Proposal for ministry of human resource

development
Abdul Matin
World Bank report based on a survey of the country's labour force revealed some astonishing statistics. According to the report, the less educated
section of the population in Bangladesh contributes more to the national economy than the higher educated ones. It states that out of 56.7 million
labour force, 41% has had no formal education at all and 23% have not even completed primary level education. The manpower with university degrees
constitutes about 3.7% and contributes little to the national economy.
Out of our total budget of Tk. 2,22,491 crore for the current financial year, Tk. 25,093 crore (11.3%) has been allocated to education including mass and
primary education. We have been spending similar proportions of our budget for education for the last several years. If the less educated manpower
contributes significantly more to the national economy than the educated ones, one wonders if we are spending our money prudently in the education
sector.
After partition of India in 1947, we inherited an education system, introduced by the British, whose purpose was to create a so-called educated class
mainly to carry out the orders of the colonial rulers and collect revenue for them. Even though we had several commissions for reforming the education
system, both before and after our independence in 1971, we could hardly come out of the legacy that was introduced by the British. Consequently, our
present educated class is incapable of making any significant contributions to the national economy. Obviously, the reforms introduced by the
commissions from time to time did not address the key issues.
The main purpose of expenditure in the education sector is to develop human resources that will contribute to our national economy. It is, therefore,
necessary to re-orient our education system to cater to the need of the country. The first step in this direction should be to rename the ministry of
education as the ministry of human resource development (MHRD), like in India. It should study the education systems in other countries where the
educated communities make significant contributions to their national economies, and introduce reforms in our country following their systems of
education.
While the purpose of school education should be to impart education to all citizens, higher education should be oriented mainly to cater to the need of
the country's development in the economic, social, scientific, technical and cultural fields, and to encourage research in all fields. The education system
should be updated at regular intervals to adapt to the changing circumstances.
The writer is a former chief engineer of Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission.