A World Bank report published this year says Bangladesh’s primary education system remains fragile despite its large scale and progress in access and gender equality. The report found that 51 percent of 10-year-old children cannot read and understand age-appropriate basic Bangla and English texts, while also failing to attain grade-appropriate mathematics skills. Bangladesh has 20,183,048 students from pre-primary through grade five.

The report cited weak teaching, gaps in school leadership, inadequate infrastructure, climate-related disruptions and low funding as key factors behind learning deficits. Annual Primary School Statistics 2024 recorded more than 20 million children in 118,607 institutions, including 10,617,962 pupils in 65,567 government schools. Of 65,553 head-teacher posts, 27,734 are vacant, with assistant teachers serving in acting roles.

Teacher association leader Khairun Nahar Lipi disputed the report’s broad portrayal, saying primary education has improved despite challenges. The government has started recruitment for 32,000 head teachers. A proposed World Bank-financed PEDP-5 project worth Tk 417.61 billion awaits approval, covering teacher training, classrooms, WASH blocks and other targets.