The New Nation - Internet Edition

BSS, Dhaka

Chief Adviser Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed yesterday underlined the necessity of increasing public sector allocations for education along with establishing good governance in the very vital sector to achieve educational goals and development aspirations.

"Bangladesh which devotes a little over two-percent of GDP as public sector allocation for education needs to double within the next decade and the share of government budget for education needs to increase proportionately from the present level of under 15 percent," he said.

In this connection, he said educational goals and development aspirations of the country cannot be realised without such investments.

The chief adviser made these comments while inaugurating a three-day conference on "Governance in Education: Transparency, Accountability and Effectiveness" at International Conference Centre of Chief Adviser's Office here.

Primary and Mass Education Adviser Ms. Rasheda K. Chowdhury gave address of welcome and Director, UNESCO, Dhaka Malama Meleisea offered vote of thanks with Education Secretary Md. Momtajul Islam in the chair.

Director, Institute of Educational Development, BRAC University Dr. Manzoor Ahmed and Policy Adviser, Access to Information Programme, Office of the Chief Adviser Anir Chowdhury presented the theme of the conference.

Referring to the segmentations and divisions in the education system at primary and secondary levels in the country, he said the emergence of widening difference in the quality of education between urban and rural schools became a serious problem over the last several decades. This problem has become worst and created a divided society, he added.

The chief adviser called for finding out solutions to the problems aimed at ensuring quality schooling to the urban and to the rural children and to the "children of rich and the children of poor".

Laying emphasis on grooming and building a knowledge-based society, he said only citizens empowered with knowledge, skills and self-esteem can help sustain democratic polity, overcome poverty and face the challenges of the 21st century.

He said much progress has been made in the country in recent years in expanding opportunities and overcoming disparities in the education sector as a result of proactive policies of the government to expand access and innovative initiatives by non- government organizations.

Putting emphasis on harnessing all resources and capacities to establish good governance in education sector, he said weaknesses in capacity and professional skills, structures and custom of centralised decision-making, culture and mindset are obstacles to reform in governance of education programmes.

He said well-known NGOs in Bangladesh which have pioneered internationally acclaimed innovations in pre-school, primary and secondary education constitute a major 'social capital' for the nation.

"We have to ensure that a set of core knowledge and competencies is acquired by all students along with choices for additional or complementary learning," he said adding this would require a core curriculum irrespective of the type of institution and provider of services.

The chief adviser underlined the need for developing an optimal arrangement for all education-related service providers in a geographical unit and said they should work together through a mechanism of local coordination to ensure that every child can participate in an institution.

In this context, he said the mental barriers between government and non-government programmes must be bridged in order to fully utilize existing social capital and achieve educational goals.

Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed said non-government and community organizations can serve as an intermediary between public education service providers and the community including parents for bringing all stakeholders together.

He said educational institutions can in this way be made truly responsive and fully answerable to the local community as well as the parents.

The Chief Adviser said a network of multipurpose community learning- centres, owned and managed at the community level needs to be expanded with appropriate government support to elimination of illiteracy through basic and non-formal education of youths and adults.

Adequate support should therefore be extended to voluntary and non-governmental organizations as well as the private sector to establish and manage community learning-centres, ICT centres and education programmes for youth and adults by treating them as building blocks of a 'learning society, he said'.

About the use of the electronic media for educational purposes, he said Bangladesh Television has the necessary infrastructure for setting up an educational channel.

An independent authority can ensure that the channel is used optimally and effectively for high priority purposes, such as teachers' training and support, literacy and continuing education, supplementing formal primary and secondary classroom instruction, Open University courses, English language instruction, and technical and vocational education, he said.

Dr Fakhruddin said the content and delivery of different programmes can be the responsibility of concerned service providers including non-government ones. The Ministries of Information and Education should move expeditiously to set up such a facility, he added.

The chief adviser said creation of a framework of action for better governance in education could energise and accelerate various initiatives underway in educational development programmes and other supportive activities by civil society bodies, academic and research institutions.

Educationists, policy makers and professionals were present on the occasion.