Education In Bangladesh

	Education arena in Bangladesh is not so developed. Literacy rate is low and there is a significant disparity between female and male literacy rates. However, with on going awareness of both the government and NGO's, literacy rate has been going up. Bangladesh gets International Literacy Prize 1998 from UNESCO for its ongoing literacy rate. It is targeted that, the country will be illiteracy-free by the year 2005.   The education system is divided into 4 levels-- Primary (from grades 1 to 5), Secondary (from grades 6 to 10), Higher Secondary (from  grades 11 to 12) and tertiary. Alongside national educating system, English medium education is also provided by some private  enterprises. They offer 'A' level and 'O' level courses. There is also Madrasa system which emphasizes on Arabic medium Islam-based education. This system is supervised by the lone Madrasa Board of the country.    In 1998 there were about 52,000 primary schools 11000 secondary institutions. The five years of lower secondary education concludes with a Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examination. Students who pass this examination proceed to two years of Higher Secondary or intermediate training, which culminate in a Higher Secondary School (HSC) examination. Five education boards lead by the Ministry of Education deal with education up to HSC level.  Under-graduate level is finished with HSC. Then begins graduation level which is dealt by universities. Universities also offer Master's and Doctorate degrees. There are 11 government universities and approximately 20 private universities in Bangladesh. Specialized universities are Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Bangladesh Agricultural University and Bangabandhu Shaikh Mujib Medical University.