Grass-Root Level Teachers and Parents’ Understandings on Primary Education Quality in Bangladesh

Abstract

Educational policies and programmes need to develop, giving special attention to rural teachers, parents and children. The policy has to develop by considering rural people’s (teachers and parents) understandings and perspectives on education quality in the local context. Therefore, it is an important matter to know the understandings in respect of primary education quality, as seen by rural parents and teachers, in order to formalize the appropriate policy to enhance the quality of primary education in the rural areas. In this regard, unveiling teachers’ and parents’ understandings on the quality of education in rural Bangladesh is one of the important steps on the way to framing policy for achieving quality education. In this study, qualitative data were captured by semi-structured interview and data interpretation was underpinned by concepts derived from human capital and social capital theories. This research suggested three types of understandings related to education quality (a) acquisition of academic results and awarded scholarship, (b) capability and skills and (c) the development of values and attitudes. Therefore, the concepts (integrated) of education quality carry the ‘Whole culture, i.e., the culture of Performance and the culture of ‘Well-being’.