Rejuvenate health and education

Experts have voiced concern on the deteriorating state of health and education in a high level meeting of the Bangladesh Development Forum 2015 held recently in Dhaka. For Bangladesh to develop and grow at a satisfactory level, it is imperative that the necessary investments are made to have a healthy population that is also educated. As remuneration for teachers is low, the profession is no longer able to draw meritorious graduates and that has a chain effect. Without a good grounding in science and mathematics, it is very difficult for students to take advantage of the information technology revolution that has become a pillar of development. While primary school enrolment has reached nearly 98 percent, what is often overlooked is that about 20 percent of them drop out before completing primary education. Enrolment may have increased, but there is widespread scepticism about the quality of students. That budgetary allocation for education has actually dropped to 1.8 percent leaves a lot to be desired.

While Bangladesh has made commendable progress in health, large numbers of children continue to suffer from malnutrition and deficiencies in overall health resulting in millions slipping into poverty. Policymakers need to look at drawing from own resources to supplement budget for health and education. There is need to make ministries more proactive in addressing governance problems that plague educational and health institutions. We are disheartened to see that like education, health is also not being prioritised. Without a healthy and educated population, attaining middle income status by 2021 will be challenging.