Bangladesh’s Education Budget Is Building the Third Floor on a Crumbling Foundation - Shuva Karmaker

Bangladesh’s Education Budget Is Building the Third Floor on a Crumbling Foundation

Imagine a remote Chattogram Class 6 government school: sixty students, one teacher, two fans, no whiteboard. The teacher with eight years’ experience earns Tk 15,000 monthly, with her retirement fund suspended since 2022. One day, she gets a tablet with lesson templates and a digital question bank, but not any necessary training or resources. Next year, she must teach a third language — Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, or Arabic — to students struggling with English.

On June 11, 2026, the government announced a record Tk 1,36,606 crore education budget for FY 2026-27 budget—up 56.6% from last year. Policies rarely fail at the announcement stage; they fail during implementation. This budget offers high hope of narrowing that implementation gap.

1. The Third Language Gambit

Bangladesh relies on migrant workers, and more languages mean better opportunities. But this raises a question: what’s happening with current English instruction?

Bangladesh ranked 62nd globally out of 116 countries on the EF English Proficiency Index in 2025 with a score of 506. This gap highlights the mismatch between policy ambition and classroom reality outside urban areas. The source of this failure is clear: according to BANBEIS 2024, only 17% of about 59,700 secondary school English teachers hold honours or master’s degrees in English, and 24% haven’t studied English beyond HSC. If these teachers are expected to prepare students for a third language, the policy adds a floor to an already unfinished building. This would require structured English teacher training and a national proficiency assessment before expanding multilingual instruction.

2. The Tab Arrives; the Teacher Doesn’t

The ‘One Teacher, One Tab’ initiative, like the reforms such as free rural girls’ secondary schooling and compulsory primary education by 1993 under the BNP government, is a promising project. The tablets include lesson plans, attendance tools, and digital question banks. On paper, it is coherent. In practice, it depends on teachers who are not prepared for it.

Bangladesh ranks last in South Asia for minimally qualified secondary teachers, with only 55% meeting criteria. Upskilling teachers requires a subject foundation, and those without formal training can’t be effectively upskilled by a tablet. However, State Minister Bobby Hajjaj said untrained teachers must complete four to six months of training before returning to classrooms.

The government should allocate 5% of the Tk 57,301 crore Secondary Education budget for professional development, tracking teachers’ progress digitally. It should also create a National Teacher Competency Standards Framework, based on AITSL or UK Teachers’ Standards, to professionalize teaching. Without this framework, the tab is just a paperweight.

3. The Pay Crisis That Destroys Downstream

An entry-level assistant teacher in Bangladesh earns about Tk 15,000 ($123). The 8th National Pay Scale (2015) has set salaries for eleven years, but a new 9th Pay Scale starting July 1, 2026, proposes Tk 20,000 minimum.

This is not reform; inflation correction is a decade late. Tk 20,000 in 2026 has the same purchasing power as Tk 12,500 in 2015. Recent grade shifts and pay bumps have exclusively targeted primary educators, leaving secondary teachers entirely unaddressed. These measures are partial and don’t address secondary teachers.

The system is already strained, with 60,295 teaching posts vacant across around 26,000 secondary schools and colleges, as Education Minister Milon told parliament on April 7, 2026. Building instructional leadership is impossible with such a shortfall. Additionally, MPO retirement benefits have been suspended since 2022, amid allegations of an estimated Tk 7–8,000 crore embezzlement from the retirement board and welfare trust. A Tk 20 billion allocation to cover the deficit is for debt settlement, not investment.

A Teacher Excellence Pay Scale with competency-linked premiums and a clear career ladder would cost about Tk 18 billion annually—less than 1.3% of the education budget. The government can afford to raise salaries to Tk 20,000, but still won’t fund teacher training. This is a priority issue, not a resource one.

4. The Students the Budget Doesn’t See

Thirteen reform initiatives, none of which mention children with disabilities by name. UNICEF estimates 8% of Bangladeshi children aged five to seventeen have functional difficulties—about 5.2 million—but there’s no budget for assistive technologies. Children with disabilities are seven times more likely to be out of school. Secondary completion is just 18%, and 24 districts lack any special schools.

Over 1.8 million ethnic minority students face linguistic barriers in a system that teaches almost entirely in Bangla. The ‘One Teacher, One Tab’ initiative is ineffective for them. The expansion of free undergraduate education doesn’t reach those who can’t pass secondary school. Adding a third language to the curriculum won’t help if they can’t access basic education. The government should reallocate Tk 5 billion from technology procurement to an Inclusive Education Fund, jointly managed with disability-focused civil society groups, to finance assistive tech, trained inclusion coordinators, and accessible infrastructure. Article 17 guarantees free, universal primary education, but a budget ignoring 8% of children fails that standard.

The FY 2026-27 education budget is the most ambitious since independence, with a 56% increase, aiming for 5% of GDP over five years, and a reform framework. It shows education’s political priority. But true transformation depends on upstream investments: trained teachers, support, and funding. Downstream initiatives rely on these foundational elements, which remain underfunded and undervalued. Education policy focuses on humans, not tools. Without investment in teachers and systems, even ambitious budgets risk failing in practice.

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This op-ed was originally written for and published in The Daily Bonik Barta on June 24, 2026. 

Mr. Shuva Karmaker is an educator, academic leader, and writer with experience in higher education and academic coordination.
Email: mailtoshuvakarmaker@gmail.com