A teacher has to teach on average 42 students in the country's secondary schools as in 2016, an official report says.
This teacher-student ratio is far below the global standard meaning a teacher can offer comfortable learning to 30 students.
And the gap in the ratio has widened since 2011 when the teacher-student ratio was 1:30, according to the report.
The report titled 'Bangladesh Education Statistics 2016' was published by the Bangladesh Bureau of Educational Information and Statistics (BANBEIS).
The report also said the country's high schools lack adequate number of female teachers, as even the quota for women has not been fulfilled.
Also, dropout of female students at the secondary level is worrying -- as high as 42 per cent of their dropout was recorded at this level.
However, though the secondary school students suffer from teacher shortage, the teacher-student ratio at the primary school and collage levels is improving gradually, said the report.
Chief of the BANBEIS' statistics department Shamsul Alam observed that other than the teacher-student ratio many other facilities have improved in secondary schools.
"In the last year, number of trained teachers have increased by 2.78 per cent."
He said separate washrooms for female students, safe water, computer support, internet facility and multi-media access have increased. These facilities now cover most of the high schools, he added.
National Education Policy-2010 speaks of reducing the gap in teacher-student ratio to 1:30 by the end of the 2018 for the sake of quality education at the secondary level.
Lack of female teachers
In a notification circulated in 2009, the government directed the privately-run educational institutions to appoint at least 30 per cent female teachers.
BANBEIS statistics show that the female teacher quota is not being fulfilled when 95 per cent of the high schools are privately-owned.
The number of female teachers have increased just by 2.50 per cent between 2010 and 2016, said BANBEIS statistics.
Dropout of female students
Number of female students at the high school level has been a worrying sign. At least 42 per cent female students drop out at this level.
Asked about reason behind this situation, the BANBEIS official, Shamsul Alam said child marriage is the prime cause behind the dropout.
Also, social security fuels the dropout, he added.
*This piece, originally published in Prothom Alo Bangla print edition, has been rewritten in English by Toriqul Islam.