Medium of education and the politics of distraction in school education in Bangladesh

ABSTRACT

The medium of education (MoE) globally sparks controversy over the ideal medium—mother tongue, target language, or bilingual/multilingual policies. In Bangladesh, diverse MoE options (Bangla medium, English medium, and English version) fuel debates among stakeholders. Amidst this noise, systemic problems are often overlooked, diverting attention from critical educational issues. Drawing on qualitative data from parents' comments in a public Facebook forum in Bangladesh, this article explores factors influencing MoE choices and how this discourse distracts from pressing social and educational concerns. Findings indicate that the government promotes various MoEs for diverse political interests, often failing to provide inclusive and equitable quality education for all. The article also highlights that different factors distract parents from selecting a suitable MoE for their children's education. Social media, with parents' anecdotal comments, often misleads others. Additionally, parents may impose their aspirations on children, ignoring their interests and abilities. This neglect of students' basic needs while promoting diverse MoE exacerbates inequality and social injustice. The article advocates for an equitable, inclusive education system that offers quality education regardless of socioeconomic background, or MoE.

KEYWORDS:

• Medium of education
• Bangla medium
• English medium
• English version education
• politics of distraction
• Bangladesh
• school education
• quality education
• inequality

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Mohammod Moninoor Roshid

Mohammod Moninoor Roshid is a Professor at the Institute of Education and Research (IER), University of Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Phan Le Ha

Phan Le Ha is a Senior Professor at Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Institute of Education. She is also Head of the International and Comparative Education Research Group (ICE) at Universiti Brunei Darussalam. She has recently been conferred the title of Honorary Professor at IOE – Culture, Communication & Media, University College London, the UK. She can be contacted at: [email protected]; [email protected]