Education and Development Linkages in South Asia (Part III)
By V Santhakumar
Part III: Bangladesh and Maldives
Bangladesh
The situation in Bangladesh before its independence from Pakistan was marked by the following features: sections of economic elites completed school and higher education, and the majority used religious schools or did not enrol in schools. The enrolment was not high, and it was driven by parents’ demand which, in turn, was determined by their socio-economic conditions. It does not seem as if the country was following a vigorous policy to provide school education to all, before 1971.1 The constitution of Bangladesh which came into existence after its independence noted the school education for all as a responsibility of the state.2 There were some regressions in education during the authoritarian regimes between 1975 and 1990. Mushrooming of religious schools was one such phenomenon.3
However, there has been a notable improvement in the access to schooling in the country after 1990. It has achieved near-universal net-primary enrolment, with approximately 98 percent of children of primary school age enrolling in schools.4 The country could witness a notable improvement in terms of the education of girls. More than half of all enrolled students were girls in 2016. However, the dropout rate continues to be a serious issue. Around 20 percent of students drop out before completing primary schooling. The quality of education in Bangladesh is also low and, in that sense, it may be comparable to the situation in India. Most children in the country who go to primary schools do not acquire basic reading fluency. `A USAID-funded assessment in spring 2018 found that 44 percent of students finish first grade unable to read their first word, and 27 percent of third-grade students cannot read with comprehension’.5
Bangladesh had two advantages in comparison with India. Though the Hindus in the country practised the caste system (Sultana and Subedi, 2016), it is not followed by the majority of people who follow Islam. The reluctance to educate girls in Bangladesh was not as high as that in Pakistan or parts of India. In fact, it is noted that there is a pro-female bias in school enrolment,6 though there could be a pro-male bias in investments for quality education and in enrolment in higher education (Xu et al, 2019). Social norms were flexible enough to facilitate the education of girls in Bangladesh. The country seems to have similarities with Malaysia and Indonesia (the Muslim majority countries in South-East Asia). Women are active in economic exchanges and not only in unpaid work within homes.7 Micro-finance initiatives accelerated this participation.8 Non-Governmental Organisations played an important role in this regard.9
Bangladesh has done reasonably better in terms of economic development after the 1990s. The role of the garment industry is also significant in this regard.10 The country’s GDP growth rate increased to 4.5 to 5 percent in the 1990s, (from around 2 percent in 1970s) and continued around 6 percent over the first decades of 21st century.
The general relationship between manufacturing development and educational attainment could be as follows. The availability of those who have basic literacy and numeracy and who are willing to take up factory work may facilitate manufacturing growth. This employment may not require the completion of schooling and hence, there could be a dropout of children.11 However, over time the growth of manufacturing may encourage parents to invest more in education. Hence, it can facilitate the completion of a higher level of education for the school-going population at an aggregate level.
These two processes seem to have worked well in Bangladesh.12 The manufacturing jobs require basic literacy and numeracy,13 and the availability of workers with these skills may have contributed to the development of manufacturing.14 It was noted that `young girls [were] becoming more likely to be enrolled in school after garment jobs (which reward literacy and numeracy) ‘arrive’ in a location.15 In fact, the increased demand for the education of girls due to the manufacturing employment is more impactful than the cash-transfer schemes implemented by the government.16
Successive governments also have taken initiatives to ensure that girls complete at least secondary education.17 Given that 80 percent of the export income of the country is from garment manufacturing, it has a bearing on the government’s ability to invest in education too. In that sense, one can view the development of garment manufacturing with the use of female workers as something that has increased the demand for schooling for girls or as an outcome that is facilitated by the greater social willingness to educate girls and allow them to take up paid work.
Hence, the investments for the basic education of women (or for the improvement of their literacy) and their readiness to take up paid work (say in comparison to India and Pakistan) might have contributed to the development of garment manufacturing in Bangladesh. In addition, there could be wealth and human development effects on education development. The work in garment factories could increase the income of the poorer parents (mothers) and this can have a positive impact on the education of their younger siblings and children. The (limited) empowerment that girls acquire through employment and the longer period of adolescence18 may enhance their autonomy19 and that can also have a positive impact on their education choices for their children. (This has not worked well in India. The non-use of even basic schooling by certain sections of society and the unwillingness of the majority of women to take up factory jobs may have worked against the growth of the manufacturing sector in India, and its possible positive impact on education development).
In summary, Bangladesh is an example where education-development interlinkage provided a positive feedback loop which strengthened both aspects, even though the country is at a relatively lower level in terms of both education and development. This may have implications on poverty reduction, economic and human development. It is also a case for internal social factors working in tandem with the global forces (demand for cheaper manufactured products) in marginally improving the life of a large section of society. The absence of a caste system (unlike India) and the lack of an extreme aversion to the paid employment of adult females (unlike Pakistan and India) may have enabled this process in Bangladesh. This is notable since Pakistan and Bangladesh share similar religious features. We can now take up the case of another Muslim-majority country in the region, the Maldives.
Maldives
The traditional education in the Maldives was in religious schools. There were informal spaces of learning too. Modern education started in the first half of the twentieth century under British influence. Though the first school that opened in 1927 was only for boys, the first school for girls was opened in 1944.20 There was an effort to expand the coverage of modern education to all population settlements in the country from the 1940s, and in that way too, the Maldives and Sri Lanka were pioneers in the region in having a goal of basic education for all.[1] Though the governmental interest in the project went up and down as part of political changes later, there was a rapid development of school education in the 1990s with the support of developed nations and multilateral organisations. The Maldives could achieve universal primary education in 2000.
Economically, Maldives is a relatively prosperous country in the region. It is a middle-income country, but its economic activities are not diversified. Nearly 30 percent of the GDP is from tourism but there is vibrancy in this activity, and it contributes to economic growth. The economic development boosted through international tourism facilitated the process of education development. Nearly 20 percent of the government revenue is used for education.21 The rapid spread of basic education is notable and could be the reason for its literacy rate to become the highest in the South Asian region.22 The human development indicators of the country are also notably better than other countries in the region (barring Sri Lanka).23 It seems like the Maldives is not very affected by the reluctance to educate girls, unlike Pakistan.
There are challenges in education in the Maldives. The quality of education is a major concern. Though the enrolment in secondary education is laudable, the transition to higher-secondary education could be an issue for a sizeable share of these students.24 More than 50 percent of students who go through lower-secondary schooling do not transition to the higher-secondary level. Given the spread-out nature of population settlements in small islands which are far away from the capital city, the provision of higher secondary education faces challenges. It cannot be provided closer to all habitations. This may require students to move from their settlements to enrol in higher secondary schools. There is also a need for expatriate teachers in higher grades, and some of them may not be willing to stay in isolated islands. There are not enough facilities for tertiary education, and this may require migration to other countries.25
The education-development interlinkage manifests in a desirable equilibrium in the Maldives despite its small size and other challenges. The economic opportunities enable the government to provide education to its people and encourage parents to use school education for their children. Hence, there are factors that enable both the supply of and demand for education. In terms of the connection between the economy and education, Maldives is probably closer to Bangladesh. It appears that the Maldives is not very affected by the reluctance to educate girls unlike Pakistan or Afghanistan or parts of India. In that sense, Islam in the country shares commonalities with the Muslim population in South-east Asian countries. It is also not affected by the caste fragmentation like India and Nepal, and hence, such fragmentation did not prevent the use of education by certain sections of the society. In this sense, Maldives is closer to Bhutan and Sri Lanka in the region.
AUTHOR
V Santhakumar, Professor, Azim Premji University, Bangalore
This is Part 3 of 6 parts that will be published over the coming weeks.
Read Part I
Read Part II
Read Part IV
Read Part V
Read Part VI
Featured photo by Muneer Ahmed ok on Unsplash
