Human resource development is at the core of Bangladesh 's development efforts and access to quality education is critical to poverty reduction and economic development. The Government is committed to undertake structural reforms that are expected to bring significant improvements in the education sector. Bangladesh 's commitment to education has been clearly stated in its Constitution and development plans with education being given the highest priority in the public sector investments. Education sector allocations are currently about 2.3 percent of GDP and 14 percent of total government expenditure. Maintaining this commitment to the education sector is imperative in order to achieve Education for All (EFA) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

The management of the education system falls under two ministries - the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education (MoPME, responsible for primary education) and the Ministry of Education (MoE, responsible for secondary, vocational and tertiary education). Overall there are more than 17 million students at the primary level, and over 5.6 million at the secondary level. Enrolments at the tertiary level are relatively small but growing rapidly.

Bangladesh has made significant progress, especially in regard to increasing access and gender equity, both at the primary and secondary levels. Gross primary enrollment rates rose from 90 percent in the late 1990s to 98 percent in 2003, while a corresponding increase has seen enrollment rates at the secondary level rise to 44 percent. Gender parity in access to primary and secondary education has also been achieved. These achievements are particularly impressive when compared to countries in the South Asia region and other countries at similar levels of per-capita income.

The Government is strongly committed to alleviate the existing problems in respect of management and quality through reforms across the education system. At the primary level, MoPME is supported by a multi-donor group through the Primary Education Development Program II (PEDP II) - a six-year program of support which aims to strengthen educational access, quality and efficiency.

In order to address issues at the secondary and higher levels, MoE has developed a medium-term framework for the secondary education sub-sector, focusing on quality improvements, policy measures and specific actions needed to reform the system. The development of this medium-term framework has benefited from an extensive range of consultations and workshops with stakeholders at the central, district, and upazila levels. The main objective of reforms being proposed is to address systemic governance issues aimed at raising the quality and cost-effectiveness of service delivery, and improve equity of access in secondary education.

MoE is aiming to move towards a devolved system of governance within the current administrative structure. In this system the central government will be responsible for formulating policies, financing, setting quality standards, and monitoring and evaluation etc., while lower levels of government will be responsible for administering the system. MoE is empowering officials at the district and upazilla levels to take greater responsibility in monitoring school performance and ensure public disclosure of information (e.g., SSC passing rates, teacher absenteeism, class sizes, etc.) related to school quality.