During the British rule, education was mainly
reserved for the wealthy class.The few natives who were
fortunate to receive education were either from wealthy families (Nawabs)
or whose family had ties with the British governing body. The language of pedagogy was English as schools
were run by religious nuns and other British people. For one to receive
higher education, such as a university degree, to become a professional, one
had to attend schools in England. Such was the case of the famous Indian Mahatma
Gandhi who traveled to London to study law. As native people were treated
as second-class citizens, education was largely deprived from the general
population.
After the British had left the Indian Subcontinent,
the territory presently known as Bangladesh came under Pakistani regime as
the state of East Pakistan. Education during this period was still very scarce
but those who had the means of acquiring it were no longer considered second-class
citizens.However, in order to obtain government jobs, one had to know Urdu as it was
the state language. Bengalis did not want to learn Urdu as the felt obliged
to submit their rights to the Pakistanis. In the region of East Pakistan, the native language was Bengali and not Urdu.
Hence, a conflict over language was eminent. School systems were still largely
functioned in the English language as few schools, such as the Holy Cross
and numerous Cadet Colleges, were still taught by the British and the nuns. As such, after a long and bloody
language movement, Bengalis were given the practice the language Bengali in
their own homeland. So, to recap, during the Pakistani era, the educational
system was mainly to indoctrinate students to the Urdu language.
As Bangladesh was, and still is, a secular state,
many forms of education were permitted to co-exist. After the liberation war of Bangladesh in 1971,
the People's Republic of Bangladesh became an independent nation free to choose
its own educational destiny.
The formidable British
system was, and still is, largely practiced. In fact, presently, the Bangladeshi
system of education is divided into three different branches. Students are
free to choose anyone of them provided that they have the means. These branches
are: a) The English Medium, b) The Bengali Medium, and c) The Religious Branch.
