Bangladesh’s education system, from primary school to the HSC examination, has mostly been built around marks earned through memorisation. GPA-5 has largely become less a measure of understanding and more about how faithfully a student can reproduce a model answer, a formula or a paragraph learnt by heart.

As an education and development professional, I participated in a classroom observation once, following training on technology-enhanced English language teaching.

The BNP government has recently announced a series of education reforms. A third language will become compulsory alongside Bangla and English. Vocational education will expand.

As the BNP government prepares major revisions to school textbooks for the 2027 academic year, the changes reported by the media once again reveal a familiar pattern—authorities continuing to alter curriculum content, historical narratives, and learning priorities without addressing the deeper structural crisis in education itself.

Talking to the Bangladeshi elite—the people with real power and influence—you might think they recognise the education crisis facing the country.

Many of the new ideas being put forward, such as expanding technical education, introducing a third language, reducing high-stakes exams, and promoting skill-based learning, are not intrinsically flawed.

To kick-start education reform, a high-level expert task force should be appointed.

This piece is a rebuttal critically examining the article titled “We need education reforms that actually work,” published in The Daily Star on March 15, 2026. Dr Manzoor Ahmed’s evaluation of recent education reforms in Bangladesh contains assumptions and analyses without adequate research evidence.

There is a simple fix to this problem. We can easily allow students who have failed in one or two subjects to begin college studies on a conditional basis.

We have had so many reform commissions, but none on education, reflecting our own sense of priority.

Central to the formation of the panel is the objective of minimising political interference in the selection of top university managers.

It will be a crime to miss the post-uprising zeitgeist and not to overhaul our educational sector.

Focusing on education is essential to changing the trajectory of a nation.

While several variables contributed to how ineffective educational reforms have been, a lack of foresight and enforcement were arguably the most prominent factors.

Public and media discourse overwhelmingly favours the idea of a reform commission for education.

Let us begin with a generic scenario to explain the quandary of a 10th grader in Bangladesh in 2025. Due to take the SSC examinations in a year, this student will have to choose between science, humanities and commerce streams.

To serve the purpose of education, meeting the parents' demands through focusing on learning outcomes and reforming the education system are the need of the hour.

Teachers are at the heart of educational reform and are pivotal in shaping students' academic success.

It is now widely accepted that investment in human capital through education plays a crucial role in economic growth.

In Bangladesh, inequality starts with education.