Bangladesh

By Paul Bacsich and Nikki Cortoos

For entities in Bangladesh see Category:Bangladesh

Partners situated in Bangladesh

None.

Bangladesh in a nutshell

Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma (Myanmar) to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south. Together with the Indian state of West Bengal, it makes up the ethno-linguistic region of Bengal. The name Bangladesh means "Country of Bengal" in the official Bengali language.

The borders of present-day Bangladesh were established with the partition of Bengal and India in 1947, when the region became the eastern wing of the newly-formed Pakistan. However, it was separated from the western wing by 1,600 kilometres (1,000 mi) across India. Political and linguistic discrimination as well as economic neglect led to popular agitations against West Pakistan, which led to the war for independence in 1971 and the establishment of Bangladesh. After independence the new state endured famines, natural disasters and widespread poverty, as well as political turmoil and military coups. The restoration of democracy in 1991 has been followed by relative stability and economic progress.

The population of Bangladesh is over 153 million.

Bangladesh is the seventh most populous country in the world and is among the most densely populated countries in the world with a high poverty rate. However, per-capita (inflation-adjusted) GDP has more than doubled since 1975, and the poverty rate has fallen by 20% since the early 1990s. The country is listed among the "Next Eleven" economies. Dhaka and other urban centers have been the driving force behind this growth.

Bangladesh is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, SAARC, BIMSTEC, the OIC, and the D-8.

Bangladesh education policy

The management of the education system falls under two ministries - the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education (MoPME, responsible for primary education and mass literacy) and the Ministry of Education (Bangladesh) (MoE, responsible for secondary, vocational and tertiary education). Overall there are more than 17 million students at the primary level, and over 8.0 million at the secondary level. Enrolments at the tertiary level are relatively small but growing very rapidly.

The ministry that is responsible for (higher) education is the Ministry of Education, of which we can read on its web site the "Policies and Guidelines of Ministry of Education": http://www.moedu.gov.bd/edu_system__edu_policy.htm

For Madrasah education there is the Bangladesh Madrasah Education Board (BMEB).

Higher education

Universities in Bangladesh

A full list of the universities in Bangladesh can be found on Wikipedia, but here are the HEIs you can on this wiki:

1. Bangladesh Open University
2. People's University of Bangladesh
3. Southeast University
4. Stamford University Bangladesh

Administration and finance

The MoE web site lists several pages about budgetting: http://www.moedu.gov.bd/edu_budget.php

To ensure appropriate financial controls, MoE is implementing a Financial Management Reform Program (FMRP). This is intended to increase accountability and transparency in the use of resources.

Source: http://www.moedu.gov.bd/edu_system__edu_policy.htm

Virtual Campuses in HE

Interesting Virtual Campus Initiatives

Bangladesh OU

Bangladesh Open University (BOU), the only distance learning university in Bangladesh, was established on October 21, 1992 by an Act of Parliament. The Government of Bangladesh and the Asian Development Bank have provided funds for setting up of the University.

The web site is http://www.bou.edu.bd/ - but seems very slow to access.

Re.ViCa Case-study

None.

References

---

> Countries
>> Main Page

---

For OER policies and projects in Bangladesh see Bangladesh/OER

---