Why Bangladesh ranks so low in the 2020 Global Knowledge Index

In every comparative survey among countries—be it a survey of the economy, transparency, university rankings, etc.—Bangladesh almost always ranks at the very bottom. Just a couple of weeks ago, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) along with the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Foundation (MBRF) jointly released the 2020 Global Knowledge Index (GKI) that placed Bangladesh at 112th out of 133 nations, behind every other South Asian nation!

What has been troubling, and what should make us very uncomfortable, is that our national leaders do not seem to particularly care about this, or that it has become a national embarrassment! Several newspapers reported on it, and only a couple of education experts, among them the eminent educationalist professor Serajul Islam Choudhury, identified the lack of investment in education and the ubiquitous presence of raw information rather than the kindling of knowledge as the main reasons for this calamity. Professor Rasheda K Chowdhury mentioned the difficulties arising from multiple tracks of basic learning and the lack of trained teachers, among others.

However, in less than two weeks, we seem to have forgotten all about it. There seems to be no concern anymore about why we are in the bottom rung of almost every index that compares nations of the world, year after year. We're 135th out of 189 countries in the Human Development Index, 119th out of 193 in the Global Development Index, 139th out of 162 in the Human Freedom Index, 151st out of 180 in the Press Freedom Index, and 116th out of 131 in the Global Innovation Index—all for 2020. We were almost in the same position in 2019, and in 2018 and so on. So, what's happening? Is anyone (who matters) paying attention to these numbers and doing anything about them? Are the responsible agencies now planning to improve our standing in the world? Will we see ourselves behind all our neighbours in 2021 again?

To improve the situation, several things need to happen: i) understand why the problems persist; ii) find solutions; iii) implement the solutions; iv) evaluate; and v) revise.

All, except item number one, fall within the purview of the government. So let me provide my understanding of the reasons why we are so far behind, and hope that it will be helpful to the government.

GKI attempts to measure the overall knowledge of a country to see how its people use it to benefit themselves. In other words, how capable are the people of a country to improve their lives based on the knowledge they acquire throughout their lives. The areas the GKI looked at (the sources of knowledge for the people) were places like schools, universities, technology, etc.

It is my understanding that, like GDP growth, the knowledge of a nation is also the result of a country's long-term economic policies, political will and cultural values.

The average GDP spending among the 197 countries of the world on national education is 4.5 percent. Bangladesh spends only 1.3 percent—less than 182 countries in the world. Only 15 countries in the world invest less than 2 percent of their GDP on education, and Bangladesh is almost at the bottom of even those 15 nations, only ahead of countries like South Sudan, Nigeria, Somalia, etc. Bangladesh spends less than every South Asian (SA) country. In the categories of the number of children per primary school, and number of students per university compared with the population, Bangladesh is in 5th place out of those 6 SA countries. So, is it any wonder that we're dead last among SA countries? Education, clearly, is not the priority for our government. Lack of political commitment contributes heavily to the status of knowledge in Bangladesh. The decision to invest resources is made by those in power. But, how often have we seen our politicians, those responsible for working to improve our education so to speak up, demand and work to make education a priority? Despite decades of systematic flaws, when was the last time that our leaders demanded that our education needs to be fixed? Perhaps, it's not a priority for the politicians since most of them have very little of it, and since they've become "successful" without a good education, why should they find it important? Typically, they're completely indifferent or simply incapable of conceptualising and materialising plans for educational development.

Finally, and in my opinion, the most important reason for our failed education system is, perhaps, our own culture. How often have we experienced in our lives that being educated does not pay? The neighbour's kid who never attended school, but instead turned into a hoodlum, who, perhaps, joined a political party, etc., was the one who in the end became successful—a big businessman, local party leader, or even perhaps a member of the parliament. Would this example encourage anyone to learn? We tolerate the law-breakers, the thieves, who brutalise and even murder others, etc. These are the ones who win in life—at least in Bangladesh. Since this is our attitude towards knowledge and how we see its usefulness has developed, we have never valued education. We give lip-service to learning, but we never mean it, we don't live by it. Education has never been our thing—even historically, we always shied away from doing the the hard work of learning and gaining knowledge.

Given these conditions, is it surprising that we rank so low in the Global Knowledge Index? However, the more important question is: What are the authorities doing about it?

Halimur R Khan is a university professor and the former Director of Professional Development Center (PDC) at Brac University.

Email: halimurkhan@post.harvard.edu