THE education sector continues to remain neglected in the percentage of both the total budget outlay and the gross domestic product although the allocation has begun to increase in recent years in terms of amount. A paper on the education budget that Campaign for Popular Education presented at a press conference in Dhaka on March 24, says that the allocation for education was 11.88 per cent of the total budget outlay in the 2025 financial year, 11.57 per cent in the 2024 financial year, 12.01 per cent in 2023, 11.58 per cent in 2022, 11.69 per cent in 2021, 11.68 per cent in 2020, 11.41 per cent in 2019, 12.59 per cent in 2018 and 14.38 per cent in 2017. The budget for education in percentage of the gross domestic product was 1.69 in the 2025 financial year, 1.76 in 2024, 1.83 per cent in 2023, 2.01 in 2022, 2.09 in 2021, 2.11 in 2020, 2.09 in 2019, 2.26 in 2018 and 2.49 in 2017. In the 2974 financial year, the allocation was, however, 20.4 per cent of the total budget and it started declining after the mid-1970s.
A 2022 UNESCO report says that the average education expenditure in Bangladesh is the fifth lowest in percentage of the gross domestic product among 41 least developed countries. Bangladesh set to graduate to become a developing country in November 2026 would, however, require increased spending on education. Educationalists, researchers and education rights activists have, therefore, put out a call for an increase in the budget, a minimum of 15 per cent of the outlay and 3 per cent of the gross domestic product, in the forthcoming budget. They seek the increase in the education budget for teacher training, increased salary and benefits for teachers, an increased amount of stipend, expansion of mid-day meals for students, a budgetary provision to stop students from dropping out and the levying of an education cess, at least for the time being. They also say that the government should work out a road map for the education budget to gradually increase to 20 per cent of the outlay by 2030 to improve the quality of education. The allocation now hovers around a mere 2 per cent of the gross domestic product while the government, keeping to the Dakar Framework for Action of 2000, was committed to increasing the education allocation by at least 9 per cent of the gross domestic product.
Whilst the government should increase the education budget 鈥� the United Nations says that it should be at least 4 per cent of the gross domestic product 鈥� it should also increase efficiency in budget spending.
