A Call to Conscience: Reclaiming the Future Through Education Reform

As the authoritarian regime under the leadership of Sheikh Hasina started falling apart in the wake of massive opposition in the summer of 2024, the person at the forefront of the battle was neither a politician nor a person from the elite class. Rather, the young generation of Bangladesh started to prove to be the conscience of a morally degenerate country.

Their struggle was not a political one. Their struggle was one of pain, of betrayal, of a longing to be heard in a country in which their voice was always drowned out. They took to the streets in a manner that was courageous and clear in a way that was beyond fear of persecution. They fought for a reason: for dignity, for justice, but for life. And the world was watching.

But what occurred in July 2024 was more than the collapse of an administration it was a reckoning. A generation that had been relegated to the sidelines and smothered erupted to offer the strongest possible condemnation of a system that had betrayed them not just politically or financially, but morally and academically. Their message was unmistakable:
“We were promised a future. We were given exams, not education. We were told to compete but never how to succeed.”

They protested not as a ruler but a whole system of exclusion, resting on the foundations of decaying institutions, dwindling possibilities, and worst of all a whole educational system that had long abandoned the nurturing of talent, curiosity, or ambition. Even a year later, the central demand of the uprising education reform is still unfulfilled.

The internal affairs of the country involve the installation of commissions for judicial reforms, police accountability, selection matters, and financial matters. The sector of highest importance, whose fate decides the fate of every country and every child in her or his lifetime, in the education sector is being overlooked. Pointer less. Visionless. Starved of vision.

This goes beyond a failure to regulate policy. This is a moral failing of the highest degree.

And thus, we turn to Dr. Muhammad Yunus now, with hope and conviction. Dr. Yunus, you are a Nobel Prize-winning leader in the world of social innovation, you are also the leader of a new government that has been born out of the hopes of a people who have taken their fate into their own hands. And you have the unique opportunity of doing something no one has dared to dream before you: change the entire education system of Bangladesh.

This reflection appears in the form of a commentary. A commentary on what we have experienced to arrive where we are, and a commentary on how we must not misuse the present opportunity. Because without justice in education, there will be no social justice. Without change, there cannot be rejuvenation. Otherwise, we would be failing the very young people who preserved our democracy just the day before.

A Nation in Denial: The Collapse of Learning
Statistics always look very dry, but figures about education in Bangladesh are not just numbers; they’re a warning bell in this country. They expose a situation that no patriot would be able to turn a deaf ear to. For example, only 35 percent of Grade 3 students in Bangladesh can read and understand what they read, and only one in four has basic arithmetic skills. In all successful education systems, these skills should have been achieved by Grade 1. The problem aggravates as the child progresses to other grades; presently, only one in four Grade 5 students have highest level skills in math, down from 25 percent to 19 percent in just nine years while competitors in the region are accelerating. The situation from Bangladesh’s own perspective, reported to the United Nations, is even more disheartening:

A staggering 62% of Grade 3 students do not have basic math skills. Only 36% of Grade 5 students have proficient skills in Bangla language skills, and only 24% in math skills. When it comes to Grade 8 performance in such critical areas as English and math skills to make one’s country competitive in the global market, less than half of students have shown competence.
The numbers depict a national tragedy quietly occurring in our educational systems in which millions of kids are being robbed of basic skills to even survive in a modern economy. To make matters worse, if these results represent the best-case scenario among kids who do not leave educational systems as millions do either due to lack of financial ability to afford educational costs or because these kids do not see any purpose to these educations due to their life circumstances. This is not just an issue that’s widespread; it’s also increasing every year.

The Myth of “Educated” Graduates
Despite this, even if one completes this system successfully, they find themselves coming out woefully deficient in skills. They consistently hear complaints from their employers about their ability to not be able to write effectively, communicate properly, solve problems, and reason logically. Institutions have complained about their ability to construct a paragraph and do basic algebra. All this points to not an intellectual inability but an inefficient system.

Commencement ceremonies to mark the graduation of these ‘students,’ handing out certificates to mark ‘achievements.’ Behind these processes, we note sorrowfully the truth that we produce ‘graduates’ lacking skills, degrees of no value, and ‘diplomas’ lacking competence. The fault here neither resides in the children. It's the failure of the state.

A Sector Starved of Vision and Integrity
Bangladesh spends only about 11-12 percent of its national budget on education, which is far lower than what it requires and even lower than its nearest rivals such as Nepal, Bhutan, Vietnam, and Malaysia. The worst part of it all isn't just that it doesn't allocate enough to education but also doesn't use what it has effectively.
A major outgo from this expenditure allocation relates to fundamental administration staff salaries, which leaves very little value added anywhere else. A study conducted by the World Bank uncovered that an alarming level of 98 percent of expenditure from ‘non-development expenditure revenue payments in primary education is restricted to salaries. Contrast this to allocations in the Budget 2024-25 budgetary expenditure, which allocated just 5.6 percent for primary teacher development.
At the same time, there is corruption rife in infrastructure developments such as school buildings, school furniture purchase contracts, and textbook printing jobs. Cost escalation rackets occur where syndicates enrich themselves while performing below standard work. Money designated for schools reverts to private bank accounts instead. The consequence? School structures go up; learning fails.

Teacher training is also greatly impacted. Although there have been some developments in teacher training for primary-level teachers, there has been little change in secondary teacher training quality, which lingers around 60 to 65 percent. Bangladesh lags very far behind in meeting global norms in this area, disregarding yet again the research-developed linkage between teacher quality and learning results. Consistently, this system fails to provide learning cohorts who have the skills required for living in the 21st century.

 

The Youth Did Their Part. The State Has Not.
The young leaders who staged the July Revolution not only brought down a repressive leader but brought down what they thought to be a dysfunctional and incompetent state. Nevertheless, even after over a year since the appointment of the interim administration, not one permanent commission for educational reform has been formed. All this despite constituting commissions for all other essential matters of governance.

And then comes this moment, maybe the only moment in this generation to rechart the national course on education. A government propelled by public goodwill, rallied by the moral momentum of public uprising, had this chance to do what no one had previously attempted to do in administration to make structural reforms in education. Rather, it has been silence and inaction. There may be considerable resistance from entrenched interest groups who are unwilling to embrace change and who seek to distance the interim government from initiating such reforms. This became evident to me during my meeting with the Chief Advisor on the 22nd of July.

The interim government may be temporary in nature but nothing to prevent it from packing intellectual groundwork for long-term reform research, data gathering, consultations, writing reform. The government’s failure amounts to betrayal of youth who were risking their lives in the streets.

 

What the Next Government Must Prioritize without Delay

Although the new administration under the commendable leadership of Dr. Muhammad Yunus may take up the required groundwork, the short life of the administration and the forthcoming elections in February would restrict its scope to bring about long-term structural change. The required radical measures would rest squarely on the new incoming administration.

At the very top of the list would have to be the development of a National Education Strategy for the country of Bangladesh a holistic vision for the redefinition of the education sector in the country, in keeping with the development aspirations of the country and the fast-evolving world around.

A policy of that kind must stand on three basic pillars:

  • Equity & Inclusion: Ensuring all children have access to quality education regardless of socio-economic background, gender, geographical location, or physical/cognitive abilities.
  • Quality & Relevance: Moving beyond traditional learning based on memorization, to a framework that nurtures critical thinking, innovation, and digital skills essential for success in the 21st-century economy.
  • Accountability & Innovation: Prioritizing transparency and accountability throughout the education ecosystem—from policymaking to the classroom—while embracing innovation in teaching methods and technology.

 

Yet this approach must be more than a solution to past shortcomings. It must offer a vision for the future. Because the future of Bangladesh will not be safeguarded by its infrastructure, but by its minds. Unlocking the potential of the country’s human capital must become a new national vision. To realize this vision, the new government must act decisively on the following:

  1. Substantial & Strategic Investment

UNESCO recommends 4–6% of GDP and 15–20% of total budget for education meaning Bangladesh spends less than half of the minimum standard needed to ensure quality education.

Bangladesh must allocate at least 4% of its GDP to education in the coming years, aligning with UNESCO guidelines. But investment must prioritize the intellectual infrastructure, not just bricks and mortar. This includes:

  • Comprehensive professional development for teachers
  • Curriculum modernization
  • Expanded digital access and e-learning platforms

Without well-equipped educators and effective learning resources, the promise of educational reform will remain unfulfilled.

  1. Curriculum Reform with Substance & Depth

Change begins where learning takes place in the classroom. Bangladesh must move away from outdated textbooks and exam formats that prize memorization. Reforms must include:

  • Updating curriculum content with global knowledge, science, and culture
  • Transitioning to problem-solving-based assessments
  • Transforming teacher education to empower instructors as guides for inquiry, creativity, and lifelong curiosity

Furthermore, the curriculum must support interdisciplinary learning connecting science with art, math with design thinking, and history with digital skills. When students learn to code while composing music or explore math through visual design, they cultivate the adaptability essential for a fast-changing world.

 

Most importantly, there must be a paradigm shift in how we view education itself. It should be about developing human capability, not just producing note-repeating graduates. True education begins when young minds are empowered to think, question, and imagine for themselves.

  1. Systemic Integration & Educational Equity

The time has come to move beyond the fragmented, colonial legacy of parallel education systems. A unified national education system anchored in shared values and standards for all learners is essential to building a cohesive and inclusive society. Such reform must be led by a National Education Commission independent, non-partisan, and composed of educators, experts, and civil society voices. Only such a body, free from political interference, can design an education system that represents the collective aspirations of the nation and becomes a force for national unity.

From this current administration to the one that follows, there must be a clear realization: education is no longer a sectoral issue, it is a national imperative. The resilience of Bangladesh’s society, its economic edge, and the strength of its democracy will not be defined by laws alone, but by the minds we cultivate. The days of building Bangladesh solely in bricks and mortar are past. The future of Bangladesh lies in the growth of its people.

One of the central questions this essay seeks to explore is:
Can Bangladesh afford not to invest in its human capital? The very survival and future trajectory of the nation rests upon this critical consideration. It is the quality of human capital that will ultimately shape what kind of Bangladesh emerges in the years ahead whether it thrives in an increasingly competitive world or falters under the weight of unmet potential.

 

The Global Labor Market as a Mirror

According to the Research Association Gallagher (RAG), the global labor market serves as a powerful reflection of a nation's educational strength—or its deficiencies. It reveals how well a country prepares its people to engage, compete, and thrive in a rapidly evolving global economy.

Nations such as India and the Philippines offer compelling examples of how strategic investment in education and skills development can translate into global influence and economic prosperity. The Philippines has earned international recognition for producing highly trained nurses and caregivers, who form the backbone of healthcare systems across continents. Meanwhile, India has cultivated a dynamic, globally mobile IT workforce whose contributions to global tech ecosystems—in regions ranging from Singapore to Silicon Valley—generated an astounding $135 billion in remittances last year alone.

By contrast, Bangladesh’s participation in the global labor market remains disproportionately low-skilled. A large share of its migrant workers is confined to manual labor roles in construction, domestic work, and other physically demanding sectors. These workers often endure exploitative conditions, limited upward mobility, and chronically low wages. This situation is not a reflection of the nation’s capabilities, but rather a consequence of an education system that has failed to prepare its citizens for high-skilled, high-value employment on the world stage.

Without a decisive shift in educational policy and priorities, Bangladesh risks watching its demographic dividend transform into a demographic liability. A young, energetic population—if not equipped with the skills, knowledge, and adaptability required in the modern economy—can strain national resources rather than drive growth. The stakes are clear: the future of Bangladesh’s global competitiveness depends on its ability to align education with opportunity, aspiration with preparation.

The Elephant in the Room: The Highly Divided Education Sector
The Bangladeshi education system is still alarmingly segmented along lines of social class. At the peak of this stratification exists the English-medium school, which consists of schools essentially patronized by elites who provide their wards with ‘globalized knowledge systems and state-of-the-art learning facilities.’ The middle ground is comprised of the Bangla-medium school, which encompasses ‘the majority population and provides standardized but sometimes patchy quality education.’ At the very bottom and deeply impacted by these issues are ‘the madrasahs and NGO schools which languish in relative isolation and provide little but ‘meager learning opportunities and limited access to modern knowledge.’
It isn't just a situation where there's socioeconomic inequality; it's instead a situation where it's perpetuated. Children in Bangladesh essentially have three completely different experiences of what their educational environment looks like, and this happens according to their socioeconomic background, which ultimately decides what their reality looks like. They essentially inherit three completely different experiences of what their life looks like. The way it's set up essentially creates not just separate educational experiences but leaves the nation lacking in something far greater than just educational understanding; it leaves it lacking in social coherence.


A country cannot move forward if its childhoods are divided along class lines. A nation whose children learn together will build an era of inequality, lack of trust, and wasted communal talent. If Bangladesh would like to build a just, united, and wealthy nation-state, it must start by opening up the divisions in its educational structures.

The Madrasah Challenge
The madrasah education offered in both Alia and Qawmi systems caters to 2.75 million students, which constitutes one-fourth of post-primary enrollment. The performance of these students suffers consistently in all subjects, and their prospective directions have remained limited.
The question here isn't about their presence but about their disconnection from national needs as well as global realities. The madrasah in history had very important contributions to make in terms of cultural preservation and resistance to colonialism. Many families choose to enroll their children in madrasahs not solely for Islamic legitimacy but because public schools have failed them either because of cost, distance, graft, or ineffectiveness. Otherwise, any form of reform would be futile. Reform must be compassionate and data-driven and target expanding options rather than stigmatizing communities.

The way towards such an integrated national model for K-12
The time has come for Bangladesh to introduce their K-12 national framework to be universally mandatory and co-ed, offering all children a long overdue foundation in education. The first step in creating such a framework would be to ensure all students have had adequate grounding in reading, math, and critical thinking skills to fully partake in post-secondary education. In addition to basic education to prepare national citizens for proper post-secondary education and success in life as productive members of society, their framework would also provide their mode of civic education to cultivate identity and societal elements presently absent in their educational pattern.
Inextricably bound to these imperatives is incorporating digital literacy skills across all disciplines, not segregating computing skills into separate computer courses but instead infusing these skills as part of a competency toolkit for research, communication, creativity, and competitiveness in the global market. The teaching of language skills must be transformed to encompass skills in Bangla and English language competency, in conjunction with learning a third language either Arabic for religious and cultural pursuits or learning from native languages to preserve ethnic identity.

After these interlinked stream options for K-12 education have been accomplished, they would have all the freedom to choose particular paths aligned to their deepest interests, goals, and capabilities. They would be able to pursue academic courses in traditional educational systems housed in universities; be part of technical-learning institutions aimed squarely at advancing their nation's industrial and technological developments; study their respective religious traditions with up-to-date and duly-accredited courses; and pick from several other professional colleges aimed to cultivate competent practitioners in their areas like nursing, business administration, agriculture, and data/computer technology.


This inclusive approach encompasses just the kind of balance Bangladesh always needed—or rather missed out entirely: maintaining diversity in education but seeing to it that all fiddle their first note to start out life with the same basic skills no matter if they’ll be engineers, imams, nurses, technicians, or researchers later on.

 

A Personal Perspective--Two Continents, One Problem
After teaching in several public and private universities in Bangladesh, completing my MBA and doctoral work in a public university in the U.S., and gaining teaching experience in different academic settings in the U.S., Singapore, Ireland, Australia, and the Middle East, I have come to realize not just different educational systems but different worlds. The differences among these and the increasing disparity between what prevails in Bangladesh and what prevails internationally have all become even more apparent to me each year.


I have witnessed firsthand in Bangladesh how college-age students carry this torch of embarrassment knowing their educational experience did not adequately prepare them for these academic demands. In no way would I assert these types of youngsters lack intellectual acumen, ambition, and curiosity to learn. Rather, they come across as very intelligent, very ambitious, and very eager to learn. It's just their confidence that fails them in situations involving critical writing skills and problem-solving skills developed far earlier than college enrollment.

Outside the United States, I have seen yet another dimension of this tragedy. Bangladeshi students who enroll in American, European, and Asian universities not infrequently find themselves lagging behind not because they do not have what it takes to succeed but because they come from significantly disadvantaged educational backgrounds in research skills, exposure to debates and learning by inquiry strategies, academic writing skills, and exposure to modern educational tools and technological capabilities to augment educational pedagogies. They do so juxtapose to Indian, Vietnamese, Singaporean, and Nigerians whose formative education allows them to excel worldwide.


In Australia and Singapore, for instance, college freshmen come from high school already prepared in advanced courses in calculus, statistics, programming, lab research, and analyzing humanities. In contrast, their Bangladeshi counterparts must learn all these things for the first time in a foreign land and literally have to be overnight wonders to keep up with others who have had ten times their advantage. In the same way, students from other countries such as Sri Lanka and Nepal come Prepared with better language writing skills and science knowledge because their educational systems were brought up to standard worldwide standards several years ago. In contrast, Bangladeshi kids learn by rote memorization from old textbooks and exams emphasizing memorization over critical thinking.


These differences aren't small; they determine what life looks like in academia. Despite these challenges, Bangladeshi students have shown extreme resilience. They study far longer hours than other students do and have even shown to outperform their peers in their courses proving that it wasn’t the students who have been lacking but rather the educational systems they were subjected to. The challenge isn't capacity. The challenge isn't ambition. The challenge isn't exposure; it isn't opportunity. It is precisely the lack of educational ecosystems that promote curiosity, analytic thinking, and global preparedness. Our kids aren't lacking. Our education system is.


Until such a time as Bangladesh overhauls its education system from its roots to ensure quality teaching and quality educational opportunities for all who pursue it, it will continue to export geniuses whose brilliance will be marred by disadvantage. The brilliance is there. The grit is there. The love for knowledge certainly exists. The deficit is in the educational system’s willingness to invest in their promise to help them prepare for their world.

 

Conclusion: A Promise That Must Be Kept
The July Revolution shook a long-held culture of complacency awake to a truth long dormant: the true source of all power resides not in institutions but in the hands of the people, in the hands of the youth of Bangladesh. The July Revolution was more than a political statement; the July Revolution was a moral awakening. At the center of the moral awakening of the new Bangladesh there resides one truth. That truth is simple. Simply stated, a new Bangladesh begins with education.

Education would have been the starting point of this change. Education would have been the building block for a new Bangladesh that would be just, equal, and ready to meet the challenges of the coming days. Even if we have missed the point in achieving the change in education, we have not lost the opportunity.

A great Bangladesh begins with a great educational system. A great society begins in the classroom. To honor the promise of the youth, the spirit of the republic embodied in the youth who have risen to reclaim the Republic we owe it to ourselves to begin by rebuilding the systems that serve their dreams. The way forward has already been shown to us. The youth have already pointed the way to us in their bravery, in their clarity of vision, in their determination for change. All that is left for the State to supply is the will.

Now, we turn to Dr. Muhammad Yunus, the world-renowned social entrepreneur and Nobel Prize Winner. Now is the season of change. Now we are seeking Dr. Yunus to take the very first step. This day needs to be etched in history more than the consolidation of democracy in our country. A second chance in history needs to be wielded to usher in the long-awaited change in the educational system of Bangladesh.

Dr. Muhammad Yunus will always be remembered not only for his achievement of being a Nobel Prize laureate for pioneering the concepts of micro-finance banking and social business around the world but also for being a true nation builder. He was the person who took the step to restore hope in a democracy in trouble.

In the position of the Chief Advisor to the Interim Government of Bangladesh, Dr. Muhammad Yunus made a decisive and unifying influence in steering the country during a very critical phase of politics when there was a great deal of uncertainty. During his leadership, the country started the process of regaining the foundations of democracy.

His leadership style was a driving factor in the significant positive change achieved in a wide range of critical fields. These included corruption-cleaning campaigns, judicial reforms, electoral reforms, the restructuring of the financial sector to ensure the functionality of critical national institutions in a manner of great relevance to the country. Significantly, the BDR Independent Commission Report, developed under his supervision, brought to the fore critical truths of grave implications for the country’s national security. These truths relate to critical regions of grave concern to the country in terms of hegemony.

These reforms extended well beyond the boundaries of procedure. They represent a greater ideal of the principles of good governance, the restoration of democracy, and the healing of a nation in a period of political flux. These reforms started the necessary process of a more open, more accountable, more resilient nation.

It was a critical period in the country when the nation was at a crossroads. But Dr. Yunus presented the country not merely with governance but also hope. His leadership style was one of inclusiveness and strengthened the people’s sense of handing back to society what was exclusively theirs. Dr. Yunus earned the people’s support in vast numbers to the extent that he was backed by over 69% of the people,” stated the International Republican Institute (IRI). Dr. Yunus’s contributions in leading the country to a brighter future cannot be overemphasized.

But let his legacy not rest there. Let him also be remembered for being the leader who heeded the call of history for a leader who understood that no country could truly rise without raising the quality of its schools, for a leader who had the strength to effect the long overdue change in the education landscape of Bangladesh. A change not merely of education policy but in the capacity for every child in the country to be empowered to thrive, to lead, to dream.

Reforming the education system is to transform the soul of a country. And embarking on the journey of change is to ensure that the promise of the July Revolution and the hope of the youth is not forgotten but fulfilled. These are the promises that have to be kept.

If we intend to keep the spirit of the July Revolution, the dreams of our youth, or the hope of a just and prosperous Bangladesh alive, we must start where all great change begins in education. To quote the words of a traditional Chinese proverb:
“If you plan for a year, plant rice. If you plan for a decade, plant trees. But if you plan for a century, educate people.”

But let us plan for the next century. Let us sow the seeds of change in every classroom of every country. Let us nourish the minds of every child. Let us endeavor to build a quality education system for them. Because investing in education is to invest in the very soul of the nation; and it is this promise that we must keep above all.