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Copenhagen Consensus Center

Top Ideas for Education

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In May of 2015, Bangladesh Priorities held a roundtable of sector experts to discuss the best solutions to further improve Bangladesh's education system. Combined with in-depth interviews and review of the 26 background studies of the 7th Five Year Plan (7FYP) and the Plan itself, the most notable ideas focused on: enhancing quality of education in both primary and secondary education through upgrading of both physical facilities and teaching materials, expanding reach of tertiary education with a special focus on women, investing in in teachers training (e.g. Teachers Portal), upgrading the quality of madrasas, improving quality of vocational training institutions, and, increasing R&D spending. Overall, the roundtable focused on quality of education offered from the educational governance perspectives. Different models of early childhood development and pre-primary education sparked innovative ideas at the discussion.

Proposed Ideas 

The prominent ideas arising from the roundtable are highlighted in the following presentation.

Roundtable Attendees 

Prominent discussants in the roundtable were Dr. Hosne Ara Begum from Institute of Educational Research, University of Dhaka, Rajibul Alam from DNet, Dr. Safiqul Islam from Education Programme of BRAC, Laila Baqee from European Union, Dr. Erin Nickerson from USAID Bangladesh, Arthur Earl Shears from ILO, Ali Md. Shahiduzzaman from Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), Md. Afzal Hossain Sarwar, Access to Information (a2i) program, Prime Minister’s Office of Bangladesh, Samir Ranjan Nath and Dr. Mahfuzar Rahman from Research and Evaluation Division of BRAC along with others sector experts. 

In addition to the roundtable, in depth interview with several expert stakeholders were conducted. The interviewees included Nazrul Islam, Secretary (Coordination and Reforms) Cabinet Division, Dr. Abbas Bhuiya, Deputy Executive Director of Iccdrb and Janina Jaruzelski, Mission Director of USAID. Finally we conducted a literature review to supplement the ideas uncovered during the roundtable. 

In a hurry?

Click here to download a PDF list of all the proposed education ideas and a complete list of attendees.