Non-state actors in education: exploring state/non-state collaboration in Bangladesh

The great strides made in expanding educational opportunities in Bangladesh are well-recognized. Yet, poor learning outcomes for a high proportion of students as well as inequity and exclusion in the system call for new thinking about planning and strategizing educational development. The COVID-19 pandemic and its immediate and longer-term effects have magnified the pre-existing problems in education and pose a greater urgency for action. The necessary new thinking about planning and strategizing implies that the current and potential role of non-state actors (NSA) in education merits due attention within the framework of the state’s overall role in education. This includes the state’s facilitative and regulatory role in respect of non-state education within the wide range and scope of the education sector of the country. The three constructs – NSA, state actors, and the education sector - are not neat and homogeneous categories. The study has attempted to unpack these constructs to understand better the respective roles and aims and the interplay among them with a focus on the NSA.