Budgetary Allocation
Defence spending exceeds edn
Rasheda tells workshop
Bangladesh is increasing defence budget more than that of education sector, Rasheda K Choudhury, former adviser to a caretaker government, told a workshop yesterday.
The country is investing more on military like other developing nations of Asia Pacific region, overlooking the importance of the expansion of education, she said.
The government spends only 2.21 percent of the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) in education sector, which is insufficient, she stated, and recommended that education allocation be increased to at least four percent of the GDP.
Rasheda K Choudhury, also executive director of Campaign for Popular Education (CAMPE), said the government should increase budgetary allocation in productive sectors like education, putting less emphasis on unproductive areas for effective development of the country.
She expressed frustrations over government's initiatives to reach the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) by 2015 in primary education, as dropout rate has not reduced satisfactorily.
“We have progressed in increasing children's participation in primary education, but our government is not yet successful in stopping dropout rate fully”.
An UNDP report has identified some major challenges for Bangladesh towards achieving the education-related MDG goal, which include high drop-out rates, difficulty in enrolling 10 percent of children (hard-to-reach population), ensuring quality education, and promoting gender equity in tertiary education.
Representatives from other Asia Pacific countries also talked about the scenario of the education sector in their respective countries and urged all countries to work together, emphasising the importance of spending on education.
They, however, noted that children's access to education was being increased, while dropout rate was on the decrease in this region.
The workshop, "Achievement in education sector in Asia Pacific region", was organised by CAMPE in a city hotel yesterday. It was part of a three-day Asia Pacific regional consultation of National Education Coalitions.
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