The State of Secondary Education : Progress and Challenges

Contents: Foreword. Preface. 1. Introduction. 2. Secondary education in perspective. 3. Research design and methodology. 4. Participation in secondary education. 5. Secondary education facilities and learning provisions. 6. Internal efficiency in secondary institutions. 7. Financing secondary education. 8. Management of secondary education institutions. 9. Major findings and policy implications. Bibliography. Annexes.

"Education Watch is a civil society initiative to monitor the primary and basic education status in the country, disseminate findings and promote dialogue in this respect. This is the sixth report of this initiative. The previous reports addressed different aspects of primary education and the state of literacy in Bangladesh. These included internal efficiency, learning achievement of students, literacy level of the population, a probe into inter-connected factors bearing on performance of schools and children at primary level, and socio-economic correlates of primary education and literacy.

The sixth Education Watch report is the first one on the state of secondary education in Bangladesh. It attempts to construct a baseline of basic indicators on how the sub-sector functions, especially in respect of provisions for services and their internal efficiency. In keeping with the objectives and practice of Education Watch studies, the aim also is to contribute to informed dialogue on policy and actions, and to facilitate, for this purpose, civil society participation in the development of education policies and strategies.

The defining theme of Education Watch studies is making education relevant to overarching national objectives of poverty reduction by promoting equitable access to education, equipping young people with knowledge and skills for the competitive market place, and building a democratic polity. With in this framework, the practical questions of reconciling quality with wider and equitable access to secondary education have been given attention. Eleven items have been identified as key considerations in defining policy and programme priorities in the development of secondary education."