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Foreword
Social inequality is one of Bangladesh s core socioeconomic problems. From the mid-1980s to early 1990s the situation of the lower class worsened, especially in rural areas. In recent years, different measures indicate some improvement partly due to acceleration in economic growth. However, the positive impact of economic growth on reducing social and economic disparity has remained limited due to increased inequality in the access to secondary education and agricultural land. Recent statistics indicates that while the access to primary education has improved, the access to secondary education of male children has deteriorated especially among the landless households. In Bangladesh, non- farm activities generate higher income than farm activities, and the level of education determines the ability of households to engage in such activities. Unequal access to education has, therefore, serious implications - it perpetuates income inequality, and limits the impact of economic growth on social equity. The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between levels of education and social inequality through an analysis of household-level data. The relationship between education and inequality is a circular one: the lack of secondary-level education may force low-income households to engage in low-productivity activities, and results in social reproduction of the lower class. On the other hand, low income leads to low investment in education. The substantial inequalities in educational

attainment, and its role in social reproduction of our society.

Literature Review
Sociologists have attempted to account for social inequalities in education in a number of different ways. They can all be seen as concerned with social reproduction, in and through education, but in rather different ways. Ivan Illich stresses the effects of informal processes at work through what he calls the hidden curriculum ; Basil Bernstein emphasizes the significance of language; Pierre Bourdieu examines the relationship between the cultures of school and home.

Ivan Illich: the hidden curriculum

Illich (1973) argued that the very notion of compulsory schooling, now accepted throughout the word, should be questioned. He stressed the connection between the development of education and the requirements of the economy for discipline and hierarchy. He argued have developed to cope with four basic tasks: the provision of custodial care, the distribution of people among occupational roles, the learning of dominant values, and the acquisition of socially approved skills and knowledge. Much is learnt in school which has nothing to do with the formal content of lessons. Schools tend to inculcate what Illich called passive consumption - an uncritical acceptance of the existing social orderby the nature of the discipline and regimentation they involve. These lessons are not consciously taught; they are implicit in school procedures and organization. The hidden curriculum teaches children that their role in life is to know their place and to sit still in it (Illich 1973). Illich suggested that a system should be established that makes it possible for knowledge to be widely diffused and shared, not confined to specialists. Learners should not have to submit to a standard curriculum, and they should have personal choice over what they study.

Basil Bernstein: language codes

Like Illich, sociologist Basil Bernstein (1924-2000) was interested in the way in which education reproduces inequalities in society. Drawing on conflict theory, Bernstein examined inequality in education through and analysis of linguistic skills. In the 1970s Bernstein argued that children from

varying backgrounds develop different codes, or forms of speech, during their early lives, which affect their subsequent school experience. He was not concerned with differences in vocabulary or verbal skills; his interest was in systematic differences in ways of using languages, particularly in the contrast between poorer and wealthier children. The speech of working-class children, Bernstein contended, represents a restricted code- a way of using language containing many unstated assumptions that speakers expect others to know. A restricted code is a type of speech tied to its own cultural setting. Many working-class people live in a strong familial or neighborhood culture, in which values and norms are taken for granted and not expressed in language. Parents tend to socialize their children directly by the use of rewards and reprimands to correct their behavior. Language in a restricted code is more suitable for communication about practical experience than for discussion of more abstract ideas, processes or relationships. Restricted code is thus characteristic of children growing up in lower-class families, and of the peer groups in which they spend their time. Speech is oriented to the norms of the group, without anyone easily being able to explain why they follow the patterns of behavior they do. represent Bernstein s ideas help us understand why those from certain socioeconomic backgrounds tend to be under-achievers at school. The following traits have been associated with restricted code speech, all of them inhibiting a child s educational chances: 1. The child probably receives limited responses to questions asked at home and therefore is likely to be both less well informed and less curious about the wider world than those mastering elaborated codes. 2. The child will find it difficult to respond to the unemotional and abstract language used in teaching, as well as to appeals to general principles of school discipline.

3. Much of what the teacher says is likely to be incomprehensible, in language used in a way the child is not accustomed to. 4. While the child will experience little difficulty with rote or drill learning, s/he may have major difficulties in grasping conceptual distinctions involving generalization and abstraction.

Pierre Bourdieu: education and cultural reproduction

Perhaps the most illuminating way of connecting the themes of these theoretical perspectives is through the concept of cultural reproduction. Cultural reproduction refers to the ways in which schools, in conjunction with other social institutions, help perpetuate social and economic inequalities across the generations. The concept directs our attention to the means whereby, via what Illich called the hidden curriculum schools influence the learning of values, attitudes and habits. Schools reinforce variations in cultural values and outlooks picked in early life; when children leave school, these have the effect of limiting the opportunities of some, while facilitating those of others. Cultural reproduction often results in social reproduction, or the process of transferring aspects of society, such as class, from generation to generation.

An Overview of the Bangladesh Education System

The constitution of Bangladesh directs the state to adopt effective, correct measures for extending compulsory and free education for all children "to such stage as may be determined by law." Recent years have recorded some advances in the education sector in Bangladesh. Given the scale of the development problem faced by Bangladesh, however, these improvements are inadequate. After three decades and many education commission reports, Bangladesh has yet to attain the goal of providing free primary education to all children. One reason for this is the failure of politicians and members of the education commissions to commit themselves firmly to the vision of basic education as a fundamental human right and an instrument of social and economic change. Studies have shown that cost recovery as a percentage of unit costs in Bangladesh is higher in primary education than in either secondary or higher education.

Recent Trends and Statistics

Public expenditure on education has been low. The distribution of the overall public-sector budget among the various educational sectors has remained stable in recent years. Primary education has received roughly 47 percent, secondary education 22 percent, and higher education 33 percent of government spending on education over the years. Primary education has gained at the expense of secondary education, while the tertiary sector has maintained its position. Among institutions that teach scientific and technical subjects, only medical colleges have gained in real terms. According to Tan and Mignot's World Bank study:

the share of cumulative subsidies accruing to the best-educated 10 percent in a generation in Bangladesh stands at 72 percent, compared with the Asian average of 37 percent, and

the education gini coefficient1 is a highly unequal 82 for Bangladesh compared with the Asian average of 43.

The school-age population at the end of the twentieth century expanded at the rate of roughly 1 million each year, putting enormous pressure on the entire school system. Non-governmental organizations took up the challenge of opening and running primary schools in areas where government schools did not exist.

Primary and Secondary Schooling

Enrollment data in the primary schools show some positive trends, including a rise in female enrollment. The overall enrollment according to official statistics is 80 percent of the age cohort, although gross enrollment rates are close to 100 percent, because of inclusion of older children in the count. An estimated 20 million students are enrolled in primary schools today. The goal of achieving full enrollment in the six-to-eleven-year age cohort poses major public-policy challenges, due to a shortage of classrooms and teachers. In general, the quality of education in the primary sector is low, with a poor learning environment. Problems include high student-teacher ratios, inadequately trained teachers, and lack of proper books, supplies, and facilities such as laboratories. The secondary education level also has been severely neglected by policy makers in Bangladesh. According to a survey by the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, overcrowding at the secondary level is common. The number of secondary schools has simply not expanded to accommodate all those graduating from primary schools. The enrollment rate has increased to about 30 to 35 percent of the age cohort.

the gini coefficient is a measure of inequality of distribution of education funds. Zero equals complete equality, and one equals complete inequality. The higher the value within this range, the greater the proportion of education funds spent on the few, and the greater the inequality.

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Public and Private Tertiary Education

Public higher education in Bangladesh is nearly free. Access and equity continue to be major problems in the entire education sector but especially in tertiary education. Until the early 1990s, university education was provided only by public universities (including the highly specialized medical colleges, engineering universities, and polytechnic institutes and colleges). Today, vocational secondary schools, training centers, and on-the-job training opportunities in the private sector are springing up to serve the labor market. The rapid increases in population, urbanization, and incomes have created an enormous demand for good schools at all levels. Parents generally believe that a good education is the ticket to social and economic success. Progress of education in Bangladesh Two indicators are used to measure progress in education - the proportion of children and youths enrolled at different levels and the proportion of the adult population having different levels of education. According to an earlier survey, substantial progress has been made in terms of enrollment in primary school that went up from 66 per cent to 101 per cent2 (Table 3).

The achievement of female children is especially noteworthy, and the fact that the total enrollment rate in secondary schools has gone up from 50 per cent to 61 per cent mainly due to the high enrollment rate among girls. Actually, the enrollment of boys has declined from 60 to 58 per cent. Progress has also

gross enrollment rates are close to 101 percent, because of inclusion of older children in the count

been made in college education - from a low 15 per cent to 24 per cent. Here again, the rate of increase in the participation rate is higher among girls than boys. These results are consistent with national the level achievement on education as evident from Table 4.

It should be mentioned that the above estimates are gross enrollment rates that include repetition in the same grade. Achievement in net enrollment rates must have been lower as indicated by other estimates. According to the UNDP Report on South Asia 2000, the net enrollment rates (1997) for boys and girls at primary level are 80 and 70 per cent respectively, and the corresponding figures for the secondary level are 27 and 16 per cent (UNDP. P. 105). Greater progress of girls than boys reflects both the recent education policies of the government as well as the socio-economic reality in rural areas. First, the government of Bangladesh has, supported by donors, invested in girls education for more than a decade. Secondly, the opportunity costs of sending girls to school are lower than for boys because of limited participation of girls in market activities specially in rural areas of Bangladesh.