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Children in Bangladesh are entering secondary school without mastering basic foundational skills, with a staggering 91 percent of Grade 5 students in mathematics and 65 percent in Bangla remaining at the “novice” level, a new study has found.

The study, titled “From Evidence to Action: Strengthening Learning, Inclusion and Innovation in Classrooms in Bangladesh”, conducted by UNICEF Bangladesh and the UNICEF Office of Research -- Innocenti, was unveiled at a hotel in Dhaka yesterday. It described “novice-level students” as those unable to answer even half of the Grade 5 questions correctly.

Several working and policy papers prepared as part of the research were also presented.

Despite achieving high enrolment rates, Bangladesh’s secondary education system is facing significant challenges.

According to a working paper titled “Drivers of Learning in Differentiated Classrooms: Lessons from Two Years of Piloting a Differentiated Teaching Intervention in Bangladesh Secondary Schools”, the problems begin with students entering secondary school without the foundational skills expected upon completion of primary education.

The paper said the data reveal alarming gaps in foundational skills that persist from primary to secondary education. The 2022 National Student Assessment found that, by the end of primary education, half of all students could not read at the expected level, while two-thirds could not perform basic mathematics appropriate for their grade level.

At the start of 2024, UNICEF Bangladesh, in partnership with the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education, began piloting a new approach to help

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