Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The journey towards inclusive education in Bangladesh: Lessons learned

  • Open File
  • Published:
PROSPECTS Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Several international declarations, signed over the last few decades, are helping to promote Education for All, by eliminating inequalities in both society and education systems. This article, a descriptive review of policy documents and reform initiatives, reports on ways the Government of Bangladesh has responded to these international declarations. The review focuses on issues that promote the inclusion of diverse learners in mainstream primary and secondary schools. The most recent policy in Bangladesh, the National Education Policy 2010, also attempted to address inclusive education. Two major reform initiatives endorsed inclusion: the Second Primary Education Development Program and the Teaching Quality Improvement project. To some extent, these projects brought the philosophy and implementation strategies of inclusion into the country’s existing education system. Other initiatives are promoting collaborations between state and private agencies. Lessons from these policies and initiatives should help other developing countries achieve the goals of Education for All through inclusive education.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Acharya, S. (2007). Social inclusion: Gender and equity in education SWAPs in South Asia, Nepal case study. Kathmandu: UNICEF.

    Google Scholar 

  • ADB [Asian Development Bank] (2008). People’s Republic of Bangladesh: Preparing the primary education sector development program. Dhaka: ADB.

    Google Scholar 

  • ADB [Asian Development Bank] (2010). Country gender assessment: Bangladesh. Manila: ADB.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ahsan, M. T. (2006). Inclusive education acts and policies in some selected countries including Bangladesh: A review. Bangladesh Education Journal, 5(1), 53–68.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ahsan, M. T., & Burnip, L. (2007). Inclusive education in Bangladesh. Australasian Journal of Special Education, 31(1), 61–71.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ahsan, M. T., Sharma, U., & Deppeler, J. (2011). Beliefs of pre-service teacher education institutional heads about inclusive education in Bangladesh. Bangladesh Education Journal, 10(1), 9–29.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ahsan, M. T., Sharma, U., & Deppeler, J. (2012). Challenges to prepare pre-service teachers for inclusive education in Bangladesh: Beliefs of higher educational institutional heads. Asia Pacific Journal of Education (APJE), 32(2), 241–257.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ainscow, M. (1997). Towards inclusive schooling. British Journal of Special Education, 24(1), 3–6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ainscow, M., & Miles, S. (2008). Making education for all inclusive: Where next? Prospects, 38(1), 15–34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Angelides, P., Stylianou, T., & Gibbs, P. (2006). Preparing teachers for inclusive education in Cyprus. Teaching and Teacher Education, 22, 513–522.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Asadullah, M. N., & Chaudhury, N. (2006). Conditional cash transfer and educational gender gaps: Insights from Bangladeshi households. Reading: Department of Economics, University of Reading.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bell, L. A. (2007). Theoretical foundations for social justice education. In M. Adams, L. A. Bell, & P. Griffin (Eds.), Teaching for diversity and social justice (pp. 3–15). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chowdhury, J., Chowdhury, D., Hoque, M. S., Ahmad, S., & Sultana, T. (2009). Participatory evaluation: Causes of primary school drop-out. Dhaka: Directorate of Primary Education.

    Google Scholar 

  • Das, J., Do, Q., & Özler, B. (2004). Conditional cash transfer and the equity–efficiency debate. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 3280. Washington, DC: World Bank. http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=610325.

  • Dean, D. (2007). Training of trainers for inclusive education: Changing the perception of participants. Dhaka: TQI-SEP.

    Google Scholar 

  • DPE [Directorate of Primary Education] (2006a). Baseline report of second primary education development program (PEDP II). Dhaka: DPE. http://www.dpe.gov.bd/pdf/B_Survey_2005.pdf.

  • DPE [Directorate of Primary Education] (2006b). Innovation grants manual, PEDP-II. Dhaka: DPE.

    Google Scholar 

  • DPE [Directorate of Primary Education] (2007). PEDP-II progress. Dhaka: DPE. http://www.dpe.gov.bd/pdf/ProgressReportDecember2007.pdf.

  • DPE [Directorate of Primary Education] (2008). School survey report 2007. Dhaka: DPE.

    Google Scholar 

  • DPE [Directorate of Primary Education] (2009a). Bangladesh primary education: Annual sector performance report 2009. Dhaka: DPE.

    Google Scholar 

  • DPE [Directorate of Primary Education] (2009b). Operation manual for management of Ananda School. Dhaka: DPE.

    Google Scholar 

  • DSHE [Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education] (2010). Achievements in last twenty-four months: January 2009 to December 2010 (M. T. Ahsan, Trans.). Dhaka: DSHE.

  • DSHE [Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education] (2011). Directorate of secondary and higher education: Introduction. Dhaka: DSHE. http://www.dshe.gov.bd/history.html.

  • Dyson, A. (2001). Special needs in the twenty-first century: Where we’ve been and where we are going. British Journal of Special Education, 28(1), 24–29.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Forlin, C. (2006). Inclusive education in Australia ten years after Salamanca. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 21(1), 265–277.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gomez, C. (2004). Dyslexia in Malaysia. In I. Smythe, J. Everatt, & R. Salter (Eds.), International book of dyslexia: A guide to practice and resources (pp. 158–163). Chichester: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grönlund, Å., Lim, N., & Larsson, H. (2010). Effective use of assistive technologies for inclusive education in developing countries: Issues and challenges from two case studies. International Journal of Education and Development Using Information and Communication Technology, 6(4), 5–26.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jayaweera, S., & Gunawardena, C. (2007). Social inclusion: Gender and equity in education SWAPs in South Asia, Sri Lanka case study. Kathmandu: UNICEF.

    Google Scholar 

  • Loreman, T., Deppeler, J., & Harvey, D. (2005). Inclusive education: A practical guide to supporting diversity in the classroom. Sydney: Allen & Unwin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Miller, D. (1999). Principles of social justice. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • MoE [Ministry of Education] (1997). Shamsul Haque Education Committee—1997. Dhaka: MoE. http://www.moedu.gov.bd/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=250&Itemid=426.

  • MoE [Ministry of Education] (2010). National education policy 2010 (M. T. Ahsan, Trans.). Dhaka: MoE.

  • MoPME [Ministry of Primary and Mass Education] (1990). Primary education (compulsory) act 1990: Act 27. Dhaka: MoPME. http://www.mopme.gov.bd/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=459&Itemid=497.

  • MoPME [Ministry of Primary and Mass Education] (2003). Learning for change: Education for All national plan of action (2003–2015). Dhaka: MoPME.

    Google Scholar 

  • MoPME [Ministry of Primary and Mass Education] (2010). Reaching out of school children project. Dhaka: MoPME. http://www.mopme.gov.bd/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=430&Itemid=442.

  • MoWCA [Ministry of Women’s and Children’s Affairs] (2010). The draft national child policy 2010 (M. T. Ahsan, Trans.). Dhaka: MoWCA.

  • MSW [Ministry of Social Welfare] (2001). The Bangladesh persons with disabilities welfare act 2001. Dhaka: BG Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Munir, S. Z., & Zaman, S. S. (2009). Models of inclusion: Bangladesh experience. In M. Alur & V. Timmons (Eds.), Inclusive education across cultures: Crossing boundaries, sharing ideas (pp. 290–298). New Delhi: Sage Publications India.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Nasreen, M., & Tate, S. (2007). Social inclusion: Gender and equity in education SWAPs in South Asia, Bangladesh case study. Kathmandu: UNICEF.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nath, S. R., & Chowdhury, A. M. R. (2009). State of primary education in Bangladesh: Progress made, challenges remaining. Dhaka: Campaign for Popular Education (CAMPE).

    Google Scholar 

  • Naylor, N. (2009). Inclusion education: The South African experience. In M. Alur & V. Timmons (Eds.), Inclusive education across cultures: Crossing boundaries, sharing ideas (pp. 318–330). New Delhi: Sage Publications India.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Nussbaum, M. (2006). Frontiers for justice: Disability, nationality, species membership. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Opertti, R., & Belalcazar, C. (2008). Trends in inclusive education at regional and interregional levels: Issues and challenges. Prospects, 38(1), 113–135.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • PAL [Pathmark Associates] (2011). Qualitative evaluation of reaching out of school children (ROSC) project. Dhaka: PAL.

    Google Scholar 

  • Polat, F. (2011). Inclusion in education: A step towards social justice. International Journal of Educational Development, 31(1), 50–58.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rawls, J. (1971). A theory of justice. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Raynor, J., & Wesson, K. (2006). The girls’ stipend program in Bangladesh. Journal of Education for International Development, 2(2), 1–12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ryan, J. (2006). Inclusive leadership and social justice for schools. Leadership and Policy in Schools, 5(1), 3–17.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sabur, Z., & Ahmed, M. (2010). Multiple providers and access to primary education: The case of Bangladesh. Prospects, 40(3), 393–415.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Santos, M. P., & Silva, K. R. X. (2009). Brazil: Binding the theoretical to the practical. In M. Alur & V. Timmons (Eds.), Inclusive education across cultures: Crossing boundaries, sharing ideas (pp. 273–289). New Delhi: SAGE Publications India.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Schurmann, A. T. (2009). Review of the Bangladesh Female Secondary School Stipend Project using a social exclusion framework. Journal of Health, Population and Nutrition, 27(4), 505–517.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sen, A. (2005). Human rights and capabilities. Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, 6(2), 151–166.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • TQI-SEP [Teaching Quality Improvement in Secondary Education Project] (2006). Putting quality into TQI: The role of a quality assurance framework. Dhaka: TQI-SEP.

    Google Scholar 

  • TQI-SEP [Teaching Quality Improvement in Secondary Education Project] (2008). Inclusive education in secondary schools: A training manual for awareness raising of SMC members and head teachers (M. T. Ahsan, Trans.). Dhaka: TQI-SEP.

  • TQI-SEP [Teaching Quality Improvement in Secondary Education Project] (2009). Inclusive education in secondary schools of Bangladesh: Resource book (M. T. Ahsan, Trans.). Dhaka: TQI-SEP.

  • TQI-SEP [Teaching Quality Improvement in Secondary Education Project] (2010). Innovation and development fund. Dhaka: TQI-SEP.

    Google Scholar 

  • UCIL [Uniconsult International Limited] (2011). Quantitative evaluation of reaching out of school children (ROSC) project. Dhaka: DPE.

    Google Scholar 

  • UN [United Nations] (1989). Convention on the rights of the child 1989. New York: United Nations.

    Google Scholar 

  • UN [United Nations] (2007). Universal declaration of human rights: Dignity and justice for all of us. New York: United Nations.

    Google Scholar 

  • UNESCO (1990). World declaration on education for all and framework for action to meet basic learning needs. Paris: UNESCO.

    Google Scholar 

  • UNESCO (1994). Salamanca statement and framework for action on special education needs. Paris: UNESCO.

    Google Scholar 

  • UNESCO (2000). The Dakar framework for action. Paris: UNESCO.

    Google Scholar 

  • UNESCO (2008). EFA global monitoring report 2009: Overcoming inequality: Why governance matters. Paris: UNESCO.

    Google Scholar 

  • UNESCO (2009). Inclusive education: The way of the future. Final report of the International Conference of Education (48th session). Paris: UNESCO.

  • UN Enable (2008). Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities. New York: UN Enable. http://www.un.org/disabilities/default.asp?navid=14&pid=150.

  • UNICEF (2009). Quality primary education in Bangladesh. Dhaka: UNICEF.

    Google Scholar 

  • World Bank (2007). What is school-based management? Washington, DC: Human Development Network, The World Bank.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Monash University, Clayton, VIC, 3800, Australia

    M. Tariq Ahsan & Jahirul Mullick

Authors
  1. M. Tariq Ahsan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jahirul Mullick
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to M. Tariq Ahsan.

About this article

Cite this article

Ahsan, M.T., Mullick, J. The journey towards inclusive education in Bangladesh: Lessons learned. Prospects 43, 151–164 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11125-013-9270-1

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11125-013-9270-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation