Farshad Ahmed’s family has spent nearly two decades searching for a school that could accommodate his learning needs.
Now, after repeated rejections, unsuccessful school transfers and years of frustration, they are considering leaving Khulna for Dhaka.
Farshad, in his early twenties, has Down syndrome.
His experience reflects a wider failure of Bangladesh’s education system, where children with intellectual and developmental disabilities continue to face exclusion despite legal protections, government commitments and a national framework for inclusive education.
Government schools often lack trained teachers and appropriate learning support, specialised education remains prohibitively expensive, and even the authorities acknowledge gaps in early identification.
The problem extends beyond classrooms.
Government agencies lack effective coordination, while officials and educators disagree over whether children with special educational needs require a separate curriculum or individualised support within mainstream education.
According to the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) 2025, 5.2% of children aged two to 17 have a functional difficulty in at least one domain.
Yet families say finding suitable education remains a struggle, particularly outside major cities.
A childhood spent searching for a classroom
Farshad’s family first attempted to enrol him at six. Several kindergartens and private schools refused admission.
One school eventually accepted him, but he struggled to adjust. His family changed schools four or five times.
“He could not keep pace with everyone else. Other children did not want to mix with him and drew a kind of boundary,” his sister Nisha told Dhaka Tribune.
Eventually, Farshad became so frustrated that he cried and refused to attend school.
A specialised school offered little improvement. Children with different disabilities and widely varying ages were taught together without adequate individual support.
Home tutoring was another option, but trained educators were difficult to find and expensive.
His mother, Jebunnesa, said the family was considering relocating to Dhaka, where organisations supporting people with Down syndrome could offer better opportunities.
“It is hard to uproot everything, but we are thinking of our child’s future,” she said.
Teachers at a government primary school in Chandpur’s Faridganj upazila described similar difficulties.
They said children with disabilities were expected to follow the same curriculum as their classmates, often without the additional support they needed. Many eventually dropped out.
Millions registered, many still invisible
Department of Social Services figures show 4,046,520 registered persons with disabilities nationwide.
Among them, 209,938 have autism, intellectual disability, cerebral palsy or Down syndrome.
However, activists believe the actual number is substantially higher because many families never complete official registration.
Of 10 families of people with neurodevelopmental disabilities interviewed by Dhaka Tribune, eight had never registered for the government’s Suborno disability identity card.
Shah Mohammad Mahbub, director general of the Department of Social Services, acknowledged that early identification remains a major weakness.
“Early identification is very important, but at the moment we do not have the opportunity or specific tools for it,” he said.
Currently, registration depends on applications supported by medical certificates.
Without effective identification, many children risk missing educational support from an early age.
No agreement on how to teach
The government’s approach to inclusive education has also exposed differences among policymakers.
Md Joynal Abedin, additional director of the Inclusive Education Cell, said there would be no separate curriculum for children with special educational needs.
Instead, the general curriculum would be supported by more inclusive teaching methods.
“Our approach to inclusive pedagogy must change,” he said, warning that without changes in attitudes, inclusion would remain confined to policy documents.
However, State Minister for Health Dr M A Muhit, who also convenes the parliamentary caucus on disability rights, argued that standard textbooks cannot meet every child’s needs.
He advocated individualised education plans (IEPs), allowing teaching to be adapted to each student’s abilities.
Children with mild or moderate disabilities could learn in mainstream classrooms with appropriate support, he said, while those requiring intensive assistance needed specialised education.
Tahmina Parvin, acting head teacher of Ramna School for Intellectual Disabilities and Autism, called for a common national framework covering specialised education.
She also recommended dedicated recruitment of special educators in primary schools.
Although the government published its Special Education Needs and Disability Framework in December 2022 with Unicef support, implementation remains limited.
Fifty-two schools operated by SWID Bangladesh function under the Ministry of Social Welfare rather than the Ministry of Education, illustrating the fragmented administration of specialised education.
Education beyond families’ means
For many parents, financial hardship is as significant as the absence of suitable schools.
Specialised schools in Dhaka typically charge Tk20,000–Tk50,000 in monthly tuition, with admission fees ranging from Tk80,000 to Tk2 lakh.
At Vision Global, parents pay Tk1.65 lakh for admission and Tk40,000 monthly for a child requiring a shadow teacher, compared with less than Tk15,000 in tuition for other students.
Medical expenses add to the burden. The Health and Morbidity Status Survey 2025 found that persons with disabilities spent an average of Tk6,775 on treatment over the preceding 90 days.
For Shiuli Rahman of Azimpur, even transporting her 12-year-old autistic son, Abdur Rahman Shahriar, to an NGO-run school is a struggle.
Her husband died several years ago, and the daily journey costs at least Tk400.
“I cannot take him every day because of money,” she said. “I take him three days a week, when I have money in hand.”
Outside Dhaka, the shortage of specialised facilities makes the situation even more difficult.
Dr Shaoli Sarker, associate professor of neurology at Bangladesh Shishu Hospital and Institute, said its Child Development Centre hears from at least six or seven families daily who cannot find appropriate schools.
Promises yet to reach classrooms
Bangladesh’s disability rights legislation and international commitments recognise inclusive education, but advocates say implementation remains inadequate.
Rasheda K Chowdhury, executive director of the Campaign for Popular Education, said coordination among the education, social welfare, health and women and children affairs ministries was “completely absent”.
State Minister for Primary and Mass Education Bobby Hajjaj acknowledged the importance of early identification, trained teachers, accessible schools and suitable learning materials.
“We are working on it,” he told Dhaka Tribune.
Experts recommend recruiting at least one specially trained teacher in every primary school, preparing individualised learning plans and bringing specialised schools under the Ministry of Education.
There are examples of what sustained support can achieve. Munni Sultana’s autistic son changed schools at least five times but is now a third-year student at Dhaka University.
For families like Farshad’s, however, access to education still depends heavily on where they live, what they can afford and whether a school is willing and equipped to accept their child.
