HIGHER EDUCATION IN BANGLADESH: DIVERSITY, QUALITY AND ACCESSIBILITY
Md. Rabiul Islam Assistant Professor, Department of Social Work. Rajshahi University
Abstract Higher education is one of the important parts of the education system. The k ey aims of higher education are to generate the new knowledge, explore research works on different social and development issues, anticipate the needs of the economy and prepare highly skilled workers. In these contexts, higher education should be standard, welfare and sustainable development oriented. The present paper intends to analyze the higher education system of Bangladesh in the light of diversity, quality and accessibility. The main objective of this study is to explore the standard of higher edu cation of a public university in Bangladesh. Ban gladesh. Nonetheless, the paper emphasizes on the students opinion about the present education system of public university, existing problems and challenges faced by the higher education institutions; and finally juxtapose the three key issues like diversity, quality and accessibility of higher education system of Bangladesh. R ajshahi University was purposively selected as study area for the present study. Both qualitative and quantitative methods have been used for analyzing data. The findings of the study show the different branches of higher education, its quality and the present opportunity of accessibility of the students as well as their perceived benefits from higher education. It is expected that the findings of the study would be able to represent the overall scenario of higher education system of Bangladesh. Introduction: Education intends to promote such values and improve people’s improve people’s capacity that sustains environment and development issues of any an y countries. Education helps to create awareness, welfare attitudes, skills and behavior as well as a sense of ethical responsibilities among the
people. Education has different levels such as primary, secondary, higher secondary and university education. Among these, university or higher education is one of the fastest growing parts of the education system. In these co ntexts, higher education should be standard, welfare and sustainable development oriented. One of the key aims of higher education is to anticipate the needs of the economy and prepare highly skilled workers to make it competitive. This is especially important for a developing country like Bangladesh. Because, it is badly needed to build up our human capital, and higher education can play vital role in this regard that promotes to the growth of economy, achieve and sustain a high quality workforce. But higher education is now globalized and in many ways commercialized affair. As a result, quality of higher education is ignored and business attitude prioritized, especially in the context of third world countries. As a developing country, in Bangladesh, this scenario is more vulnerable. The main objective of this paper is to explore the present scenario of higher education of public university. The other related specific objectives of the study are to: a) know the students opinion about the present education curricula and their diversifications; b) explore the quality of higher education: c) identify the existing problems of higher education; and finally d) find out the way to overcome the challenges faced by the higher education institutions; and finally
Higher Education: Current Status and Future Possibilities in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka C. P. S. Chauhan * Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India
South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries have common features, such as geographic and climatic conditions, and share issues concerning the socioeconomic, cultural, and educational advancement of their people. Higher education affects every area of national de velopment and deserves requisite attention. This paper assesses higher education systems of SAARC countries in terms of structure, access, quality, equity, resources, and contribution of private enterprise. Such an assessment might help in promoting interstate cooperation and planning better strategies. All SAARC countries have a similar higher education structure, including entry qualifications and age, duration of courses, and instructional management system. The pressing demand for higher education and a strong desire for foreign qualification by youth are common issues. Opportunities are limited, with gross enrollment ratios varying among SAARC countries from less than 5 percent to 10 percent. The participation of women is not more than 40 percent in any SAARC country, and the quality of education is substandard. Spending on education ranges from 2 percent to 4 percent of the gross national product (GNP), which is less than UNESCO standards for developing nations. Private enterprise, a recent phenomenon, limits its role market-oriented, professional, and technical education. It is high time for SAARC countries to evolve common educational forums and collaborative strategies to deal with the situation.
Bangladesh Bangladesh began as East Pakistan, formed b y the partition of the British Territory of India in 1947. It was one of five provinces into which Pakistan was divided at the time of its creation. East Pakistan was formed b y adding the Sylhet district of Assam to the former province of East Bengal. Ban gladesh achieved independence from Pakistan in 1971 and was renamed the People’s Republic of Bangladesh. It has a population of over 150 million, of which about 43 percent are literate (Manorama Yearbook, 2008, p 307). The literacy rate for women is 36 percent. About 83 percent of the people are Muslims and 16 percent are Hindus. It is the second-largest Muslim country of the world. Higher education in Bangladesh begins after passing the higher secondary certificate (HSC) examination after 12 years of schooling (Munir, 1999). Students enter colleges or universities for a first degree (bachelor) and can continue their studies up to master’s and doctorate degrees. Universities and other tertiary institutions have their own entrance examinations. Most public universities follow the British system of a three-year bachelor (honors) program, though the new private universities have moved to the American model of four year bachelor programs. Postgraduate education consists mostly of master’s programs and very few doctoral programs. Religious education also occupies an important position in the education sector of Bangladesh. The presence of madrasahs (Islamic religious schools) is significant, but faces questions of quality and uniformity of standards. Hindus and Buddhists also receive religious education at institutes called tol and chatuspathi, respectively. 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. Private universities were first allowed under the Private University Act of 1992. The Private University
Act requires that at least 5 percent of the student body receive full tuition waivers (Encyclopedia of Modern Asia, 2002). This is intended to help poor students take advantage of these institutions. Additionally, it is believed that students from rich families who attend private universities create vacancies in public universities for other students. Private universities have a strong similarity to those in the higher education system in the United States in their curricula, books, and faculty training. There were 31 universities in 1997, of which 20 were private. The number of universities went up to 52, of which 31 were private, in 2003. Student enrollment in private universities has also increased rapidly, from 6,200 to 44,600 during the same period, compared to the corresponding figures of 74,000 to 104,700 for public universities. Although the number of students enrolled in public universities is higher, enrollment in private universities has accelerated. At present there are 75 universities, including 54 in the private sector, and 12 other equivalent medical and technical institutions, all granting diplomas in specific fields as well as bachelor and professional degrees (Kitamura, 2006). Specialized universities are Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Bangladesh Agricultural University, and Bangabandhu Shaikh Mujib Medical University. Bangladesh has two main, separate types of higher educational institutions: the highly competitive universities and a large number of degree-granting colleges affiliated with universities. To make higher education accessible to all, an Open University has also been set up in the country. In addition, a National University has been established to serve as an affiliating school for colleges across the country. For most individuals in this developing nation, access to a university education has been limited, especially for girls. At degree an d master’s level, women account for about 36 and 26 percent, respectively, of total enrollment. Public higher education in Bangladesh is nearly free. Public expenditure on
education has been low — only 2.4 percent of GNP. The distribution of the overall public-sector budget among the various educational schools has remained stable in recent years. Primary education has received roughly 45 percent, secondary education 22 percent, and higher education 33 percent of total government spending on education over the years. For want of proper linkages between public university programs (with the exception of a few departments like business administration and pharmacology) and the job market, higher education is not too relevant to the needs of the economy. Many graduates, produced at considerable cost to society, remain unemployed for long periods and sometimes have to work in areas outside their fields of study. Private universities do try to respond to market demands, providing a few professional courses having short-term relevance and neglecting long-term interests of the national economy. Quality is a serious concern in universities, and it is said that UGC has miserably failed in its role as a guardian of public universities and as a promoter of quality. It has also failed to institute a self-regulatory accreditation system for private universities (Andaleeb, 2003). According to one estimate, in 1993 over 80,000 Bangladeshi students were sent by their parents to study in Indian colle ges. This resulted in a huge loss of foreign exchange, and at the same time, there was a fear of indoctrination by a foreign culture. These were important concerns both for the people and the government. Access to private universities in Bangladesh is restricted to those who can pay extremely high tuition fees. Only children from affluent families can get admission to such universities. Gender inequity in access to higher education was revealed by data from the country’s fifth Five-Year Plan; the system educated more than two males to every one female (69:31). An increasingly larger segment of the student population in the best public universities is coming from a small group of urban preparatory schools to wh ich
only the richest families can afford to send their children. It was believed that expansion of private education would provide healthy competition for public sector institutions, satisfy the increasing demand by the middle class for quality higher education, and relieve the government of some financial burden. However, the main interest of most private universities is to earn a p rofit, leading them to narrow the scope of their educational programs and degrade quality.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT EDUCATION SYSTEM IN BANGLADESH The present education system of Bangladesh ma y be broadly divided into three major stages, viz. primary, secondary and tertiary education. Primary level institutions impart primary education basically. Junior secondary/secondary and higher secondary level institutions impart secondary education. Degree pass, degree honours, masters and other higher-level institutions or equivalent section of other related institutions impart tertiary education. The education system is operationally categorized into two streams: primary education (Grade I-V) managed by the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education (MOPME)) and the other system is the post-primary education which covers all other levels from junior secondar y to higher education under the administration of the Ministry of Education (MOE). The post-primary stream of education is further classified into four types in terms of curriculum: general education, madrasah education, technical-vocational education and professional education. 1. General Education a) Primary education The first level of education is comprised of 5 years of formal schooling (class / grades I - V). Education, at this stage, normally begins at 6+ years of age up to 11 years. Primary education is generally imparted in primary schools. Nevertheless, other types of institutions like kindergartens and junior sections attached to English medium schools are also imparting it. b) Secondary education The second level of education is comprised of 7 (3+2+2) years of formal schooling. Th e first 3 years (grades VI-VIII) is referred to as junior secondary; the next 2 years (grades IX -X) is secondary while the last 2 years (grades XI - XII) is called higher secondar y. There is diversification of courses after three years of schooling in junior second ary level. Vocational and technical courses are offered in vocational and trade institute/schools. Moreover, there are high schools
where SSC (vocational) courses have been introduced. In secondary education, there are three streams of courses such as, Humanities, Science and Business Education, which start at class IX, where the stude nts are free to choose their course(s) of studies. High schools are managed either by government or private individuals or organizations. Most of the privately managed secondary schools provide co-education. However, there are many single sex institutions in secondary level education. The academic programme terminates at the end of class X when students are to appear at the public examination called S.S.C. (Secondary School Certificate). The Boards of Intermediate and Secondary Educations (BISE) conduct the S.S.C. examination. There are seven such Boards at different places in Bangladesh namely: Dhaka, Rajshahi, Jessore, Comilla, Chittagong, S ylhet, and Barisal. The secondary education is designed to prepare the students to enter into the higher secondary stage. In higher secondary stage, the course is of two -year duration (XI - XII) which is being offered b y Intermediate Colleges or by intermediate section of degree o r master colleges. c) Tertiary Education i) College The third stage of education is comprised of 2-6 years of formal schooling. The minimum requirement for admission to higher education is the higher second ary certificate (H.S.C). HSC holders are qualified to enroll in 3-year degree pass courses while for ho nours, they may enroll in 4-year bachelors' degree honours courses in degree level colleges or in the universities. After successful completion of a pass/honours bachelors' degree course, one can enroll in the master's degree course. Master degree courses are of one year for honours bachelor degree holders and 2 years for pass bachelor degree holders. For those aspiring to take up M.Phil and Ph.D courses in selected disciplines or areas of specializ ation, the duration is of 2 years for M.Phil and 3-4 years for Ph.Ds after co mpletion of master's degree. Higher education is being offered in the universities and post HSC level colleges and institutes of diversified studies in professional, technical, technological and other special types of education. ii) University There are 73 universities in Bangladesh. Out of these, 21 universities are in the public sector, while the other 52 are in the private sector. Out of 21 public sector universities, 19 universities provide regular classroom instruction facilities and services. Bangladesh Open University (BOU) conducts non-campus distance education programmes especially in the field of teach er education and offers Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) and Master of Education (M.Ed) degrees. BOU conducts 18 formal courses and 19 nonformal courses.Bangladesh National University mainly functions as an affiliating university for degree and post-graduate degree level education at different colleges and institutions in different field of studies. But in case of fine arts this university also offers Pre-Degree BFA Course (which is equivalent to HSC).After successful completion of the specified courses, it conducts final examinations and awards degree, diplomas and certificates to the successful candidates. The degrees are B.A., B.S.S., B.Sc., B.Com. (Pass & Honours)BFA(Pass), M.A., M.Sc., M.S.S, M.Com. and MFA. Moreover, this university also offers
LL.B., and other degrees. Bangladesh National University offers part-time training to university teachers. There is only one medical university namely, "Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University", like other public universities, offers courses on a different system where FCPS Degree is offered in the disciplines of medical education; diploma courses are offered in 12 disciplines. MD degree in 15 subjects and MS courses on 8 subjects are also offered.
What is the education system in Bangladesh like?
Author: Alfonso Hernández
Free, compulsory education for children in Bangladesh is only up until secondary. 45% of children do not finish primary school. The Ban gladesh government only assigns 2.14% of the PIB to education, the equivalent of 7.6 dollars per student per year. Despite the important effort that Bangladesh has made in the past to improve the education system and the achievements made so far, it is still one of the countries with the highest dropout rates. Although Bangladeshi governments in the last 20 years have made educations a priority, the situation in the country continues to be a worrying one in terms of the education system and the investment made in it: only 55% of the children enrolled in first grade go on to finish primary, according to Unicef data. As proof of this, Bangladesh has committed itself to fulfilling the objectives of Education for All (EFA) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), both established for 2015. However, according to official data from 2008, the literacy rate for the population aged 15 to 24 is currently 74.5%, while that of the adult population is 54%. It can be said that the significant advances made in access to education (from an average of 65% in 1991 to an average of 90.8% in 2008), have not improved the quality of education. This means that it has still not reached the goals established for achieving universal education (established as the second MDG). Boys and girls attend school six days a week The quality of education depends on a number of factors. Bangladesh is one of the countries in the world with the least number of contact hours between teachers and students, despite the fact that children go to school six days a week, the only day off being Friday. Another factor that directly affects access to education and the qu ality of the teaching is the registering of
births. Official data ignores thousands of children, who have not been registered at birth, many of which live in marginalized urban areas, isolated from all kinds of services. Bangladesh currently has two ministries of education: the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education, in charge of managing primary education (compulsory), and the Ministry of Education, created in 1992 as a division and made into a ministry in 2003, which is in charge of managing secondary and higher education (post-compulsory and fee-paying). In terms of formal education, three official education systems coexist in Bangladesh, each with its own curriculum: the general education system (public system), the Islamic education system (madrasas or Koranic schools) and the technical-professional education system. Unlike formal education, in Bangladesh non-formal education is that which is provided to specific groups who for various reasons have not b een able to access school according to the official order of academic years by age, or have become disassociated from school at an early age. The most common reasons for which some children do not start school when they reach school age or leave school before they finish primary school is the prioritization of economic activities and/or family responsibilities, child marriage or just the physical impossibilities of accessing a school. The Intervida schools, 35 of which are formal and 5 non-formal, provide a primary education to a total of 8313 children in the Dhaka division. The SHE grants program hopes to finance the access to secondary school for 1000 Bangladeshi girls this year. Related tags: Bangladesh, education, cooperation
Return from education system in Bangladesh: Aninvestigation on comparative flashback scenario Gazi Mahabubul Alam, Md. Taher Billal Khalifa and Mirja Mohammad Shahjamal
It is predominantly assumed that investment in educationprovides a significant return; therefore, countries arepaying especial priority in allocating budget. A n umber ofresearches have been carried out in the field of return toinvestment in ed ucation (Psacharopoulos and Patrions,2002; Harmon and Walker, 1999; Hartog et al., 1999;Appleton, 2000). Most of those find that return toinvestment in education is reversed (Hartog et al., 199 9;Appleton, 2000). Most of the works emphasized tounderstand the return to investment in education in termsof financial benefit (Psacharopoulos and Patrions, 2002;Murphy and Welch, 1992; Card, 2001; Rouse, 1999).Scholars argue that even though the Rate of Return(RoR) for economic perspective is small, it may be higherin social development which is, somehow, nearlyimpossible to determine (Murphy and Welch, 1992; Card,2001; Rouse, 1999). Factually, economic developmentand social development are interrelated, thus, it is worth*Corresponding author. E-mail:
[email protected]. Tel:+603-7967-3904. Fax: +603-7967 5077, Fax + 603-7967 5010 to note that if education broadly contributed in socialdevelopment, it would have an impact on economicdevelopment.What is not education? - A question is merely impossi-ble to answer. Education is subsequently provided by anumber o f providers (that is, religious institutions,paternal participation, media, development made by theglobalization of 21st century, technological behaviorchanges and institutions of education, partners fordevelopment etc.). In order to calculate the RoR, a com-parison between the contribution of education providedby school system and other providers is never made. Thecontribution made by other providers, while working onRoR, is not often recognized. The adherents of otherfields often argue that not only official provision foreducation but also other providers of education (that is,media, participation and governance etc.) are playing arole in the development by educating the community. Astudy is yet to be conducted in Bangladesh to explore thecontribution made from each of the fields (formal, non-for-mal and informal) individually. Once, w e have the specificcontribution from respective field, making comparison will just be a matter for calculation.
568 Afr. J. Bus. Manage.Countries should have predetermined goal, aims andobjectives which are supposed to be gained througheducation. Legislators often feel that achieving officiallydetermined goal of education is a primary responsibility offormal school system (Alam, 2008a). Many instanceshave been found that other providers such as media,religious institutions, social clubs and globalization help toachieve the objectives of formal schooling. On thecontrary, it is also noted that such providers hinder inachiev ing the objectives of formal schools as they mayhave other goals, purposes or vision which contradictwith their school counterpart (Alam, 2008b).Different levels and types of schools (that is, primary,secondary and tertiary) work contributing in a specificfocus. For instance, primary education mainly works forthe development of social freedom while higher edu cationfocuses mainly on economic attainment. If a particularkind of education is provided to do a special job, emplo y-ment of this graduate in other job does not make anysense, nevertheless, it provides reverse return. More-over, if graduates, employed with a higher or specified/ differentiated diploma, do not fundamentally use theireducation in performing the tasks, also provide reversereturn.Given the discourse outlined, few research questionsare generated:1. What is the contribution made by different levels ofeducation?2. What is the contribution made by school system andother providers of
education?3. What is the disparity in selecting the aims of educationprovided by other providers?4. What is the gap in the school system in contributingdesired level of contribution?5. How can school system contribute more significantly?Finding section of this a rticle intends to answer of thesequestions. We aim to provide a further model and food ofthought in investigating the RoR of education inBangladesh before drawing the conclusion. Prior to dothis, we provide a review of literature and data collectionand anal ysis coherently. Literature reviewKey findings from existing literature A comprehensive study with a comparative analysis is yetto be conducted to calculate the contribution made bydifferent levels and types of education (that is, primary,secondary and tertiary). Adherents of primary schoolprovision argue that the overall RoR of primary provisionis higher than secondary and higher education provi-sions. On the other hand, some scholars argue that RoRis always higher for the provision of higher educ ation.Data from virtually every society show that post-secondary education ensures a higher income and grea-ter opportunities for graduates (Altbach, 1999).Comparison between those who have attended college oruniversity and those who have not attended showsconsistent benefit to the degree holder. Even those whoattended college or university but without earning ad egree are better placed. There are variations betweencountries, but the pattern holds globally. Alam (2008b)also finds that RoR of higher education is not significantalways because of low quality education offered and thenature of the course. Moreover, he also sa ys thatcurrently students are procuring education is for obtainingcertificates rather than to know how to d o the job. Thisattitude confirms a lower RoR from higher educationprovision.Alam (2008b), using the data of industrialised countrycontext, advocates that investing in child educationprovides more RoR. However, even though Bangladeshhas increased a significant proportion of budgets for earl ychildhood development with an especial focus on pre-primary provision, the RoR is a declining feature(Shahjamal and Nath, 2008; Alam, 2008b). Colin (1999)and World Bank (2002) explore that RoR of VocationalEducation and Training (VET) is significant and which ishigher than other types of education. Lewin (1993) findsthe investment towards VET education is higher thanothers, but the RoR is comparatively lower.The above argument generates some interestingquestions to consider: does education really provide asignificant RoR to the investment made, if not what is theproblem(s) within the education. Even in case if it isproved that primary and secondary education contributeless than higher education, there is no way, we can stopoperating primary and secondary education as theselevels are the basis for higher education. Nevertheless,even if it is found that education in general does notprovide a substantial RoR, stopping ope ration is not asolution, rather we need to discover how, the country canwidely be benefited from the education. This research willinform some present status and scenario using followingmethods. It is intended that this will help us in formulatingeducation policy in Bangladesh and its implementation Contribution made by different levels of education According to the perception of every group of respon-dents, education is very important for both economic andsocial benefits. Most of the respondents view that edu-cation provides diploma which is helpful to be employedwhich brings economic prosperity. This prosperityprovides a social prestige. Most of the respondents withprimary and secondary edu cation perceive that this kindof social prestige is social development. The theoreticalconcept of social development is not clear to them. Datareveal that 100% respondents with no formal educationdo not face any
difficulty in implementing the works forwhich they are engaged. However, they believe that theycould join with a better job if the y received formaleducation. Hence, the question is; if after having educa-tion, no one is found to do these kinds of jobs, what willbe the prospect of this sector? Surprisingly, 100%respondents with primary education are involved in thesame jobs which are generally covered by the grouphaving no formal education. These primary graduatesalso feel that they do not need most of the contents ofprimary education in performing the job. Observation alsonotices no difference of job performance between twotypes of graduates. It is interesting to know; does anyspecial skills are required in d oing such kinds of works orcan a family apprenticeship process help to perform thetask? In many cases, it has been found that individualswith no education have involved rigorously in familyapprenticeship process than their primary graduatescounterparts. This also helps them to perform the jobsbetter in the initial stage. The jobs mainly covered by theuneducated group and primary graduates require a num-ber of skills which they learn after involving with the jobsso after a certain period of employment, no skill gapbetween the two groups exists. While child labor andunder -age employment is the prevailing reality inBangladesh, primary education do es not usually provideany skills that are required for jobs. Primary educationconcentrates on providing some competencies that arerequired to continue secondary education, thus, thegroup, dropped out from primary level, almost achieve noskills which are necessary for their working life.Group having no formal education perceives that theyare unable to contributive for social development as theways primary graduates do. In order to con tribute forsocial development, communication skills are importantso that they can access to information. If they were edu -cated, they would play a role for democracy, governance,transparency, health and other issues. They also feel thatif they were educated, their voice was considered asimportant and powerful thus chance to contribute indevelopment would be more.Respondents with primary education feel that they havemore communicative skill than the group having no for-mal education. This helps them in a number of ways. Animportant fact is marked that within the current climate,they are to contribute significantly for the development ofgood governance and democracy and they are wellaware of the problem. Furthermore, they are playing a di-minutive role for the development of health and educationsector as they are more aware than the group having noformal education.It is explored in our study that the dropped-out sectionof population from primary education are not playing arole for economic development, however, they are contri-buting for social development. The section of populationwho completes primary education and receivessecondary education will play the same role if secondaryeducation also fails to provide necessary skills for the jobs, they are engaged.Of th e respondents with junior secondary education,almost 33% are involved in the jobs in which both thegroups (having no formal education and primarygraduates) are involved. This group also feels that theireducation is not adequately helping for their jobs.Remaining 67% are involved in different kinds of jobs.Of this, 40% believe that they can use only 5% ofeducation they received, 30% use 10% of education andthe rest 30% are using 15% of education. Thus 33% ofthe graduates dropped out from the junior secondaryschool provision do not use any education for their jobs;other 67% use only 10% of their knowledge on anaverage. Junior secondary education helps the studentsto continue in further education. Data reveal that juniorsecondar y graduates contribute more for social returnthan primary graduates as they are more co mmunicative. Of the respondents with secondary education, almost 2 8%are involved in the jobs that are covered by junior
secondary graduates. The job performance between junior secondary graduates and secondary graduates are almost same. 72% of the junior secondary graduates areinvolved in different kinds of jobs. Of this, 64% receivedgeneral education, 16% received Madrasha educationand the other 20% received VET. On an average, gra-duates with general education use 15% of their educationin doing the job, while Madrasha and VET graduate userespectively 10 and 25% of their formal education. Thereis a very slight difference noticed in regards to thecontribution of social development between junior secon-dary and secondary graduates. The group who continueshigher education uses their secondary education to enrollinto higher education.Of the graduates with higher education, respectively20, 30, 20, 20 and 10% studied arts, business studies,science, professional courses (engineering) and medi-cine. The graduates from arts discipline view that they just use their 50% of higher secondary education in doingthe jobs for which they are employed, while no or verylittle usage of graduate or post-graduate education. Ofthe science graduates, only 30% have been employed intheir respective fields, others are employed in variousareas. The graduates who are employed in theirrespective fields use only 18% of their gained knowledgefrom their higher education. The science graduates whoare working a field other than their disciplines only u se40% of their higher secondary education knowledge,while no or very little usage of graduate or post-graduateeducation. Of the graduates with professional degree,60% are involved with respective professions; use 25% oftheir gained knowledge from higher education. The 40%of the professional graduates employed in different fieldsuse nearly 30% of their higher secondary ed ucation indoing the job, while no or very little usage of graduate orpost-graduate education. Of the medicine graduates,70% are involved with their profession who use 40% ofknowledge gained from the higher education, theremaining 30% who are involved other field use nearly30% of their gained knowledge from higher secondaryeducation, while no or very little usage of graduate orpost-graduate education. It is striking to note that educa-tion up to higher secondary level is in best usage. Manyof the graduates are using the job as training ground anda place for apprenticeship which helping them to learnthe required skills. Therefore, workplace learning oreducation havin g higher linkage with industry should beput in place. No significant difference on the contributionof social development between graduates with highersecondary education and higher education was marked.Overall, primary, junior secondary, secondary, highersecondary and tertiary graduates respectively use 14, 12,16 and 11% of education that contribute towards thesocial development, while education provided by oth
