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Reforms in edn and health sectors an urgent need

Speakers tell seminar

STAFF CORRESPONDENT
Experts at a seminar yesterday called for implementing reforms in the education and health sectors to accelerate social development and improve service delivery.
They also suggested decentralisation and better management in the education and health administrations.
The seminar on 'Accelerating growth and poverty reduction in Bangladesh' was jointly organised by the World Bank and the Bureau of Economic Research.
Economists, researchers, senior policymakers, NGO officials, former bureaucrats, journalists, lawyers and teachers took part in the seminar.
They said fruitful partnership between the public and private sectors in the production and delivery of social services is widely recognised and it should be promoted.
The experts underscored the need for increasing role of the community-based organisations in ensuring proper delivery of social services to a given target group.
Presenting the keynote paper, Education Minister Dr Osman Farruk said, "Money is not an issue in the education sector. It is the question of how efficiently the fund is managed."
"About 90 per cent of the total budget for education sector is spent on salary of teachers and other staff. That leaves us with only 10 per cent of the budget money for improvement. If we are able to manage the fund allocation, we can
improve the quality of services," he said.
The minister was critical of the school management committees (SMCs). Most of them are 'absolute failures', he said.
Siddiqur R Osmani of University of Ulster presented a paper on 'Delivering basic health services to the poor in Bangladesh: A right to development approach'.
He argued that policies must take cognisance of people's rights to equality and non-discrimination, which are among the most fundamental tenets of international human rights law.
The government must take special measures to protect most vulnerable and socially excluded groups, including the poor, against discrimination by authorities as well as by private sector, Osmani said.
Economist Prof. Muzaffar Ahmed observed that people do not have much choice, especially in primary education in the private sector.
"For instance, those who have membership in the credit scheme are eligible for enrolment of their children in the BRAC schools. We must address these issues," he said.
Former health secretary Syed Alamgir Farooq said decentralisation and autonomy in the health sector is a prerequisite for improvement in the service delivery.
He emphasised the need for stakeholders' participation in decision-making on reform and autonomy.
He also pointed out that local members of parliament are usually head committees on reforms but most of them cannot attend the meetings due to busy schedule.
He suggested making someone from the community head of the reform committees to take things forward.
Prof. Rehman Sobhan said, "Effective decentralisation can make the local governments more accountable."
Prof. Dr Muhammad Yunus, managing director of Grameen Bank, Prof. Alimullah Mia, Imran Matin of BRAC, former finance minister A M A Muhit, Frederick T temple, country director of World Bank, were also present in the seminar.
Sajjad Zahir of BIDS, Zahid Hossain of World Bank, and Sadiq Ahmed, chief economist and sector director, South Asia, World Bank, also spoke.