Home ›› 13 Jan 2023 ›› Front
Bangladesh is yet to have a comprehensive education act because the authorities concerned have failed to enact the law even after a decade since the process started.
The National Education Policy (NEP) of 2010 was anticipated to lead the way to a comprehensive law to ensure quality education by bringing together the existing laws and regulations under one umbrella and facilitate its proper implementation.
Afterwards, the Education Ministry had taken an initiative to prepare the combined education law in line with the NEP to bring discipline in the country’s education sector.
However, since 2011, the education law draft has undergone overhauling four-five times but it was withdrawn after receiving negative feedback from the public and Cabinet Division, according to ministry sources.
Since it was completed, the draft has been going back and forth between the ministry and the Cabinet Division. Due to some complications, it is yet to go through the next steps, such as cabinet approval and passage through parliament, to be formally formulated as a law, sources said.
No one concerned can say whether there is any other example of taking such a long time to enact any law in the country.
Basically, the draft law has been stuck as authorities are yet to resolve few matters, like the controversy over keeping open the scope of publishing note, guide or other helpful books and the operation of coaching centres and private tuitions, they said.
Prof Quazi Faruque Ahmed, a member of Education Act Formulation Sub-committee, told The Business Post, “Even though the initiative was taken in 2011, we are yet to pass a comprehensive education act unfortunately. But I hope the law will be passed soon.”
“In the NEP, we had recommended formulating an education law because it is very essential to facilitate implementation of many of the other recommendations made in the policy,” said Faruque, also a member of the committee that developed the 2010 policy.
What the law says
According to the draft act, there is a provision for imposing a ban on printing, publishing and marketing of notebooks and guidebooks. Violation of this will be punishable by a maximum imprisonment of three years or a maximum fine of Tk 5 lakh or both.
It stated that if a teacher force students of their institution to buy such books, action would be taken against them. However, the government will allow the publication of supplementary books and education aid books only after approval from the authorities concerned.
The draft law also stipulated that teachers will not be able to give private tuition to students of their own institutions and sought to ban corporal punishment for schoolchildren and mental torture by teachers.
The NEP suggested formulation of the law as the country’s education system is currently operating through different random laws or gazette notifications issued by the government on different occasions.
At present, the 11 education boards, National Curriculum and Textbook Board, Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education and other related agencies, institutions and organisations operate based on different ordinances but there is no comprehensive act for the whole sector.
It was said in the NEP that all related laws, regulations and orders will be brought together in line with the policy and steps will be taken to introduce the comprehensive act for proper implementation.
Into the void
On January 26, 2011, the ministry had formulated 24 sub-committees, including one to prepare the draft law to implement the 2010 policy.
The law’s first draft was prepared in 2012. After scrutinising, it was published on the ministry’s website on August 5, 2013 for public opinions.
In December 2016, the ministry sent a draft to the Cabinet Division for approval. But the draft met with strong disapproval from the cabinet because it was seen to be giving legitimacy to coaching centres and private tutoring in the name of “shadow education.”
Since then, the ministry reworked the draft and sent it to the Cabinet Division for approval in principal at least four times but it has been returned every time for having some shortcomings.
On January 26 last year, a meeting was held to advance the draft law’s finalisation process. Chaired by Education Minister Dipu Moni, the meeting had formed a new sub-committee led by the ministry’s Additional Secretary Khaleda Aktar.
Afterwards, the draft law was reviewed afresh and further updated by analysing all the laws and regulations related to education. Then it was again sent to Cabinet Division for approval in principle in June last year. But the cabinet returned it again to the ministry recently.
Last week, Dipu Moni said that they were trying their level best to finalise the law and have it passed as soon as possible. “The last time the Cabinet Division sent back the draft, it had passed along some suggestions for updating it. We are will update the draft again and send it to the Cabinet Division in line with those.”
