The educational system in Bangladesh is three-tiered and highly subsidized. Bangladesh Govt. operates primary, secondary & higher secondary, and tertiary level education system. In the tertiary system (e.g. College and University), the infrastructure is insufficient which eventually can’t accommodate higher education at maximum coverage and hampers the growth of the economy. To solve this problem, E-Learning model is proposed. One prototype solution, eVarsity, is illustrated in this work.

1. E D U C A T I O N S E C T O R I N B A N G L A D E S H
A P R O P O S A L F O R D E V E L O P I N G A S U S T A I N A B L E
D E V E L O P M E N T F R A M E W O R K

2. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
• The educational system in Bangladesh is three-tiered and highly subsidized.
Bangladesh Govt. operates primary, secondary & higher secondary, and tertiary level
education system. In the tertiary system (e.g. College and University), the infrastructure
is insufficient which eventually can’t accommodate higher education at maximum
coverage and hampers the growth of the economy. To solve this problem, E-Learning
model is proposed. One prototype solution, eVarsity, is illustrated in this work.

3. PART 1O V E R V I E W

4. INTRODUCTION
• Development is sustainable if it meets
the need of the present without
compromising the ability of the future
generations to meet their own needs.
Three major objectives are achieved
through sustainable development:
Social, Economic and Environmental.

5. INTRODUCTION (Cont…)
• Keeping the SGDs in mind, in this work, I will discuss about the 4th Goal (Quality
Education) of the SDGs in terms of Bangladesh Perspective. This work will discuss
about the education sector of Bangladesh and the offer a solution, which is
sustainable, efficient and innovative from Bangladesh Perspective.

6. OBJECTIVES & STRUCTURE
This work will cover the following objectives
• Illustrate the scenario of the Education
Sector of Bangladesh
• Pinpoint a specific problem of the
education sector of Bangladesh
• Offer a sustainable solution.
This work is exploratory type with
secondary data usage. General people
and any other interested group are the
target audience of this work.

7. PART 2E D U C A T I O N S Y S T E M I N B A N G L A D E S H

8. SCENARIO
• The educational system in Bangladesh
is three-tiered and highly subsidized.
The government of Bangladesh
operates many schools in the primary,
secondary, and higher secondary
levels. It also subsidizes parts of the
funding for many private schools. In
the tertiary education sector, the
government also funds more than 15
state universities through the
University Grants Commission.
Tertiary
Secondary & Higher
Secondary
Primary

9. SCENARIO
• Bangladesh conforms fully to the Education For All (EFA) objectives, the Millennium
Development Goals (MDG) and international declarations. Article 17 of the Bangladesh
Constitution provides that all children between the ages of six and eighteen years
receive secondary education free of charge.
• Bangladesh has 78.56% literacy rate. There is a total of 33,907,151 enrolled students of
which Primary students are 19,550,000, Secondary students are 10,400,000, and Post
secondary students are 1277,151.
• Adult and Youth Literacy, 1990-2015: Analysis of data for 41 selected countries
UIS/2012/LIT/TD/0" (PDF). UNESCO Institute for Statistics. 2012. ISBN 978-92-9189-
117-7.
Adult and Youth Literacy, 1990-2015: Analysis of data for 41 selected countries UIS/2012/LIT/TD/0" (PDF). UNESCO Institute for
Statistics. 2012. ISBN 978-92-9189-117-7.

10. THE PROBLEM
Table 1: Education Index of Bangladesh
Total Primary Level Institutions (nos.) 104017 Private Dental College (Nos.) 18
Secondary Schools (Nos.) 19208 Public University (Nos.) 34
Madrasha (Nos.) 9441 Private University (Nos.) 60
College General (Nos.) 3547 Student & Teacher Ratio
Govt. Medical College (Nos.) 22 Primary (Public) 1:50
Private Medical College (Nos.) 53 Secondary (Public) 1:34
Govt. Dental College (Nos.) 9 College (Public) 1:100
University (Public) 1:19
Statistical Pocket Book Bangladesh 2013, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, Statistics and Information Division, Ministry
of Planning.
Before defining the problem some important statistics are needed to illustrate. Here these are

11. THE PROBLEM
As discussed previously, the number of students, from primary to post-secondary level, is drastically
decreasing. The illustration is as below:
Category 1
Primary 19,550,000
Secondary 10,400,000
Post-secondary 1,277,151
0
5,000,000
10,000,000
15,000,000
20,000,000
25,000,000
StudentNumber
Student Enrollment Aross Primary to Post-secondary Level

12. THE PROBLEM
Analyzing the Table 1 it is found the ratio of the teacher and student in the college level
(post-secondary) is very high (1:100). To find out the reason, in the Table 1, it is found
the number of college and university (in the post-secondary level) is quite low. Analyzing
the above ground, it may be inferred - Since enough infrastructure is not available, the
number of post-secondary students is remains low.
So, let us think about an infrastructural solution, which will deliver post-secondary
education in Bangladesh with high coverage.

13. PART 3S O L U T I O N

14. THE SOLUTION
The solution is – E-Learning.
E-Learning is learning utilizing electronic
technologies to access educational
curriculum outside of a traditional
classroom. In most cases, it refers to a
course, program or degree delivered
completely online.

15. FEASIBILITY AND PROSPECT
To develop e learning system, internet penetration is very important. According to GSMA
Intelligence report, Bangladesh has 100% 2G internet penetration and 23% 3G internet
penetration. This growth is increasing rapidly. The number of smartphone user is also
increasing. Bangladesh Govt. has special ICT Policy, which emphasize the IT infrastructure
development. The growth is tremendous. Therefore, it is viable in Bangladesh.
• https://gsmaintelligence.com/research/2013/07/bangladesh-asias-untapped-mobile-broadband-
opportunity/394/
• http://www.btrc.gov.bd/ict-policy

16. GLOBAL & BANGLADESHI SCENARIO
In the developed countries, E-Learning is very popular. Most of these services are
offering education free of cost, which is playing a vital role for the development.
Initiatives like – Coursera, e-Institute by World Bank, Udemy are some renowned global
names. In Bangladesh, several basic initiatives are taken. One of the renowned initiative is
– Dhaka University E-Library. Though the initiative is a bit slow here, because the concept
is new. But hopefully some giant initiatives will be taken very soon.
http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2015/aug/11/asias-largest-e-library-opens-dhaka-university

17. A PROTOTYPE PROJECT IN
BANGLADESH
At this point it is my pleasure to introduce eVarsity, a small scale E-Learning platform, to
you. In 2013 it was co-founded by me, Mr. Koushik Prashad Pathak and my student Mr.
Sajal Kanti Ghosh). The details about eVarsity is given in the next part.

18. PART 4e V A R S I T Y

19. ABOUT eVARSITY
eVarsity is a voluntary Bangladeshi initiative to provide education over online for free.
Here we offer several amazing courses which will help to enrich a student’s knowledge
even more!
All of these courses are conducted by renowned university teachers, several professionals
from different organizations and some meritorious university students. Here we provide-
lectures, lecture notes, slides, videos, audios and other necessary materials. In addition to
these, we also take online exams of the enrolled students to assess their learning after
delivering the lesson. A certificate will also be given to the students upon the course
completion.

20. ABOUT eVARSITY
Our Mission: We want to make this world prosperous by providing free education.
Our Value Proposition: We provide education for free.
To know more please visit www.evarsity.wordpress.com

21. eVARSITY MODEL
eVarsity is an internet based education service system. Like any traditional brick and
mortar education institution system, eVarsity also provides full length academic courses.
The lessons are provided here over online including book, lecture note, lecture slide,
lecture audio and video file. After delivering the lesson, exam is also taken over online
including student assignments and home works. The system is internet based which
enables the students learn from distant places. The total service delivery system is
illustrated in the next slide.

22. eVARSITY MODEL

23. HOW eVARSITY IS MORE EFFECTIVE
THAN TRADITIONAL SYSTEM
The eVarsity model suppresses the benefits of traditional brick and mortar education
system in several ways. In addition to that, the eVarsity model has several unique
features what traditional brick and mortar model lacks. These are illustrated now:

24. HOW eVARSITY IS MORE EFFECTIVE
THAN TRADITIONAL SYSTEM

25. PART 5P R O J E C T V I A B I L I T Y A N D C O N C L U S I O N

26. OBSTACLES
The main obstacles to implement this model are:
• Efficient Leadership: First obstacle in this model is to take the leadership. Someone has
to initiate the process. Someone, with proper assistance, is needed to take the
initiative. It may be Govt. initiative, or it may be Private Initiative or it may be PPP
(Private Public Partnership).
• Degree of Perceived Newness: This concept is quite new in Bangladesh. Except some
highly educated people, E-Learning model is not familiar to mass people. So, it will
take a bit time to be used to this method.
• IT Infrastructure: Bangladesh needs to invest in developing the infrastructure for this
model. Internet speed and smart phone density will be needed to improve even more
to ensure the maximum coverage.

27. BENEFITS
The benefits of this model are huge. With minimum investment, it will derive the highest
benefits, which have already been discussed.

28. CONCLUSION
Bangladesh Govt. is doing extremely good over the last several years. The vision 2020 of
Bangladesh is of great impact. The present govt. is highly emphasizing on ICT by
developing ICT Policy. The education sector is also being improvised and modernized.
Govt. have made the education free up to secondary level, earlier which was only limited
to primary level. With the limited resources, Bangladesh Govt. is trying hard to ensure
higher education. In this regard, it is suggested to adopt digital technology to deliver
better service and ensure maximum coverage. E-Learning will be the next giant and high
impact initiative to modernize the education system which will be cost efficient,
sustainable and effective.

29. K OUS HI K P R A S HAD
P A T HAK