Science Education in Bangladesh: A Qualitative Review of Progress, Challenges, and Policy Prospects
Published 2025-05-03
Keywords
- Science education,
- Bangladesh Teacher Training,
- Curriculum reforms,
- educational disparities
Copyright (c) 2025 Elias Ahmed, Saif Uddin Ahmed Khondoker, Mahmudulhassan Mahmudulhassan (Author)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Abstract
This study examines the situation of science education in Bangladesh, analyzing the effects of government changes and concentrating on the difficulties the educational system faces. The study is to shed light on curriculum, teacher preparation, and resource availability to enhance science education in both urban and rural settings. Semi-structured interviews, policy analysis, and a review of the literature were all part of the qualitative research methodology. In addition to interviews with elementary and secondary science teachers throughout Bangladesh, information was obtained from pertinent educational policies, scholarly publications, and reports. Teachers' opinions on the difficulties of teaching science, the availability of resources, and the efficacy of governmental reforms were all examined in the interviews. Recurring themes and patterns were found using thematic analysis. Results show that access to science education has increased, while there are still issues, especially in rural areas. Inadequate teacher preparation, a lack of resources, and an antiquated curriculum that impedes inquiry-based learning are major problems. Regional inequities and gaps in teacher skills persist despite government initiatives to promote digital education and infrastructure. To raise the standard of science education, the report emphasizes the necessity of ongoing investments in infrastructure upgrades, curricular reforms, and teacher development. A small sample size that might not accurately represent all regional contexts and possible bias in self-reported data are among the limitations. With its useful suggestions for resolving the issues and enhancing science instruction in Bangladesh, this study provides insightful information for researchers, educators, and policymakers.
References
- D. Sharma and S. Kumari, “Role of Legal Education in Advancement of Access to Justice: A Panormic Insight,” Asian J. Leg. Educ., vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 141–149, Jul. 2024, doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/23220058241253403.
- F. Yuan and P. Zhang, “Are natural resources, sustainable growth and entrepreneurship matter endogenous growth theory? The strategic role of technical progress,” Resour. Policy, vol. 96, p. 105189, Sep. 2024, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resourpol.2024.105189.
- L. Paroussos, K. Fragkiadakis, and P. Fragkos, “Macro-economic analysis of green growth policies: the role of finance and technical progress in Italian green growth,” Clim. Change, vol. 160, no. 4, pp. 591–608, 2020, doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-019-02543-1.
- M. Z. I. Khan, “Is Voting Patterns at the United Nations General Assembly a Useful Way to Understand a Country’s Policy Inclinations: Bangladesh’s Voting Records at the United Nations General Assembly,” Sage Open, vol. 10, no. 4, Oct. 2020, doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244020961117.
- M. Murshed, “Widow, deserted, and destitute women allowances and rural female labor force participation in Bangladesh: Linking social protection to the Sustainable Development Goals,” J. Public Aff., vol. 22, no. 4, Nov. 2022, doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2652.
- F. Jahan et al., “Improving WASH facilities and practices in Bangladeshi schools: progress and challenges from 2014 to 2018,” Glob. Health Action, vol. 18, no. 1, p. 2466896, 2025, doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/16549716.2025.2466896.
- Y. Hahn, A. Islam, E. Patacchini, and Y. Zenou, “Friendship and Female Education: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Bangladeshi Primary Schools,” Econ. J., vol. 130, no. 627, pp. 740–764, Apr. 2020, doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/ej/uez064.
- Mahmudulhassan, W. Waston, A. Nirwana, S. Amini, M. M. A. Sholeh, and M. Muthoifin, “A moral-based curriculum to improve civilization and human resource development in Bangladesh,” Multidiscip. Rev., vol. 7, no. 8, p. 2024137, May 2024, doi: https://doi.org/10.31893/multirev.2024137.
- A. N. A.N., M. Mahmudulhassan, F. D. Marshal, M. Muthoifin, and N. Fadli, “Human rights and social justice in Quranic contexts: a global trend,” Leg. J. Ilm. Huk., vol. 32, no. 2, pp. 453–471, Sep. 2024, doi: https://doi.org/10.22219/ljih.v32i2.35088.
- E. Warshauer and C. Krosinsky, “Financing the Transition to Green Infrastructure,” in Values at Work, Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2020, pp. 111–125. doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55613-6_8.
- E. Naumova, V. Buniak, G. Golubnichaya, L. Volkova, and V. Vilken, “Digital transformation in regional transportation and social infrastructure,” E3S Web Conf., vol. 157, p. 05002, Mar. 2020, doi: https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/202015705002.
- T. Krarup, “Between competition and centralization: the new infrastructures of European finance,” Econ. Soc., vol. 48, no. 1, pp. 107–126, Jan. 2019, doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/03085147.2019.1578064.
- A. Camba, “Cementing development and (un)steeling decarbonization: The political economy of infrastructure drive in Duterte’s Philippines,” Energy Res. Soc. Sci., vol. 96, p. 102933, Feb. 2023, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2022.102933.
- Mahmudulhassan and I. Afiyah, “Professional Zakat as a Catalyst for Welfare : Strategic Mapping for Sustainable Economic Growth in Semarang,” Demak Univers. J. Islam Sharia, vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 199–210, 2024.
- Mahmudulhassan, Muthoifin, and S. Begum, “Artificial Intelligence in Multicultural Islamic Education : Opportunities , Challenges , and Ethical Considerations,” Solo Univers. J. Islam. Educ. Multicult., vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 19–26, 2024, doi: https://doi.org/10.61455/sujiem.v2i01.114.
- A. Reid, “Climate change education and research: possibilities and potentials versus problems and perils?,” Environ. Educ. Res., vol. 25, no. 6, pp. 767–790, Jun. 2019, doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/13504622.2019.1664075.
- Ardiansyah et al., “Tracing Trends in Quran Memorization and Cognitive Learning: A Bibliometric Analysis from the Scopus Database,” Pakistan J. Life Soc. Sci., vol. 22, no. 2, pp. 1493–1509, 2024, doi: https://doi.org/10.57239/PJLSS-2024-22.2.00105.
- R. Ganguly, “The Litigious Widow in South Asia: A Study in Paradoxes,” South Asian Surv., vol. 27, no. 2, pp. 158–171, Sep. 2020, doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/0971523120954863.
- A. J. (Tony) Smith, “Past, Present, and Future,” J. Dent. Res., vol. 83, no. 6, pp. 444–445, Jun. 2004, doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/154405910408300601.
- S. M. N. Sakib, “Comparing the sociology of culture in Bangladesh and India: Similarities and differences in Bangladeshi and Indian cultures,” Simulacra, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 33–44, Jun. 2023, doi: https://doi.org/10.21107/sml.v6i1.18773.
- T. Rahman, “A multilingual language-in-education policy for indigenous minorities in Bangladesh: challenges and possibilities,” Curr. Issues Lang. Plan., vol. 11, no. 4, pp. 341–359, Nov. 2010, doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/14664208.2010.537816.
- S. A. Bakanov, “BUDGET INEQUALITY IN THE USSR IN THE 1950S–1980S,” Ural Hist. J., vol. 76, no. 3, pp. 153–160, 2022, doi: https://doi.org/10.30759/1728-9718-2022-3(76)-153-160.
- F. Vizzarri, “‘No longer exiled, but protagonists’. The FILEF (Italian Federation of Migrant Workers and Families) and European human rights discourse in the 1970s,” Mod. Italy, vol. 26, no. 3, pp. 331–351, Aug. 2021, doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/mit.2021.27.
- E. Aunoble, “Behind and Beyond Lenin and Dzerzhinskiy: Soviet-Polish Cooperation in Historical-Revolutionary Cinema (1960s–1980s),” Connexe les Espac. postcommunistes en Quest., vol. 5, pp. 119–138, Oct. 2020, doi: https://doi.org/10.5077/journals/connexe.2019.e254.
- M. Short, B. Valentine, M. Morrissey, K. Morrissey, and E. Dixon, “The Human Services: Practitioners’ Experiences of the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s & 1990s,” Aust. Soc. Work, pp. 1–14, Feb. 2024, doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/0312407X.2023.2298944.
- W. S. Vucinich, “Major Trends In Eastern Europe,” in Eastern Europe in the 1980s, Stanford University, United States: Routledge, 2019, pp. 1–28. doi: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429048449-1.
- M. Preiss, R. Heissler, N. Doubková, V. Roubalová, M. Uhmannová, and I. Lefeuvre, “Psychologové a Charta 77: československá zkušenost angažovanosti psychologů za lidská práva,” Cesk. Psychol., vol. 67, no. 5, pp. 332–348, Oct. 2023, doi: https://doi.org/10.51561/cspsych.67.5.332.
- M. Avery, “Promoting a ‘ Pinochetazo ’: The Chilean Dictatorship’s Foreign Policy in El Salvador during the Carter Years, 1977–81,” J. Lat. Am. Stud., vol. 52, no. 4, pp. 759–784, Nov. 2020, doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022216X20000966.
- M. Ní Bhrolcháin and É. Beaujouan, “Education and Cohabitation in Britain: A Return to Traditional Patterns?,” Popul. Dev. Rev., vol. 39, no. 3, pp. 441–458, Sep. 2013, doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1728-4457.2013.00611.x.
- R. Moodley, “Rethinking ‘regional processing’ in Europe: lessons from the Comprehensive Plan of Action (CPA) for indochinese refugees,” Aust. J. Hum. Rights, vol. 29, no. 1, pp. 141–159, Jan. 2023, doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/1323238X.2023.2197708.
- C. Oelgemöller, “Mixed Migration and the vagaries of doctrine formation since 2015,” Interventions, vol. 23, no. 2, pp. 250–272, Feb. 2021, doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/1369801X.2020.1845771.
- W. Leirman, “Peace Education: Learning how to Transform a Life-World Threatened by Violence,” in Adult Education and the Challenges of the 1990s, vol. 18, Cath. University of Leuven, Belgium: Routledge, 2018, pp. 98–118. doi: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429430374-7.
- K. C. Wong, “Policing in the People’s Republic of China. The Road to Reform in the 1990s,” Br. J. Criminol., vol. 42, no. 2, pp. 281–316, Mar. 2002, doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/42.2.281.
- S. Jhally and J. Lewis, Enlightened Racism. Department of Communication, University of Massachusetts-Amherst, United States: Routledge, 2019. doi: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429034343.
- M. Mahmudulhassan, W. Waston, and A. Nirwana AN, “The Rights and Status of Widows in Islam: A Study from the Perspective of Multicultural Islamic Education in the Context of Bangladesh,” Multicult. Islam. Educ. Rev., vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 01–14, Sep. 2023, doi: https://doi.org/10.23917/mier.v1i1.2674.
- M. Kamrujjaman et al., “The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education in Bangladesh and its mitigation,” Bull. Biomath., no. May, Apr. 2024, doi: https://doi.org/10.59292/bulletinbiomath.2024003.
- S. Xu, A. S. Shonchoy, and T. Fujii, “Assessing gender parity in intrahousehold allocation of educational resources: Evidence from Bangladesh,” World Dev., vol. 151, p. 105730, Mar. 2022, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2021.105730.
- Muthoifin, I. Afiyah, and Nuha, “Behavioral responses of cows and goats during slaughtering for Eid Al-Adha: A field study in Surakarta,” J. Anim. Behav. Biometeorol., vol. 12, no. 4, p. 2024034, Dec. 2024, doi: https://doi.org/10.31893/jabb.2024034.
- S. R. Ghazi, G. Shahzada, I. Khan, M. N. Shabbir, and M. T. Shah, “Content Analysis of Textbooks of Social and Pakistan Studies for Religious Tolerance in Pakistan,” Asian Soc. Sci., vol. 7, no. 5, pp. 145–150, Apr. 2011, doi: https://doi.org/10.5539/ass.v7n5p145.
- S. Roy, S. Huq, and A. B. A. Rob, “Faith and education in Bangladesh: A review of the contemporary landscape and challenges,” Int. J. Educ. Dev., vol. 79, p. 102290, Nov. 2020, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2020.102290.
- O. Sabbaghi, “Global service-learning and business education: the case of Azerbaijan,” Asian J. Bus. Ethics, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 31–49, Jun. 2024, doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13520-023-00186-1.
- S. H. Che Hassan, S. N. Wan Shamsuddin, and N. H. Yusof, “Towards Designing a Framework for Adaptive Gamification Learning Analytics in Quranic Memorisation,” Pertanika J. Sci. Technol., vol. 31, no. 1, pp. 257–278, Oct. 2022, doi: https://doi.org/10.47836/pjst.31.1.16.
- L.-A. Ewing and H. B. Cooper, “Technology-enabled remote learning during Covid-19: perspectives of Australian teachers, students and parents,” Technol. Pedagog. Educ., vol. 30, no. 1, pp. 41–57, Jan. 2021, doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/1475939X.2020.1868562.
- Mahmudulhassan, M. Abuzar, and S. A. Khondoker, “Exploring the Dynamics of Student Motivation and Behavior : A Qualitative Analysis of Influencing Factors and Effective Interventions,” Solo Univers. J. Islam. Educ. Multicult., vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 195–206, 2024.
- Z. A. Chachar, “Enhancing Access and Quality of Secondary Education in Balochistan: Identifying Challenges and Implementing Effective Solutions,” J. Dev. Soc. Sci., vol. 4, no. III, Sep. 2023, doi: https://doi.org/10.47205/jdss.2023(4-III)27.
- Mahmudulhassan, A. Nirwana, and K. Saif Uddin Ahmed, “Exploring the Contributions of Prof. Dr. Syed Ali Ashraf to the Islamization of Knowledge in Bangladesh: A Comprehensive Analysis,” J. World Thinkers, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 91–98, 2024.
- A. Kempf, “Toward Deeper Unconscious Racial Bias Work in Education,” Teach. Coll. Rec. Voice Scholarsh. Educ., vol. 124, no. 11, pp. 3–29, Nov. 2022, doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/01614681221142535.
- S. Ramachandran et al., “Digital Competencies and Training Approaches to Enhance the Capacity of Practitioners to Support the Digital Transformation of Public Health: Rapid Review of Current Recommendations,” JMIR Public Heal. Surveill., vol. 10, pp. e52798–e52798, Sep. 2024, doi: https://doi.org/10.2196/52798.
- A. Diana, M. Z. Azani, and M. M, “THE CONCEPT AND CONTEXT OF ISLAMIC EDUCATION LEARNING IN THE DIGITAL ERA: RELEVANCE AND INTEGRATIVE STUDIES,” Profetika J. Stud. Islam, vol. 25, no. 01, pp. 33–44, Feb. 2024, doi: https://doi.org/10.23917/profetika.v25i01.4239.
- C. Gao, P. Song, Y. Wen, and D. Yang, “Effect of Science and Technology Finance Policy on Urban Green Development in China,” Front. Environ. Sci., vol. 10, Jul. 2022, doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2022.918422.
- T. N. Narasimhan, “Water, law, science,” J. Hydrol., vol. 349, no. 1–2, pp. 125–138, Jan. 2008, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2007.10.030.
- J. Mundonde and P. L. Makoni, “Public private partnerships and water and sanitation infrastructure development in Zimbabwe: what determines financing?,” Environ. Syst. Res., vol. 12, no. 1, p. 14, Apr. 2023, doi: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40068-023-00295-7.
- S. Wamuziri, “Legislative framework for public–private partnerships in the Sultanate of Oman,” Proc. Inst. Civ. Eng. - Manag. Procure. Law, vol. 177, no. 3, pp. 150–156, Jul. 2024, doi: https://doi.org/10.1680/jmapl.22.00036.