The number one problem with education in developing countries like China. India. Bangladesh. Pakistan is diversion of a large proportion of the national budget to military, hence lack of adequate fund for education, secondly, the developing countries normally do not use the allocated fund efficiently. This inaction aggravates the other problem ofallo-cation of insufficient budget to educaUon and Its resultant effect — poor infrastructure, poorly equipped science laboratories. poorly equipped computer based facilities etc.

Present literacy rate In Bangladesh Is 36.6 per cent whereas the allocation of fund for education is only 16 per cent of the development budget This allows only per capita availability of Tk 322.00 whereas the per capita allocation of money for education in USA is Tk 67.074.00. Japan allocates Tk 91.518.00 per capita on educa tion.

Although per capita expenses on education in developed countries Is expected to be quite high but there must be some minimum opportunities to be made available for education in

Bangladesh. This sum of Tk 322.00 does not match any input for promotion of proper education to raise the literacy rate as well as quality education to match the needs of the twenty-first century. The present allocation can only maintain present status with a trickle down effect as seen from the last 50 years progress.

It is widely accepted that further development and further increase in growth rate are not possible without significant Increase tn literacy and quality education 1 need not explain more because many seminars and conferences have already advocated/projected the importance of quality education, role of education in family planning. agriculture etc.

I tailed to some economists also but thetr view — where is the money or home grown reforms as recently advocated — will not bring any tangible ef feet to see. I think home grown reforms have increased poor people * volume from 36 per cent in 1972 to 70 per cent tn 1996 as Indicated by Prime

Minister Sheikh Hasma.

Without adequate input nobody gets desired output to match requirement, that is also true in Bangladesh too. If we want rapid progress to remove illiteracy we need money to educate and not Tk 322.00 per capita This year it could be Tk 1000.00 per head to bring in a tangible impact. Is it not a far eleal ethics to allocate only 16 per cent of the development budget to education where 63.4 per cent people are illiterate?

I visited Sri Lanka in 1978 when 1 found 55 per cent of the employees of their government offices were women This was possible because oi their liter acy rate being close to 80 per cent.

1 fed strongly to advocate for dlalogue/roundtable — as The Daily Star does occasionally — to focus on what sort of education with what sort ot budget i* now necessary to address the is sues facing the country in the beginning of twenty-first century: identify constraints to rapid removal of illiteracy and introduction of quality technical education to suit the needs in the Ixginning of the next cen tury