CAMPE demands at least 15% of national budget allocation for education sector

The Campaign for Popular Education (CAMPE), a non-governmental organisation working on education, has demanded that 15 percent of the total national budget for the fiscal year 2025-26, and 3 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), be allocated to the education sector at a minimum.

It has also called on the interim government to develop a roadmap to allocate 20 percent of the total budget to education by 2030.

In addition, the group has recommended increasing the monthly stipend for primary school students from Tk 150 to Tk 500 and for secondary students from TK 200–300 to Tk 700–1000.

The CAMPE presented these proposals at a pre-budget press conference at the SIRDAP auditorium in Dhaka on Monday morning.

Rasheda K Choudhury, executive director of CAMPE and member secretary of Education Watch, said, “Education is often merged with ministries like science and technology or others. Last time, the education budget was included with the cost of the Bangabandhu Satellite and the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant.

“This results in the education’s budget being overlooked. Education should be considered as a standalone sector, just like other sectors.”

In response to a question, she said: "We are asking for 3 percent of the total GDP to be allocated to education as a single sector. It should not be combined with projects like Rooppur or the Bangabandhu Satellite. Education is a part of the social sector."

Mostafizur Rahman, the focal point of Education Watch, presented the CAMPE’s recommendations at the briefing.

He provided information showing that in FY 2023-24, 11.57 percent of the total budget, or 1.76 percent of GDP, was allocated to education.

For FY 2024-25, the education allocation was 11.88 percent of the total budget, or 1.69 percent of GDP.

The CAMPE recommended increasing salaries and benefits for teachers to encourage competent graduates to join the profession, as well as setting up training programmes.

It also called for the formation of a commission for teacher recruitment based on merit.

The organisation suggested upgrading free primary education to the eighth grade and introducing pre-vocational education.

It further recommended developing a decentralised education system and increasing budget allocations for its implementation.

The CAMPE also highlighted the need to arrange scholarships and mental health counselling for students injured in the July Uprising.

It suggested providing mid-day meals for all primary students and allocating a special budget for programmes to prevent dropouts.

Other suggestions included increasing budget allocations for inclusive global-standard education, training for managing committees and parent representatives, expanding digital facilities, and removing tariffs on foreign educational books.

Manzoor Ahmed, emeritus professor of BRAC University, who was also present at the briefing, said: “The core characteristic and feature of our education system is extreme inequality and disparity.

“There is a discriminatory education system with three streams: general Bengali medium, madrasa education, and English medium.”

He added, "There have been talks of different reform commissions, but no commission has been formed for education reform.

“I see no progress regarding the inequality in education and its change. I also see no initiative from the government. The situation remains the same as before."

“We had made practical recommendations for primary education. While some steps are being taken, they seem fragmented," he concluded.

The Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Research Director Khondaker Golam Moazzem commented that civil society and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) would be the most affected after Bangladesh's graduation from least developed country (LDC) status.

He said while 232 NGOs were working in the education sector earlier, the number has now dropped to 132.

Moazzem added that by November 2026, when Bangladesh graduates from LDC status, the number would fall to 100.

The CPD official said, “This will create a massive crisis for local-level NGOs. The government’s structure cannot deliver education to grassroots levels as effectively as NGOs have been doing.”

He also called for the allocation of Tk 30 billion for NGOs in the upcoming budget to ensure that they can continue their social activities, particularly education-related programmes.