Chapter 3 Existing Education System System in Bangladesh 3.1 Genesis and Development of Education System This chapter continues the discourse on the educational structure in Bangladesh basically from a historical perspective. It discusses the gradual development of the existing system and the recent changes affected by government initiatives. The Current education system in Bangladesh is the result of the British colonial system. The education system in Bangladesh can be characterised by its diversity and continuous evolvement in ensuring its consonance with universally recognised standards. Whilst one shall find at least three distinct streams of education, all of these possess the uniform skeleton of being subdivided into three hierarchical tiers: Primary, Secondary and Tertiary. On the other hand, whilst all the media have the overall uniform skeleton, yet the design is diverse enough to This is what might be called as the basic structure of the education system, for whatever be the stream or orientation of the discipline, this is the structure followed by every institution. The existing educational structure can be analysed on the basis of the historical antecedents of education in Indian subcontinent. Despite housing the earliest universities like Nalanda and Taxila, the education system in subcontinent had drastically changed itself in a conservative manner in the later periods, to be restructured after a long time by the British rulers. This bend in history explains the mindset of the people as well as the nature of orientation that the education system currently provides. The gradual historical development of education shows that imparting knowledge had its own distinct meaning which changed throughout the ages with changes in the social structure, and religion always had a special influence on religion,60 in accordance with the religious and political orientation of the ruling authorities. Whereas in the beginning, subcontinent had an educational system that was accessible to all, the later periods saw the rise of class based society- aristocracy that confine education for a chosen few. 60 Fritz Blackwell, India: A Global Studies Handbook (ABC-CLIO, Inc. 2004) Page | 25