The World Bank’s support to improve the quality of primary education and address learning gaps among children in Bangladesh is certainly positive news.
Aimed at improving learning outcomes, upgrading classrooms, providing essential learning materials, and strengthening school management for over 26 million children from pre-primary to Grade 5, we must be thankful that steps are being taken to improve the quality of a system where World Bank data show that around 50% of 10-year-old children in the country cannot read and understand a simple text appropriate for their age and grade level.
With that said, the approval of the $300 million financing package, while undeniably being a critical injection of resources into our foundational schooling system, must be recognized for what it is.
Every time international loans are secured for public development, a familiar shadow looms over the country: The deep-seated fear of administrative waste, corruption, bureaucratic leakage, and poor execution.
For decades, foreign-funded projects, regardless of the sector they are in, have too often been characterized by inflated costs and delayed rollouts that fail to bring about meaningful transformation.
Pouring hundreds of millions of dollars without ironclad execution safeguards is an unacceptable gamble. As such, the authorities concerned must recognize that this funding carries a heavy moral and economic obligation.
Every single taka must be channeled directly into measurable pedagogical improvements. There is no room for procurement corruption or administrative foot-dragging.
Foreign loans must build the nation’s future, not line the pockets of the influential and powerful, or disappear into bureaucratic black holes. If we are going to borrow to educate our children, we must ensure the investment delivers a measurable return -- transforming public primary education from a broken system into one that adds to our prosperity.
