Primary education faces five systemic challenges: Bobby Hajjaj

State Minister for Primary and Mass Education Bobby Hajjaj on Monday identified five major challenges in primary education: heavy monitoring workloads, excessive reporting, unreliable enrolment data, weak school leadership, and unsafe infrastructure.
He presented the findings from stakeholder meetings held nationwide from 26 July to 10 September at a national dialogue at Sheraton Dhaka, organised by the ministry, the Directorate of Primary Education and UNICEF Bangladesh.
The findings showed 58.2% of field officers supervise more than 50 schools, while 86.3% can visit a maximum of 10 schools a month. Some 84.3% prioritised eliminating duplicate and repetitive reports to reduce workloads.
49.2% of respondents identified weak headteacher leadership as the primary reason for late class starts. Meanwhile, 59.2% ranked unsafe school buildings as the most urgent concern, and 69.7% reported major structural risks, including cracks, exposed reinforcement rods and sagging ceilings.
The findings called for stronger monitoring, simpler reporting, verified education data, better school leadership and safer learning environments.
Bobby Hajjaj said the government was developing an integrated teacher policy covering recruitment, pre-service training, posting, professional development and evaluation.
He stressed that teachers should not teach without proper training, calling for stronger subject-specific skills, regular professional development, separate teacher and school evaluations, and more effective upazila-level teacher training centres.