The new Bangladesh needs a new education system

March 14, 2025

DHAKA – Focusing on education is essential to changing the trajectory of a nation, because, at the end of the day, a nation is built by its people—and those people are shaped by education.

Education is like a passport to the future for any nation. If we look at all the world’s superpowers and ask why they became superpowers, yes, the economy plays a role, but education is just as important. The highest-ranking universities are in the most developed countries—whether in the UK, the US, Canada, or the Scandinavian nations. Education reflects a nation’s prosperity because a sound and educated population produces ideas and innovations that drive the economy forward.

It’s important to identify what worked in the past and what is needed for the future. Whether in Bangladesh or elsewhere, one of the best aspects of past education was its focus on morality, ethics, and character-building. These values were always a part of learning. The teachers also used to live morally and thus led by example. In society, they were treated respectfully for their wisdom and were consulted on many issues. Some villages in Bangladesh still have that.

In Korea, the suburbs of the UK, the US, and Australia, basic manners are still taught—not to litter, how to behave at home, how to take care of animals, to have compassion, to be respectful, and even how to hold a fork and knife properly.

We also lack pedagogy- or andragogy-based teaching, meaning that teachers aren’t able to transfer the knowledge they have in their respective fields to the students. This is because, even though they acquire education and degrees in certain subjects, they never really learn how to teach.

In Bangladesh, we are no longer doing that. There was a time when