Date of publication:
08/21/2025
Bangladesh
Do domestic laws and policies provide access to primary education for forcibly displaced and stateless persons?
Assessment by population
Analysis
The Primary Education (Compulsory) Act, 1990, provides the Government with the authority to ensure primary education is compulsory for children residing in the territory of Bangladesh. The provision of the law applies to all children between the age of six to ten. This may be interpreted as possibly applicable to Rohingya refugee children and asylum-seekers in Bangladesh.
Moreover, the National Education Policy of 2010 states that, “[e]qual opportunities will be created to ensure access of all sections of children to primary education irrespective of ethnicity, socio-economic conditions, physical or mental challenges and geographical differences. This is the Constitutional responsibility of the State.”
Related provisions of domestic law or policy
The Primary Education (Compulsory) Act, 1990
- Year: 1990
- Type: Domestic law
- Rights Category: Education
- Link to external source: https://planipolis.iiep.unesco.org/sites/default/files/ressources/bangladesh_primary_education_compulsory_act_1990.pdf
Legal provision
Definition
a) "Guardian" means the child's father or, in his absence, the mother or, in the absence of both parents, any person taking care of the child. c) "Primary Education" means education for children determined or consented to by the Government. d) "Primary Education Institute" means any governmental or non-governmental educational institute where provision for primary education has been made. e) "Child" means any boy or girl between 6 and 10 years.
Obligation to primary education
(1) The Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, declare primary education obligatory in whatever area from whenever onwards.