The other Streams in Education:
Education:
Apart from the above mentioned (institutional) streams, on a broader speculation, numerous other
streams are also found to exist in Bangladesh. These streams have been classified on the basis of
varied considerations: level of hierarchy, medium of instruction, subject concentration and focus
areas.
The Hierarchical Streams
Streams
All three institutional streams are categorised into three levels of study: Primary, Secondary and
Tertiary. The Primary level education (from class 1-5) is provided by two major institutional
arrangements: general and madrassa. 83 The completion of the Primary education is marked by
passing the PSC (Primary School Certificate) Examination which is a mandatory public
examination for every student to enter into secondary level.
The Government of Bangladesh in its Education Policy 2010 has divided the secondary education
into three streams: general, vocational/technical and madrassa. 84 The vocational education was
introduced into the educational system as per the 1974 report of the first Education Commission
appointed under Dr. Kudrate-e-Khuda. The 1979 Interim Education Policy established the
current framework of secondary level of three sub-stages: junior secondary, secondary and higher
secondary. 85 Each level is completed by passing a public examination: JSC (Junior School
Certificate) after class 8, SSC (Secondary School Certificate) after class 10 and HSC (Higher
Secondary School Certificate) after Class 12. Post primary level madrassas are known as Dakhil
madrassa (grades 6-10), Alim madrasa (grades11-12).
The English Medium Education involves the British Curriculum under the GCE (General
Certificate of Education) system, where the students sit for the O Levels (Ordinary) and A Levels
(Advanced) examinations in lieu of SSC and HSC respectively. The GCE is one of the most
internationally recognised qualifications. 86 English Medium schools are mainly private schools
83
84
M. Mustafizur Rahman (n 46)
GOB (n 51 ) 13,
85
Muazzam Hussain Khan, ‘Education Commission’,(Banglapedia) <http://www.banglapedia.org/HT/E_0025.htm>
accessed 27 May 2014
British Council, ‘O Level exams’, <http://www.britishcouncil.org/bangladesh-exams-gce-o-level.htm> accessed 27
May 2014
86
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