Bangladesh

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Bangladesh has a largely rural population of over 171 million (World Bank, 2022).

COL’s work in Bangladesh is in the areas of open schooling, higher education, gender equality and women and girls’ empowerment through skills development (GIRLS Inspire and Empowering Women and Girls), skills for work and technology-enabled learning, and benefits from programmes under the aegis of the Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia (CEMCA). Learners from Bangladesh are also benefitting from COL’s free online courses and other openly available resources.

Participation rate of youth and adults in formal and non-formal education and training in the previous 12 months, 15-64 years old¹
10.2%		13.8%
Female (2017)		Male (2017)

Completion rate, lower secondary education for the school year ending in 2020¹
75.1%		60.2%
Female		Male

Gross enrolment ratio for tertiary education for the school year ending in 2021¹
22.8%		27.3%
Female		Male

Proportion of teachers with the minimum required qualifications in secondary education¹
68.9%		60%
Female (2021)		Male (2021)

1. UNESCO Institute for Statistics Data Centre, retrieved in May 2023

Highlights

Over 200 policymakers and senior officials were trained in Gender Equality and prevention of Gender-Based Violence to promote effective policies and strategies to address these issues.
20 universities have developed a draft policy on open educational resources (OER).
COL’s work with CMES has led to enrolment of 1,120 girls and boys as learners in the open schooling system.
Since July 2021, 14,753 learners from Bangladesh have enrolled in 111,296 skills online courses with 18,185 certificates issued.

Partners

Partnerships are fundamental to COL’s work. Strategic partnerships allow COL to broaden its reach and engage at global, regional and national levels, while implementation partners support COL’s work in communities and institutions across Commonwealth Member States. Partners include multilateral organisations, regional bodies, national governments, government agencies, foundations, civil society organisations, public and private (not-for-profit) institutions and the private sector. COL partnerships assist in improving and extending teaching and learning services to people in the developing Commonwealth.

COL’s partners in Bangladesh include:

Ministry of Education
Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology
Aster Innovation Company Ltd
Bangladesh Open University (BOU)
Better Future for Women
Centre for Mass Education in Science (CMES)
CITY University
Daffodil International University
Dhaka Ahsania Mission
Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha
University of Chittagong
University Grants Commission (UGC)

Key Contacts

Focal Point

Mr. A.S.M. Kashem
Senior Assistant Secretary
Secondary & Higher Education Division
Ministry of Education

Notable Mention

Professor M. Aminul Islam, COL Honorary Fellow

Professor Dr Abdul Mannan, former Honorary COL Adviser

The Honourable Nurul Islam Nahid, MP, former member of COL Board of Governors

Literacy rate (2020)¹
72%		77.8%
Female, Adult (15+)		Male, Adult (15+)

Economic Activity – Labour Forces Participation (2017)¹
38.1%		83.8%
Female, Ages 15-64		Male, Ages 15-64

Political Decision Making (2018)¹
20.9%
Share of seats held by women in national parliament

Life expectancy (2029)¹
75.6		73
Female		Male

1. COL gender country profile October 2023

39	110
Individuals using the internet (%)¹	Mobile-cellular subscriptions per 100 inhabitants¹

6.6	55
Fixed-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants¹	Active mobile-broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants¹




1. International Telecommunication Union (ITU), retrieved in May 2023.

Bangladesh

Highlights

Partners

Key Contacts

Focal Point

Notable Mention

More Information

News

Reports

Publications and Resources

Country Data Sources