The 2024 student–pepole uprising originated from one of the many areas of educational inequality — discrimination in employment after completing education, known widely as the quota movement. After the fall of the authoritarian government during the mass uprising, an interim government was formed under the leadership of Professor Muhammad Yunus. In his first national address on 25 August 2024, Professor Yunus assured that a new chapter of transformation would begin for the state and society, and that education reform would be part of it.
However, doubts arose almost immediately when it was seen that 11 high-level commissions were formed to recommend reforms in politics, economics, and other areas — but none was created for education.
The inequality in educational opportunity and quality began during the colonial period. Even during Pakistan’s semi-colonial era, the structure of the education system did not change significantly. After Bangladesh’s independence, both the Qudrat-e-Khuda Education Commission of 1974 and the National Education Policy of 2010 promised that the state would ensure universal access to at least basic education. That education policy remains in effect even today. Yet by 2025, the right to and access to quality education acceptable for all children has still not been achieved. On the contrary, the education system itself is now fueling and entrenching the existing multidimensional inequalities in society.
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The word inequality is widely used to describe the crisis in education. Looking at the various existing problems in education — and their impacts on individuals and society — through the lens of inequality can help us understand their nature and seek solutions. For that, we must first understand how educational inequality is manifested and structured.
Inequality in education is reflected in three key components of any education system: Access to education, quality of educational resources and services, and learning outcomes.
Access is generally measured by the numerical expansion of education — and every ruling government promotes this as a sign of progress. But this narrative hides a major deception.
First, average enrollment rates do not reveal the realities of different social groups. Poverty remains a major barrier to access. Although primary education is officially free in government schools, it is widely believed that private tutoring or coaching is essential. According to the 2022 Child Labour Survey, about 4.4 per cent of children aged 5–17 years — nearly 1.8 million — were engaged in child labour, which disrupted their schooling. Nearly half of these children were involved in hazardous work, posing serious risks to their health and safety.
The phrase “schooling without learning” aptly describes many of our schools, where students attend classes but learn little. Moreover, among children who enter Grade 1, at least 15 per cent drop out before completing Grade 5, despite primary education being compulsory up to the fifth grade.
The government has still not taken responsibility for making secondary education universal. About two-thirds of children of secondary-school age are enrolled, but one-third of them drop out. In other words, less than half of children aged 11 to 15 complete secondary education.
Visible signs of inequality in the quality of education can be seen in the physical condition of schools, the presence of enough qualified teachers, and the availability of learning materials and facilities. Although various development projects have invested in these areas, government reports now claim that infrastructure is no longer a problem. Yet, the reality tells a different story—unsafe classrooms, schools without boundary walls or playgrounds, combined classes due to a shortage of teachers, classrooms with 60 to 100 students, and the absence of libraries or laboratories all paint a grim picture. The wealthy and privileged members of society avoid sending their children to such schools in urban slums or remote rural areas.
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The quantity and quality of education cannot be viewed separately. If students attend school but learn nothing, that access becomes meaningless. Unfortunately, that is precisely what we see in reality.
According to a World Bank review, more than 51 per cent of Bangladeshi adolescents aged 10 to 14 cannot read a simple paragraph in Bangla — meaning that over half of them have not achieved functional literacy. Government assessments of primary-level students show a similar picture. The half who cannot read or write are the disadvantaged, poor, and marginalised segments of society.
Why and how do the underprivileged fall behind? The conditions and factors through which educational inequality manifests can generally be divided into four categories: Economic, socio-cultural, geographical, and individual characteristics.
As mentioned earlier, poverty prevents access to quality education. Recent economic surveys show that 28 per cent of the population now lives below the poverty line, up from 19 per cent in 2022. Families in this group cannot afford the fees of good schools or private tutors. Even families just above the poverty line can easily fall below it if a major illness occurs or the main earner loses their job.
Areas such as haor wetlands, river islands (chars), hill tracts, and coastal regions face particularly adverse conditions, worsened by the impacts of climate change. At least one-fourth of Bangladesh’s population lives in these areas, all suffering from various forms of educational disadvantage.
Socio-cultural inequality arises from differences in language, religion, and ethnicity, which often exclude certain communities from the mainstream. Without special arrangements for their education, these groups are left behind. Though they may form a small percentage of the total population, their absolute number is far from insignificant.
Individual characteristics also play a role when necessary support services are unavailable. Persons with disabilities are major victims of this form of inequality. Another prominent area of such discrimination involves gender identity — transgender, intersex, and hijra individuals continue to face both social and educational exclusion.
Moreover, the rise of digital technology has introduced a new form of inequality. While it is promoted as a tool for expanding educational access and quality, in practice, it is enabling the wealthy and highly skilled to move even further ahead, leaving the majority of young people behind.
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The nature of educational inequality and its multifaceted manifestations are endangering the future of a large portion of the young generation and have become major obstacles to fulfilling the collective aspirations of society. The rise of educated unemployment, youth frustration leading to drug addiction and crime, attraction to religious or political extremism, and growing mental distress — these are all toxic outcomes of educational inequality.
The gravest loss lies in the fact that a significant number of young people are unable to take part in building a society based on equality, human dignity, and justice; they are failing to contribute to the transformation of the nation and society. Are the political class, the powerful bureaucracy, and the privileged business elite truly interested in bringing about fundamental change?
The UNESCO International Commission on the Futures of Education has proposed that students, parents, teachers, and conscious citizens must be collectively inspired by a shared vision. Those who govern the state must be bound to a social contract dedicated to transforming education. Has the People’s Uprising of 2024 at least partially prepared the ground for this transformation? Or must we await yet another uprising?
#The views expressed are the author’s own and do not represent any institutional position.