Bangladesh : NextGen Secondary Education Program

In the context of the global learning crisis aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government of Bangladesh reaffirmed its commitment to the Sustainable Development Goal 4 at the Transforming Education Summit in September 2022. The commitment is reflected in a government program consisted of medium and longer-term initiatives to transform education.

Project Name

NextGen Secondary Education Program

Project Number

57182-001

Country / Economy

• Bangladesh

Project Status

Proposed

Project Type / Modality of Assistance

• Grant
• Loan

Source of Funding / Amount

Loan: NextGen Secondary Education Program

Source	Amount
Ordinary capital resources	US$ 200.00 million
Concessional ordinary capital resources lending	US$ 100.00 million

Operational Priorities

• OP1: Addressing remaining poverty and reducing inequalities
• OP2: Accelerating progress in gender equality
• OP3: Tackling climate change, building climate and disaster resilience, and enhancing environmental sustainability
• OP5: Promoting rural development and food security
• OP6: Strengthening governance and institutional capacity

Sector / Subsector

• Education / Education sector development - Secondary

Gender

Gender equity theme

Description

In the context of the global learning crisis aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Government of Bangladesh reaffirmed its commitment to the Sustainable Development Goal 4 at the Transforming Education Summit in September 2022. The commitment is reflected in a government program consisted of medium and longer-term initiatives to transform education. These initiatives include the (i) introduction of the new competency-based curriculum which emphasizes student-centered, experiential learning to develop foundational and 21st century skills (National Curriculum Framework 2021); (ii) development of digital platforms, digital literacy and skills for digital transformation (Smart Bangladesh ICT Master Plan 2041); (iii) promotion of blended learning approaches to provide students and teachers with more flexible and personalized learning experiences (National Blended Education Master Plan 2022-2031); (iv) increased support for skills development of students for smooth school-to-work transition (Integrated Technical and Vocational Education and Training Development Action Plan 2020); and (v) development of a highly skilled and well-recognized teaching workforce (Secondary Teacher Development Strategy 2019). ADB's results-based lending (RBL) program will support a time slice of the broader government program and its implementation, with a special attention to lagging areas and groups in the initial stages.

The impacts of the program will be universal secondary education of quality up to grade 12 achieved; and all youth equipped with foundational and 21st century skills as well as skills required for employment (Perspective Plan 2041). The expected outcome of the program will be students, especially in lagging areas, completing quality secondary education increased. The program will have four outputs: (i) more teaching-learning environments conducive to student-centered, experiential learning created; (ii) quality student-centered, experiential learning activities in and outside classroom increased; (iii) teacher and school leader professional development system enhanced; and (iv) capacity for supervision, guidance, and support regarding teaching, learning, and school management strengthened.

Project Rationale and Linkage to Country/Regional Strategy

The Government of Bangladesh's Perspective Plan 2041 (PP2041) emphasizes the importance of developing a skilled labor force and increasing productive employment to eliminate extreme poverty and reach the upper middle-income country status by 2031 and the high-income country status by 2041. Forming part of the PP2041, the government's priority for human development is to make sure that all children receive 12 years of education by 2031, with special emphasis on children in hard-to-reach areas, urban slums, and from poor families in rural areas. Bangladesh has nearly achieved universal primary education (grades 1-5) with a 97.8% (98.3% for girls) net enrollment rate (NER) in 2020. Yet universal access to and completion of secondary education remains a challenge.

The secondary education system in Bangladesh comprises two levels (secondary education: grades 6-10 and higher secondary education: grades 11-12) and three streams (general, madrasah, and technical and vocational education). It caters to nearly 16 million students with more than 44,300 schools and about 578,000 teachers. Over 94% of schools at secondary and higher secondary levels are non-government (including non-profit and for-profit institutions) and most receive subsidies for teacher salaries and infrastructure upgrading from the government. During the last decade, access to secondary education has improved significantly. Between 2010 and 2020, NER increased from 49.5% to 71.9% for grades 6-10, and from 19.2% to 36.4% for grades 11-12. The completion rate also rose from 44.7% to 64.3% for grades 6-10 and 62.6% to 78.8% for grades 11-12, with a reduction in the dropout rate (from 55.3% to 35.8% for grades 6-10 and from 37.4% to 21.2% for grades 11-12). Yet even before the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, the progress in enrollment and completion had been slowing, suggesting that more attention should have been given to disparities, especially hard-to-reach groups and areas, as well as complex underlying issues affecting quality teaching and learning. Despite the provision in the National Education Policy 2010 for ensuring uniformity of the three streams through compulsory subjects (Bangla, English, mathematics, history and social sciences, digital technology), student learning outcomes vary among the three streams. The school closure during the pandemic has wiped out a few years of gains and has widened the pre-existing disparities across areas (rural and urban areas; climate risk and disaster-prone and plain land areas), between streams (general and madrasah education), and among socioeconomic groups (the poor and non-poor, small ethnic communities).

In addition to the unfinished agenda of universal access to and completion of secondary education, a fundamental problem with secondary education in Bangladesh is that there is little evidence of improvement in the quality of student learning. Currently, many students do not engage with quality learning in and outside classroom. The government's initiatives to transform education intend to address this fundamental problem. However, implementation faces significant challenges due to complex underlying issues, including (i) inadequate physical infrastructure and facilities of schools, especially overcrowded classrooms with inadequate furniture, lighting, and ventilation, frequently interrupted electricity supply, and poor digital infrastructure; (ii) insufficient support for students from poor and disadvantaged backgrounds and those affected by climate-induced and other hazards who often miss classes and are at high risk of dropping out; (iii) misalignment of current teachers' specialization, teaching-learning processes, approaches, materials, tools and equipment with the new curriculum; (iv) absence of professional development system for teachers and school leaders, compounded by outdated curriculum, teaching-learning approaches, and facilities at teacher education and training institutions; and (v) insufficient supervision, guidance, and support for teachers and schools constrained by limited resources for both local education administration and schools. Moreover, Bangladesh's unique geographical features and socioeconomic conditions expose many schools to natural hazards which frequently destroy and damage education infrastructure and facilities, disrupt teaching-learning activities, affect health and well-being of students and teachers, displace and force students, especially from poor and disadvantaged backgrounds, to dropout.

The proposed RBL program will assist the government in addressing the complex underlying issues and implementing the broader government program by promoting a phased, targeted, and system approach that will improve accountability, institutional capacity, and performance.

Impact

Universal secondary education of quality up to grade 12 achieved

All youth equipped with foundational and 21st century skills as well as skills required for employment

Outcome

Students, especially in lagging areas, completing quality secondary education increased

Outputs

More teaching-learning environments conducive to student-centered, experiential learning created.

Geographical Location

Nation-wide

Safeguard Categories

Environment

B

Involuntary Resettlement

C

Indigenous Peoples

B

Summary of Environmental and Social Aspects

Environmental Aspects

The program will support the extension and upgrading of infrastructure and facilities of selected schools and government training institutions under outputs 1 and 3. The potential impacts of civil works are minor, temporary, site specific, and mitigation measures are readily available. A program safeguards system assessment will be conducted by staff with the support of TA consultants to understand and analyze the program's likely positive and negative impacts and the adequacy of the program environment safeguard systems to manage potential environmental risks. An environmental assessment and review framework will be prepared to minimize the impacts during construction works.

Involuntary Resettlement

The program does not anticipate any involuntary resettlement impacts or land acquisition. All sites proposed for civil works will be screened and those with involuntary resettlement impacts or requiring land acquisition will be excluded from the RBL program. The program safeguards system assessment will cover the involuntary resettlement safeguards systems and capacity of the implementing agencies to screen sites and manage involuntary resettlement.

Indigenous Peoples

The program is expected to have positive impacts on the ethnic communities. The program will prioritize lagging areas such as disadvantaged communities and areas vulnerable to climate-induced and other hazards in the initial stages. The ethnic communities in the three hill districts of Chattogram (Rangamati, Khagrachari, and Bandarban) lag in secondary education performance due to various reasons including their remoteness and climate vulnerability. The program safeguards system assessment will cover policies and programs for the ethnic communities and the capacity of the implementing agencies to address underlying issues affecting secondary education performance of the ethnic communities.

Stakeholder Communication, Participation, and Consultation

During Project Design

Consultations on challenges and issues to be addressed in secondary education and the scope of the program were undertaken through (i) field visits and discussion forums with students, teachers, leaders, management committee members of 21 secondary and madrasah education institutions, four government teachers' training institutions, and local education administration offices in Rajshahi, Chattogram, and Sylhet (May and June 2023); (ii) national consultation workshop in Dhaka (August 2023); and (iii) national climate smart secondary education workshop in Dhaka (August 2023). Over 80 national and local education administration officials, government teacher training institutions, as well as officials from ministries and agencies responsible for planning, finance, environment, disaster management, and academia participated in the national workshops.

During Project Implementation

During implementation, a wider range of stakeholders will be consulted and potentially be involved, including civil society organizations, local communities, industry and employers whose roles are envisaged in the implementation of the new competency-based curriculum.

Contact

Responsible ADB Officer

Maruyama, Asako

Responsible ADB Department

Sectors Group

Responsible ADB Division

Human and Social Development Sector Office (SG-HSD)

Executing Agencies

Ministry of Education

Timetable

Concept Clearance

17 Dec 2023

Fact Finding

28 Mar 2024 to 28 Mar 2024

MRM

-

Approval

-

Last Review Mission

-

Last PDS Update

15 Jan 2024

Funding