The government has proposed a 7.42% raise in allocation in the education sector in the budget for fiscal 2024-25 compared to the allocation in the outgoing year.

The education allocation in the upcoming fiscal will be Tk94,710 crore, which was Tk88,162 crore in FY24.

The allocation is 11.88% of the total budget and 1.69% of the GDP (Gross Domestic Product).

Finance Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali placed a Tk7,96,900 crore proposed budget for FY25 at the national parliament Thursday.

However, despite a rise in year-on-year allocation, the education budget has declined in terms of its representation to the GDP.

The education budget allocation in the new fiscal year will be 1.69% of the country’s GDP, which was 1.76% in FY24.

The education budget allocation was 1.76% in fiscal year 2022-23, which was 2.08% in the year before.

The UNESCO has long been recommending the Bangladesh government to raise annual education budget allocation to 6% of the country’s total GDP.

When contacted, Co-chairman of National Education Policy Formulation Committee Kazi Khaliquzzaman Ahmad told the Daily Sun, “It is not possible to raise the education budget allocation to 6% of GDP, but we had recommended keeping it between 4% and 4.5%. Unfortunately, our recommendation was not implemented; rather the representation has gradually been dropping.”

In his budget speech, the finance minister earmarked Tk44,108 crore for the secondary and higher education division and Tk11,783 crore for technical and madrasa education division.

He also set aside Tk38,819 crore for primary and mass education ministry.