AM
The point is that complex and diverse education services operate under a variety of legal provisions, and their requirements can hardly be met by a single umbrella law.
11 February 2026, 01:38 AM
Faltering education is a national emergency, fix it now
25 January 2026, 00:13 AM
When the foundation of governance of the state is shaky, public services such as education and healthcare also become weak and tottering.
25 January 2026, 00:13 AM
New Education Budget: To fit the purpose
The Tk. 49,000 crore or US$ 6.3 billion allocated for education, when divided by the estimated 40 million students in the country, amounts to Tk. 12,000 per student public spending for a year or about US$ 150 on average for all levels of education.
7 June 2016, 18:00 PM
Five steps to make it happen
On May 19, The Daily Star headline announced, "From now on, primary education in the country will be up to class-VIII". The decision had been taken and made public by the Minister of Education, Nurul Islam Nahid.
25 May 2016, 18:00 PM
Why is the education budget not larger?
On average, a teacher handles 50 students, when it should be no more than 30. Can it be denied that much more should be spent on primary education and at other stages of education?
17 May 2016, 18:00 PM
A new education law – Will it help?
How important is it to have an overall law for the education system and what can it do to solve the many problems in ensuring the management and quality of the system?
7 April 2016, 18:00 PM
Matching education, training, skills and jobs
Technical-Vocational Education and Training (TVET), or even a broader concept of Technicals-Vocational Skills Development (TVSD)...
2 February 2016, 18:00 PM
Do our children have the right to education?
Does the Constitution of Bangladesh recognise education as a right? The plain answer is no.
18 January 2016, 18:00 PM
Keeping the promise to our children
Mariam, a bright nine-year old girl with dangling ponytails, sat in one of the middle rows in a class of about 50 students in a rural primary school.
31 December 2015, 18:00 PM
Children and Poverty
Protecting the rights of children and providing the essentials for their development must be part of the definition of poverty reduction.
6 November 2015, 18:00 PM
EACH CHILD TO A LOCAL SCHOOL
Each six-year-old child would be admitted to a neighbourhood primary school without being subjected to a qualifying test – this is how it should work because the country has a mandatory education law in place since 1990. But it hardly works this way.
14 October 2015, 18:00 PM
The 21st Century Teacher
Unlike many countries, Bangladesh does not have a pre-service teacher education programme, although school teaching is the single largest field of employment for college graduates.
4 October 2015, 18:00 PM
The challenges ahead
Heads of states or governments of the world will meet at the United Nations headquarters in New York on September 25-27 to proclaim a new global agenda for sustainable development to be realised by 2030 (SDG 2030), replacing the Millennium Development Goals (MDG 2015), which was adopted 15 years ago at a UN Summit.
16 September 2015, 18:00 PM
PRIMARY EDUCATION: LEARNERS OR JUST TEST-TAKERS?
The primary education authorities – especially the Directorate of Primary Education (DPE) and the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education (MoPME) – must be busily preparing for the Primary Education Completion Examination (PECE) or Shomaponi to be held in November.
18 August 2015, 18:00 PM
Paving the way to future?
In an article for The Daily Star, I had written:“A new National Education Policy was announced by the government in June 2010.
11 March 2015, 11:36 AM