Education has been a priority for over last two decades, but the quality of primary education in Bangladesh remains extremely poor. Education receives the largest budgetary shares every year. Despite significant efforts by the Government of Bangladesh and other development partners, over 50% of children who enroll in first grade fail to complete primary school. Only about 2% of the children enrolled in school can achieve all the prescribed competencies by the end of the fifth grade. As a result, the literacy rate in Bangladesh is significantly lower than that of other developing countries, hovering around 50%, and much of the emerging labor force continues to lack the basic education skills necessary to help pull the country out of poverty. Bangladesh faces many challenges in improving its education system, particularly for unregulated madrasas. The country’s population is expected to reach about 170 million by 2020 putting extreme pressure on its public infrastructure. Currently 45% of the population is estimated to be 15 years old or younger. At least 15% of the current school-aged students have never entered school in spite of increases in overall enrollment trends, greater gender parity and substantial increases in public expenditure on education. The estimated dropout and repetition rates for primary school students remains high, with about 40% of all students dropping out by the third grade. The overall meager quality of education compounds the problem, both for those who attend school and as a disincentive for those who might attend.
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