The education system and structure of Bangladesh is three tiered. As a large population of country lives below the poverty line, the system is highly subsidized. Public and private schools are operated at primary (5 years), secondary (5 years) and higher secondary levels (2 years) . The private schools also receive strong financial support from the state. The tertiary education (3-5 years) is provided through universities (15 public and 50+ private universities) and affiliated colleges under supervision of University Grant Commission. Establishment of private universities has gained momentum in recent years. At all levels, students can choose the medium of education from Bangla or English.
Bangladesh Government has published an Education Policy which is developed based on the inputs taken from different education commissions over the years. There are also many non-profit organizations which operate informal and semi-formal education for underprivileged children under supervision of Bureau of Non-formal Education.
According to the article 17 of the Constitution, all the children of Bangladesh are supposed to receive full free education up to secondary level.
Secondary and higher secondary schools are affiliated under seven education boards. The boards administer two public examinations - one is the Secondary School Certificate Examination and the Higher Secondary Certificate Examination. The higher secondary schools are known as colleges.
There are also Madrasah (religiously inclined) and English medium schools which are enrolled under Madrasah Education Board and Foreign Education Board respectively. Besides this, a Technical Education Board has been established to administer the vocational training schools at post secondary level in Education Board. The National Curriculam and Textbook Board is the authority to develop, approve and manage the curriculum and text books for primary, junior, secondary and higher secondary level. Government has also established Bangladesh Bureau of Educational Information and Statistics (BENBEIS) which keeps educational information at all levels.
