The FY27 budget has rightly increased allocations for education and health, recognizing that human capital must be the driving force for any future development.
While we are certainly encouraged to finally see this recognition, Bangladesh’s challenge has never been about announcing bigger numbers. Instead, the challenge now, much as it often has been, is about ensuring those numbers translate into real outcomes.
Too often, we see schools built but left under‑resourced, classrooms overcrowded, and teachers undertrained. The same goes for hospitals and clinics being constructed, or expensive equipment procured but left unfinished or without maintenance or having the right personnel.
Infrastructure without quality is not just hollow but ultimately detrimental. Schools and hospitals expanding in size are irrelevant if they are not truly serving the people.
It is also clear that these failures are not due to a lack of ambition but due to weak implementation, poor oversight, and a culture of measuring success by expenditure rather than impact.
Bangladesh cannot afford to repeat this cycle. Education spending must prioritize quality -- teacher training, curriculum reform, and equitable access across rural and urban areas.
Similarly, health allocations must ensure that facilities are staffed, equipment maintained, and services accessible to all citizens, not just those in major cities.
The FY27 budget offers an opportunity to shift course. Increase in investment in education and health has been a long time coming, but it must be matched by reforms that ensure efficiency, sustainability, and measurable outcomes.
Empty buildings and idle machines do not build a nation. Educated children and healthy citizens do.