Bangladesh's HSC equivalent to Singapore's sixth grade: Bobby Hajjaj

State Minister for Primary and Mass Education Bobby Hajjaj has said that the quality of the country's education system has declined alarmingly due to long-term mismanagement and neglect.

He claimed that currently the quality of education at the Higher Secondary (HSC) level in Bangladesh is considered at the same level as Singapore's sixth grade.

He made this comment while participating in the general discussion on the supplementary budget for the fiscal year 2025-26 in the second session of the 13th National Parliament on Sunday (June 14). Deputy Speaker Kaiser Kamal presided over the session.

In his speech, Bobby Hajjaj said that the quality of education in the country has been affected due to various types of mismanagement and anarchy in the education sector in the past two decades. Its impact is now visible at the higher education level as well. Many students are failing to even achieve the minimum qualification in the university admission test.

He said that the situation has reached such a level that in the neighboring developed country of Singapore, Bangladesh's HSC level education is compared as equivalent to their sixth grade.

The State Minister said that in order to overcome this situation, the government has undertaken extensive reform programmes in the primary education curriculum, teacher training, infrastructure development and administrative management.

Standing in favor of the government's initiative to include sports and cultural activities in the education system, he said that textbook-based education alone is not enough for the creative and human development of students. For this reason, sports and cultural activities are being made part of the curriculum from the primary level.

Addressing the critics of this initiative, he said that there is no alternative to culture and sports to build a modern and creative generation. Misleading propaganda on this can create obstacles in the path of the country's educational development.

Regarding the budget, Bobby Hajjaj said that the current government is considering the education sector as one of the main areas of national investment. In that vein, a larger allocation has been made in the education sector this time than at any time in the past.

He said that in the past, 1.3 to 1.4 percent of GDP was spent on the education sector, but this time it has been increased to 2 percent. There are plans to gradually increase this rate to 5 percent in the future.

The State Minister said that the government is implementing a long-term plan to upgrade the country's education system to international standards. While welcoming constructive criticism in this regard, he mentioned that cooperation from all parties is needed to achieve this goal of national development.