Education is a vast and complex field. It encompasses multiple dimensions, sectors, and sub-sectors. For that reason, it is not possible to govern everything through a single law.
There are various institutions within the education sector, each governed by its own legislation. These laws exist for a reason and will continue to do so. They cannot all be replaced by one overarching statute.
What is actually required is a legal framework for the education system, one that provides overall direction and guiding principles for education policy.
Such a law should, for example, establish that school education must be universal; that decentralisation in educational governance is essential; that the status and dignity of teachers must be enhanced; and that equity-based education must be ensured. These fundamental principles should be clearly articulated in law.
However, the proposed draft education law largely compiles and reproduces existing rules, directives, circulars, and administrative instructions. While this may be useful from an administrative convenience perspective, if this draft is enacted in its current form, it will not contribute meaningfully to educational reform, quality improvement, transformation, or development.
That being the case, one must ask: what benefit will education actually derive from such a law? I fail to see any.
We want reform and transformation in education. That reform is necessary, and for that purpose a legal framework is indeed required. But the draft law that I have reviewed will not deliver those objectives.
At present, discussions on education reform are underway. A committee report on improving the quality of secondary education is expected to be submitted next week. Decisions on reform should be taken first, and only then should a comprehensive legal framework be formulated on that basis.
Moreover, the tenure of the current government is drawing to a close, and a political government will soon be formed through elections. Political parties are now presenting their election manifestos. At that stage, education development will inevitably become a subject of broader discussion and debate. That is when an appropriate legal framework should be developed.
* Manzoor Ahmed, convenor of the advisory committee on improving the quality of secondary education and emeritus professor at BRAC University.