how to solve education problem in bangladesh

Against the odds: How Bangladesh strengthened its education system during COVID-19

Story highlights

• GPE funding has supported the government of Bangladesh to respond to the urgent need for distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Almost 3,000 teachers were trained on remedial education, distance learning strategies, and formative and summative assessment practices.
• Thanks to the GPE-funded program, almost 20,000 primary schools in the most disadvantaged areas were equipped with the knowledge and resources to safely reopen.

" During COVID-19, I studied at home while my parents were at work. Sometimes my sister studied with me. I would copy numbers from an exercise online and then solve [the problem] in my notebook,” remembers 8-year-old Tabassum, a student at the Cantonment Government Primary School, Dhaka.

When COVID-19 arrived in Bangladesh, around 37 million children were left without access to a school.

Prolonged interruptions of education have the potential to roll back hard-won gains in learning, especially for younger students. Children both miss out on classes and forget what they’ve already learned, making it much harder for them to catch up.

After 18 months of school closures, 8-year-old Tabassum (left) can learn in class again.

Credit: GPE/Salman Saeed

Tabassum in her classroom. Her favorite subjects are playing and reciting poetry in Bengali.

“Bangladesh had one of the longest school closures in the world – around 18 months,” says Tashmina Rahman, Education Specialist at the World Bank country office in Bangladesh.

School closures are nothing new to the country. Bangladesh is vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and ranked the seventh extreme climate disaster risk-prone country in the world according to the most recent (2021) Global Climate Risk Index.

Unpredictable rainfall, floods and cyclones cause school closures every year, disrupting the continuity of education for Bangladesh’s children. But the scale of education disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic was unprecedented.

Ensuring that learning continues during school closures

In 2020, GPE launched the COVID-19 School Sector Response Project , allocating US$14.8 million to the World Bank to support the government of Bangladesh in implementing its COVID-19 response plan .

This plan aimed to ensure learning continuity, recover learning losses, re-enroll children who had dropped out of school and enable the safe re-opening of schools.

For the first time, and in response to the pandemic-related school closures, Bangladesh is taking a nationwide, structured approach to developing a distance learning system. To reach even the most marginalized children, the system was designed with both technology-based and printed learning materials.

Children following a distance learning program on television in the Jagannathpur upazila.

Credit: World Bank/Salman Saeed

For the distance learning materials, 246 primary and secondary teachers were recruited as script developers and presenters of digital content. “One of the most important contributions of the GPE program has been to further develop the remote learning system with over 5,000 pieces of digital content,” says Tashmina Rahman.

To ensure a high-quality learning experience for students, the GPE-funded program conducted 30 workshops to develop and validate the remote learning content.

In addition, to make sure teachers were well prepared – many had never taught in front of a camera – 957 teachers were trained on distance learning, how to use different digital meeting platforms and how to engage students to participate in a remote learning context.

However, online connectivity was not a given for all children, due to lack of internet access or available devices. “The biggest obstacle was that not all children were able to participate in the online classes,” says Ishrat Jahan, a second grade English teacher at the Cantonment Government Primary School.

Of the approximately 50 students that would attend class in pre-COVID times, only 25 to 30 were able to connect to online classes during COVID-19 school closures.

Ishrat Jahan teaches second grade English at the Cantonment Government Primary School in Dhaka. When the school closed during COVID-19, she and her colleagues had to switch to remote teaching.

With a vision to support as many children as possible to have access to remote learning material, UNICEF Bangladesh, with support from GPE and the World Bank, developed 2,683 television lessons, 1,558 online lessons and 1,056 radio lessons, as well as printed learning packages.

These materials covered the entire national curriculum for 35 core subjects from pre-primary through to grade 10, supporting more than 1.5 million children.

The GPE funds supported Bangladesh to respond to the urgent distance learning needs during the pandemic, support learning recovery after the pandemic and ensure education continuity during future emergencies, especially floods or cyclones. With 5,297 technology-based distance learning content pieces, covering an entire curriculum from pre-primary to grade 10, schools can now cover a full academic year in remote learning mode.

Helping the youngest learners catch up

One of the main educational consequences of COVID-19 is that students continue to lag behind on their grade competencies. Younger students struggle with basic reading and mathematics skills and are in urgent need of remedial learning.

Bringing students back on track was another core objective of the GPE-supported COVID-19 School Sector Response Project.

To help young learners regain the skills lost during school closures, the program supported the government to develop additional remedial learning kits for pre-primary to grade 5 students, featuring play-based learning materials in the form of workbooks, games and learning cards.

These kits were distributed to more than 150,000 hard-to-reach children in remote and rural areas.

These supplementary materials focused on key foundations of the curriculum and were designed to be colorful and interactive to motivate young students to revisit and deepen their lessons, helping them to recover the competencies that were otherwise missed.

Preparing teachers for a holistic learning recovery

The pandemic presented enormous challenges for teachers too – and involving them was central to the education system’s recovery.

Children at Shimulia Primary School in Dhaka receive handwashing training in class.

Teachers attending a training session on summative and formative learning assessment, remedial teaching and mental health.

Teacher trainer giving instructions on summative and formative learning assessment, remedial teaching and mental health.

After almost two years of the pandemic, learning levels in a single classroom varied and students struggled with anxiety and, in some cases, depression.

To address this, 2,950 teachers were trained through the GPE grant on remedial education, distance learning strategies and learning assessment practices.

This helps them organize students by learning level in a classroom and better identify learning loss and remediation strategies to help students catch up.

Teachers also learned techniques they can use in the classroom to support students struggling with mental health challenges. Techniques include breathing exercises, conversations they can have with children around traumatic events, and strategies to identify those who need help.

Teachers now have more resources available to them and know how to put students in touch with the right people to intervene, where appropriate.

With GPE support, almost 3,000 teachers were trained on remedial education, formative and summative assessments, distance learning and mental health interventions. This is the first time in Bangladesh that a mental health training of this scale has been conducted.

Bringing children back to school, at scale

Students, especially those in remote areas, were more likely to drop out of school during the pandemic, putting them even further behind with their learning. Many families were also concerned about the risks of sending their children back to school.

To support the safe reopening of schools, the GPE-funded program provided grants to 19,965 primary schools in the most remote areas to help them purchase health and safety materials.

In addition, the grants helped to train 500 education administrators from different districts on health and safety COVID-19 protocols and what to do in an emergency.

Resources and practices included cleaning materials, safe handwashing rules, and how to wear masks effectively and keep a safe distance in class.

Children at the Zulenka Nagar Primary school in Sylhet receiving handwashing training for safe school-reopening.

Children in Sylhet on their way to school.

The education administrators shared this training with the teachers and schools in their respective districts, creating an environment that was safer and cleaner, motivating students to come back and stay in school.

COVID-19 has disrupted education in Bangladesh profoundly, but it has also opened an opportunity to build back better.

The GPE-funded program supported Bangladesh to respond to the most pressing learning needs in the face of country-wide school closures. It also looked to the future, helping to build resilience for the long term by equipping teachers and schools with the resources needed to navigate future emergencies.

Read also: World Bank feature story How schools in Bangladesh emerged as more resilient after the COVID-19 pandemic?

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The Challenges and Solutions to the Education System in Bangladesh

The education system in Bangladesh faces several challenges. Firstly, there is a lack of quality infrastructure, including inadequate classrooms, libraries, and laboratories. Secondly, a shortage of trained teachers and a high student-teacher ratio hinder effective learning. Additionally, outdated curricula and teaching methods fail to meet the demands of the modern world. Furthermore, disparities in access to education between urban and rural areas, as well as gender inequality, remain significant issues.

Overview of the education system in Bangladesh

Despite enjoying free primary education and government-provided textbooks, over 4.3 million children aged 6-15 years are not attending school, and the dropout rates are particularly high in rural areas. The existing curriculum and infrastructure need considerable improvement to create a skilled workforce capable of contributing to the country’s vision of becoming a developed nation by 2041.

Lack of proper school facilities and classrooms

Insufficient teaching materials and equipment, limited access to educational technology, low quality of teaching and outdated curriculum.

Outdated Curriculum: Another significant problem in Bangladesh’s education system is the outdated and irrelevant curriculum. The current course content does not cater to the needs of a rapidly changing world, leaving students with obsolete knowledge that may not be applicable in today’s job market. To solve this issue, involving education experts and industry professionals in the curriculum development process can help create a more relevant, skill-based curriculum that prepares students for the challenges of the 21st century. This includes updating textbooks, introducing new learning materials, and promoting digital literacy.

Absence of standardized assessments and evaluations

To address these issues, Bangladesh must invest in developing and implementing a nationally recognized assessment system, which includes regular monitoring and evaluation of student performance. This will also involve training teachers to administer these assessments effectively and equitably, as well as investing in the necessary infrastructure to ensure all students are fairly assessed. By prioritizing standardized evaluations, Bangladesh can create a more equitable and effective education system.

Lack of Vocational and Technical Education in Bangladesh

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Education system in Bangladesh needs to change

In Bangladesh, although primary education is free and the government provides the textbooks, more than 4.3 million children aged 6-15 years are not in school and around 42 million people – about 26 percent of the population – are still illiterate. Moreover, while our school enrolment rate is still high, the dropout rate is even higher. Data from the Bangladesh Bureau of Educational Information and Statistics show that, in 2020, the dropout rate was 17.2 percent at the primary level, 35.76 percent at the secondary level, and 21.16 percent at the higher secondary level. Most of these dropouts happen in rural areas. Because the quality of schools and standard of teaching there are poor, many parents feel reluctant to send their children to schools. They find the current education system to be of little use in practical life as neither textbooks nor the curriculum is relevant to their situation or match the requirements of the present job market.

 In the past few years, numerous experiments have been carried out in the name of modernising and updating our primary, secondary, and higher secondary education. Yet, the existing education curriculum is not aligned with industry needs. While schools/colleges across the globe are focusing more on soft skills such as team-building, problem-solving, critical thinking, communication, negotiation, decision-making, etc., our education system is still stuck in the past.

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Research suggests that our garments, real estate, telecommunication, information and technology sectors are facing severe shortage of skilled manpower. As a result, foreign workers are being hired. There is no specific data on outbound remittances, but industry insiders say that foreign nationals working in Bangladesh remit about USD 6 billion altogether every year to their countries.

Put education back on track

Bangladesh has a vision to become a developed nation by 2041 and to achieve that, we need skilled workers. But our education budget doesn't reflect the urgency of developing human resources. Our current expenditure on education is the lowest among South Asian countries. The country spends around 2 percent of its GDP on education, whereas India spends 4.6 percent, Afghanistan and Maldives 4.1 percent, Nepal 5.2 percent, and Bhutan spends 6.6 percent of their respective GDPs on education. Despite demands from experts to increase the allocation to between four to six percent of GDP, again we saw poor allocation for education in the national budget for FY2022-23.

The Unesco recommends spending six percent of GDP on the education sector. Bangladesh ranked 112th out of 138 countries in the Global Knowledge Index 2020. It has scored 35.9 – again the lowest among South Asian countries.

We all know that education is a major driving force of development in any modern society, and that the quality of workers is the central determining factor of economic progress. Therefore, it is important for Bangladesh to focus on improving the quality of its education – the kind of education that will help individuals acquire the knowledge and skills to meet all the needs of the jobs of today and tomorrow.

Politics of School Examinations

The government has recently been putting more emphasis on setting up technical schools and colleges in different upazilas. Undoubtedly, vocational training could be an important element for future development, and in reducing unemployment, inequality, and poverty. But our policymakers need to realise that if someone's basic education is weak, vocational training will hardly be of use to them. It is therefore necessary to redesign our primary, secondary, and higher secondary education. Pre-vocational education, information and communication technology (ICT) based education must be considered a priority area for inclusion and development from the secondary level (Class 9) to the higher secondary level (Class 12), to provide a foundation of basic skills and knowledge that will help students acquire technical skills, learn how to apply their knowledge, and use creativity in their work. Also, we should keep in mind that merely setting up technical schools and colleges is not enough. We need to ensure they have skilled teachers, lab facilities, safe and supportive learning environments and, more importantly, offer the most up‐to‐date technical, professional, and job‐oriented courses for young graduates.

 Some people in our country tend to see our large population as an asset. There is no denying the fact that the population of a country is the greatest social capital it can have. But as the saying goes, "People without education are like weapons without bullets." Research shows that, at present, about two-thirds of our total population is of working age, which means the country is going through a "demographic window of opportunity." To reap the benefits of this opportunity, our young people need to be trained properly so they can contribute to the development of the nation. Otherwise, Bangladesh may find it very difficult to achieve higher economic growth.

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Tackling the Problems of Bangladesh’s Tertiary Education Sector

LightCastle Analytics Wing

Despite massive strides in achieving admirable standards across a host of different socio-economic indicators such as infant mortality rates and gender parity in both primary and secondary education, Bangladesh still has a plethora of obstacles it needs to overcome in the tertiary education sector.[1][5] With the modern economy advancing at its current pace and automation ominously looming over the horizon, the need for quality tertiary education has never been more pronounced.

As a whole, the tertiary education sector in Bangladesh is failing to equip graduates with the skillsets current employers are demanding. [3] This “employer-skillset mismatch” translates itself into high levels of graduate unemployment. According to a recent study by the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), graduate unemployment stood at 38. [6] percent. [2] “Credential Inflation”, a phenomenon where jobs that previously did not require graduate degrees but now do, is further fueling demand for tertiary education but does nothing to address the problem of equipping graduates with the appropriate skillsets.[6] Despite this upsurge in demand, there exist depressing disparities in tertiary education attendance between the two genders as well as people from different economic backgrounds. [1]

There are 4 major pillars upon which the current problems of Bangladesh’s tertiary education sector rests.

• Lack of Quality Education: Tertiary Education Institutes (TEIs) in Bangladesh do not encourage critical thinking and primarily utilize rote-learning which encourages passivity.[1] Consequently, employers do not get the skillsets they require from graduates.
• Low Research Output: research grants as a portion of public funds is less than 1 percent. Bangladesh’s research output is considerably lower than those of other South Asian countries such as India and Pakistan, despite a strong pool of Ph.D. holders working in the country.[1]
• Inequitable Access to Tertiary Education: Bangladesh’s gross enrollment rate (GER) of 17 percent is lower than those of its South Asian neighbors in addition to being much lower than that of other Middle-Income Countries (MIC).[1] The wealthiest are disproportionately represented in TEIs and STEM enrollment rates are considerably lower than those India and Sri Lanka. [1] In addition, female attendance at TEIs is lower than that of males. [4]  

• Inadequate Financing Options: No national student loan scheme exists to help students from poorer backgrounds access tertiary education. Scholarships and waivers are the primary means of financial assistance and borrowing from relatives is a common practice for economically challenged students.[1] The former is limited in its scope and the latter is an uncertain means of financing.

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How to fix the situation.

The problems of tertiary education will have to be tackled with a robust set of institutional reforms and policy directives. Some constructive suggestions to the problem are as follows:

• Introduce modern teaching methods to universities. Using more productive teaching methods that encourage problem-solving and critical thinking will go a long way towards making graduates employable.
• Increase collaboration with the private sector and invest in better facilities such as ICT. By providing incentives to the private sector–for example, in the form of tax exemptions–university-industry collaboration can facilitate greater knowledge output as well as compensate for a lack of public funding to universities.
• Create partnerships with foreign universities. This will facilitate knowledge transfers that will also result in local TEIs being introduced to better teaching methods.
• Increase research expenditure as a proportion of tertiary education expenditure. Increasing the amount of funding available for research will increase the output of quality research papers. Facilitating collaboration with foreign institutions can help offset the lack of public funds for research in the country.
• Create opportunities to commercialize research innovations. This will incentivize research bodies and industries to work together and profit from innovation.
• Increase merit-based scholarships for students from impoverished backgrounds. Many students cannot attend tertiary education due to a lack of sufficient funds, however, this can be rectified by allocating more public funds to scholarship programs for meritorious students from disadvantaged families.
• Create a national student loan scheme, specifically targeting female students. Student loans to meritorious female students can help to achieve a more balanced gender-parity in tertiary education.
• Create demand-side incentives to promote tertiary education amongst females. For example, families will receive a monthly stipend from the government if they enroll their daughters into TEIs.
• Take steps to address food security in the primary and secondary levels of education. There is a positive causal relationship between food security and academic performance amongst students in school. If food security is addressed, students from impoverished backgrounds will perform better and this will enable them to avail higher quality tertiary education.

Successfully achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals hinges greatly on the quality of tertiary education prevalent in the country. Goal 4 (Quality Education), Goal 5 (Gender Equality, Goal 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) and Goal 10 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure) all directly depend on the state of tertiary education within a developing country. If the tertiary education sector fails to rise up to the challenges of the day, the projected development of the country across various sectors and industries will begin to face severe bottlenecks. Addressing the structural problems of the tertiary education sector will go a long towards creating a more knowledge-driven, skills-oriented and equitable economy.

• 1.  Bangladesh Tertiary Education Sector Review  – The World Bank
• 2.  Nearly 39pc university graduates jobless  – The Financial Express
• 3.  National University Graduates: Lagging behind in the job market  – The Daily Star
• 4.  Education Scenario in Bangladesh: Gender perspective  – Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics
• 5.  The Growth Equity Nexus in Bangladesh: An Analysis of Recent Events  – Bangladesh Development Studies, Volume XXXVIII, June 2015, No. 2
• 6.  Why are university graduates failing to meet market needs  – The Daily Star

WRITTEN BY: LightCastle Analytics Wing

At LightCastle, we take a systemic and data-driven approach to create opportunities for growth and impact. We are an international management consulting firm which creates systemic and data-driven opportunities for growth and impact in emerging markets. By collaborating with development partners and leveraging the power of the private sector, we strive to boost economies, inspire businesses, and change lives at scale.

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Efforts to Improve Education in Bangladesh

The State of Education in Bangladesh

In the last 10 years, there has been progress when it comes to improving education in Bangladesh. According to USAID, nearly 98% of children of primary school age are enrolled in school. In 2016, 50.9% of all enrolled students were girls, meaning total gender parity. Both of these statistics are major accomplishments but there is much more to be done to improve education in Bangladesh.

While enrollment is high, the quality of education that the children are receiving remains quite low. Reading fluency is the barometer that is used to measure a school system’s quality, and in Bangladesh, most students are unable to pass basic fluency assessments. To put exact numbers to this, USAID conducted an assessment and determined that “44% of students finish first-grade unable to read their first word and 27 % of third-grade students cannot read with comprehension.”

This lack of literacy not only puts these students at a great disadvantage but stunts prospects of economic growth for Bangladesh. Education plays a significant role in sustaining and developing countries and economies which is why USAID and the World Bank have invested in improving Bangladesh’s education system.

The World Bank’s Education Efforts

On January 18, 2021, Bangladesh signed an agreement with the World Bank, financing $6.5 million to help more than 39,000 kids receive primary school education. The package also allocates funds to vocational training schools for approximately 8,500 dropouts. Mercy Tembon, the World Bank country director for Bangladesh and Bhutan, says that the pandemic has disproportionately impacted the education of children from lower-income households. The additional financing will help slum children and vulnerable youth to build the foundations necessary to improve their lives and increase their opportunities. The World Bank has given Bangladesh the means necessary to improve the quality of their education system and thus support the greater economy.

USAID’s Educational Assistance

USAID has taken a more hands-on approach in improving the quality of education. It works directly with Bangladesh’s Ministry of Primary and Mass Education to improve early grade reading for children to ensure that all children learn to read in their first years of schooling. USAID’s education programs in Bangladesh have:

• Expanded access to schooling to almost 30,000 out-of-school children
• Increased the reading fluency of third graders by 18%
• Increased the first-word reading fluency of first graders by 36%
• Trained nearly 17,000 new teachers on how to teach early grade reading
• Issued more than two million reading materials to primary schools

Education as a Key to Poverty Reduction

Every young mind deserves the opportunity for education and with the help of the World Bank and USAID, Bangladesh has the means to offer that. Efforts to improve education in Bangladesh will uplift an entire nation. The state of education in the world is progressing and thus bringing about poverty reduction success.

– Matthew Hayden Photo: Flickr

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Bangladesh: Reducing Poverty and Sharing Prosperity

 " After I earned my diploma in computer technology from the Bangladesh Sweden Polytechnic Institute in 2008, I started my career as a computer trainer. But I wanted to be independent and help others. So I started my own firm ‘Knowledge Source Computer Learning Center.’ Today my firm gives training to people from all across the country- I am proud of my students! " — Bijaya Chakma, a beneficiary of the Skills and Training Enhancement Project (STEP), which provides technical and vocational education, and training in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh is both an inspiration and a challenge for policymakers and practitioners of development. While the income growth, human development and vulnerability reduction efforts to date have been extraordinary, Bangladesh faces daunting challenges with about 22 million people still living below the poverty line. The country is at an important juncture: with the right policies and timely action, it can move up within the middle-income bracket. The World Bank has identified job creation as the country’s top development priority. To do so, Bangladesh will need to remove the barriers to higher growth posed by low access to reliable and affordable power, poor transportation infrastructure, limited availability of serviced land, uncertain and complex business regulation, rapid urbanization and vulnerability to climate change and natural disasters, among others.

The World Bank has been a longstanding partner of Bangladesh since its independence.  The World Bank through its concessional lending arm—the International Development Association (IDA) —has committed more than $28 billion in grants, interest-free and concessional financing credits to Bangladesh. The World Bank has also been the largest external funder of Bangladesh providing over a quarter of all foreign aid to the country.  The World Bank has been supporting the government’s efforts in economic development and growth, power, infrastructure, disaster management, climate change, human and social development and poverty reduction.

The World Bank Group’s Country Partnership Framework (CPF) for 2016-2020 supports Bangladesh to achieve its vision of reaching middle-income status by its 50 th  birthday in 2021. During the period, the World Bank Group’s technical and financial assistance focuses on (i) accelerating growth by helping to remove structural bottlenecks and provide financing to increase electricity supply and improve transport connectivity; (ii) foster social inclusion by building on Bangladesh’s impressive gains in human and social development; and (iii) strengthen climate and environmental management with the aim to enhancing Bangladesh’s resilience to natural disasters, improving water and natural resource management and modernizing agriculture. The framework is anchored in the government’s seventh Five Year Plan which covers the same period.

Decades of IDA financing has contributed to the achievement of results across a range of sectors as follows:

• Net enrollment rate at the primary school level increased from 80 percent in 2000 to above 90 percent in 2015, and at secondary school level increased from from 45 percent in 2000 to around 62 percent in 2015.

IDA is the largest external funder in the education sector covering the primary, secondary, and tertiary levels, as well as technical training and vocational training, and education for the hard to reach children. , including 55 percent of poor girls supported by a range of stipend programs.

• 40 percent reduction in maternal mortality, from 194 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2010 to 320 deaths in 2000.
• 2.3 children per woman in 2014, from around 3.3 children per woman during the 1990s.
• 13,006 functioning community clinics in 2014.
• 64 percent of pregnant women receiving Ante Natal Care (ANC) from a medically trained provider in 2014, up from 53 percent in 2007.

The World Bank is aligning its financing and technical support by supporting the government’s fourth Health Nutrition Population (HNP) sector program (2017-2022). The HNP program focuses on  strengthening health system governance, management and service delivery capacities, and implemention of  essential services package, with  a focus on lagging regions — Sylhet and Chittagong Divisions.

Rural Infrastructure

• 800 km of new roads paved, 4,500 km rural roads in 26 districts maintained and 47 km of rural waterways dredged.
• Road safety engineering measures implemented and community road safety awareness-building campaign ongoing.
• 1.1 million people with access to clean water in rural areas.

IDA support for rural roads have helped people access schools and health facilities with reduced transport costs and less commute time; increased rural non-farm incomes; and created jobs for both women and men. Financing for piped and non-piped resources has improved people’s access to clean water, especially in areas with high arsenic and salinity infiltration.   

• Addition of 2,147 MW electricity to the national grid, and 100 MW to off grid through solar home systems with IDA support in the last decade. 
• More than 4 million households and shops in remote areas – such as the remote island of Sandwip — have installed solar home systems with support from IDA and other development partners.
• Expansion in pilot solar irrigation pumps, solar mini grids and other renewable energy options and ione million improved cookstoves installed.

The World Bank is providing $1.66 billion to ongoing activities in the energy sector to enhance capacity, generate clean energy, improve transmission and system operation, reduce technical losses, as well as increase access to both grid and renewable electricity.

Agriculture

• Over 1 million rural households modernizing farm practices and using new technologies with IDA support.
• 500,000 households receiving through IDA financed project to increase grain reserve to meet their post-disaster needs, and improvements in the efficiency of grain storage management.

While the country has aving one of the fastest rates of agriculture productivity growth in the world since 1995 (2.7 percent per year,  second only to China), this self-sufficiency is continuously threatened by a decrease of arable land by at least one percent per year, an increasing population and stagnating yields.

Climate Change

• 240 new cyclone shelters constructed; 387 km of embankment repaired; 501 solar irrigation pumps installed; 17,500 hectares of block plantations and 2,000 km of strip plantations completed in climate vulnerable areas.
• 40,000 people residing in saline, flood and drought prone areas have received adaptive basic needs (house, water, agriculture, health) and livelihood support.
• About 6,000 poor and forest dependent households in 200 communities participated in the alternative livelihoods support programs.

The World Bank, with IDA resources is helping Bangladesh build stronger disaster-coping mechanisms – such as schools that double as cyclone shelters – and these have significantly reduced the impact of recent storms, cyclones, and floods in terms of numbers of deaths and economic losses. The 2014 Climate Change Vulnerability Index ranks Bangladesh as the number one economy at risk to climate change. Bangladesh has been a frontrunner in adaptation and disaster preparedness.

Local Governance

• Since 2006, IDA has been supporting a nationwide program that augments the government’s block grants to the all the Union Parishads (the lowest tier of elected local government, there are 4,504).  The block grant enables Union Parishads to decide and spend on local priorities.
• Since 2006, 130 million people benefited from the discretionary funds that a Union Parishad receives annually, which has grown by more than ten-fold.
• 30 percent of the funds are managed by female members are managing 30 percent of the funds.
• More than 35,000 community schemes generating employment for poor people have been implemented, including construction or rehabilitation of rural roads, culverts, drainage and embankment systems; water and sanitation facilities; and schools and clinics.

Local government institutions in Bangladesh traditionally had a limited role in delivering services to their citizens due to limited responsibilities coupled with lack of adequate resources. Under the ongoing third project financed by IDA, block grants are being  institutionalized twith the government’s own resources and urban fiscal transfer system is being piloted in 16 municipalities.

poor and forest dependent households in 200 communities participated in the alternative livelihoods support programs.

Bank Group Contribution

IDA's portfolio in Bangladesh as of October 31, 2018, stands at $11.7 billion in 45 ongoing projects. In addition, there are 11 receipient executed trust funds totalling approximately – with a commitment amount of $74.2 million. IFC’s portfolio as of October 31, 2018 is $1.52 billion.  

Aid coordination in Bangladesh is a crucial function, given the very large number of donors working in the country. The main mechanism for in-country donor coordination is the Local Consultative Group (LCG), composed of 32 bilateral and multilateral donors and the External Relations Division of the Ministry of Finance. The LCG’s goal is to ensure effective and efficient use of external aid in line with the government’s development priorities.

Progress on the ground will ultimately require a collective effort, and the World Bank Group has forged strong partnerships with an active donor community. Harmonized joint funding includes large health and education sector programs, and Multi-Donor Trust Funds (MDTFs). The Strengthening Public Expenditure Management Program MDTF is supporting the implementation of the next phase of the Public Financial Management Strategy 2016-2021.  This includes support to the modernization of core business processes, roll out of the Integrated Budget and Accounting System, and the adoption of the new Budget and Accounts Classification System. In this phase of the MDTF, financing is provided by three development partners Department for International Development (United Kingdom), Global Affairs Canada and European Union). Discussions are under way for several development partners to provide parallel financing to support Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, and Ministry of Primary and Mass Education to improve service delivery and to strengthen fiduciary systems. Under a Single-Donor Trust Fund arrangement, the U.S. Agency for International Development provided support to the health sector through the end of December 2017 and continues to support the National Agricultural Technology Program - Phase II Project (NATP2); International Fund for Agricultural Development also provides joint funding for NATP2. 

Moving Forward

Engagements from the previous strategy that promote inclusive growth – notably in health, education, and social protection, as well as in revenue mobilization, financial sector support, and the business environment – will continue. The Country Partnership Framework (FY2016-2010) also gives greater prominence to policy reforms and makes policy dialogue an integral building block in the country program with the potential to create jobs, increase competitiveness, and boost shared prosperity.

Building on Bangladesh’s remarkable achievements to date – in reducing income poverty, improving health outcomes and educational attainment, empowering girls and women, and building the beginnings of a labor-intensive export-oriented economy that can support further gains in the near future – the World Bank will continue to work with this dynamic and resilient country, to reduce poverty and bring prosperity to all Bangladeshis, especially the poor.

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BOOK REVIEW

Issues and challenges for education reforms in bangladesh.

S. M. Rayhanul Islam

Published :

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Education is a crucial sector in any nation. Being a major investment in human capital development, it plays the critical role in long-term productivity and growth at both micro and macro levels. This explains why the state of education in Bangladesh continues to be our national discourse at all levels. It is also important to realise that discussions on education and its reforms to make it contribute meaningfully to national development should gradually and systematically move away from a politicised to a more analytical approach for revamping the educational system. The book 'Education and National Development - Selected Papers from the 2008 and 2009 Conferences on Bangladesh at Harvard University' brings together a select set of articles, which attempt to explore the major concerns in the education sector in Bangladesh. Contributed by both Bangladeshi and Western scholars, the chapters were chosen from papers presented at two conferences, "Bangladesh in the 21st Century" and "Ideas and Innovations for the Development of Bangladesh: The Next Decade," held at Harvard University in 2008 and 2009.

The book begins with the article "Education Priorities for Human Resource Centered Development in Bangladesh", authored by Dr. Manzoor Ahmed (Emeritus Professor, BRAC University & formerly a Post-Doctoral fellow at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs) and Dr. James H. Williams (George Washington University). This introductory chapter provides a broad overview of the current education scene of Bangladesh-from primary to tertiary education-and the wide range of issues they confront. The authors examine the present situation of the country's education and its challenges and prospects while exploring strategies, most importantly the need to develop human resources over the next two decades. Providing data and analysis relevant to all three levels of education - primary, secondary and tertiary - the authors argue that the current education system of Bangladesh is not equitable and that the quality and content of education do not serve the people in ways that can improve their lives; nor can its continuation help reduce poverty.

Cultivating a culture of research at the higher educational institutions (HEIs) that is contextually important and relevant is focused in the next article "Building Knowledge Enterprises and Learning Communities", by Professor Syed Saad Andaleeb (BRAC University). Dr. Andaleeb, formerly a Distinguished Professor of Marketing at Pennsylvania State University, emphasises that education is central to the development of a nation as it enables human beings to develop three things: consciousness, conscientiousness, and capability. He suggests that the HEIs in Bangladesh should serve their communities by strengthening contemporary learning where the role of research is fundamental. Professor Andaleeb warns us that unless the HEIs in Bangladesh take up this challenge and establish themselves as the heart and soul of modern learning that can be used to improve the lives of the citizens of Bangladesh, the nation will remain a "knowledge deprived society rooted in borrowed knowledge that is neither based on its [Bangladesh's] particular circumstances, nor wholly relevant."

In the third chapter, Dr. Selina Akhter (Bangladesh Civil service) and Dr. Ann Hodgkinson (University of Wollongong) examine the indirect benefits of women's education in developing countries with special attention to the case of Bangladesh. The imperative of a more inclusive education involving women that ought to modernise, democratise, and develop the nation has gained wide acceptance in Bangladesh in recent times. It is argued in this paper that educated women, through their role as mothers, indirectly contribute to the economic progress of their country. Even if educated women do not participate in the labour market, they indirectly generate long-term economic benefits by keeping the family size small, ensuring higher levels of school attainment among their children and providing better hygiene-education and nutritional benefits to their children.

The next chapter "Lack of Curricular Relevance in Secondary School Education in Bangladesh: An Evaluation" is contributed by Dr. Halimur R. Khan, an Associate Professor of Russian, currently working with the US Air Force Academy. Khan, also a graduate from Harvard Graduate School of Education, attempts to examine the high dropout rates, especially for girls, at the secondary school level and concludes that the most important and detrimental factor causing dropout is the lack of curricular relevance to the lives and activities of girls. He identifies four broad categories of problems and inadequacies in the current secondary school curriculum: i) lack of clarity and cohesion in goals, aims and objectives of learning; ii) inconsistencies and deficiencies in syllabi, textbooks and assessment; iii) lack of economic, social and cultural relevance of the curriculum; and iv) absence of effort to teach progressive cultural values. The author concludes his article with a cautionary note that unless the curriculum is made relevant immediately, children, especially girls, will continue to fall behind in their pursuit of equality in educational achievement, and ultimately society as well as nation will fail to help these girls achieve their dreams for a better life.

Professor Dr. Shafiqur M. Rahman (Allegheny College, USA) draws our attention to an age-old problem for students: why does science appear to be so difficult to learn? In the article "Adapting New Pedagogical Methods for Learning Science: An Opportunity for Bangladesh in the New Millennium", he explores better ways of learning science and investigates whether those ways can be adapted for developing countries where resources are not plentiful. Rahman examines new and more effective educational theories that have been developed in the West over the last few decades. Among these, he suggests, two can be easily and effectively used in Bangladesh to improve the learning of science: i) "Peer Instruction (PI)" developed by Eric Mazur of the Physics Department at Harvard University in the 1990s; and ii) "Just in Time Teaching (JiTT)" developed by Gregory Novak at Purdue University in the 1960s.

In his paper "Parental Choice of Qwami Madrassahs in Bangladesh", Professor Ali Riaz (Illinois State University, USA) attempts to examine the influential factors behind parental choice of sending their children to Qwami madrassahs that have long been part of the social landscape of Bangladesh. Qwami madrassahs have been at the centre of debate in both Bangladesh and the West. Many western analysts as well as the post-9/11media have a tendency to portray these privately owned institutions as incubators of terrorism and a threat to global security, even though the empirical evidence is weak. Professor Riaz's study provides insights into the understanding of the role of Qwami madrassah education that has grown phenomenally. Using an empirical study, the author finds that parents send their children to madrassahs for two main reasons: to earn Allah's grace and blessings and for a well-rewarded afterlife. An in-depth analysis of the data suggests that the perceived quality of education, proximity from home, and costs also play a key role.

In the article "Gender Stereotypes about College Majors: Prevalent Perceptions of Bangladeshi Undergraduates", Syeda Tonima Hadi (Independent University, Bangladesh and University of Hawaii at Manoa) examines an unexplored issue in education that has significant implications for the labour market as well as for social and education policy in Bangladesh. Her study reviews some 'social-structural' and 'interpersonal-interactive' factors imbedded in the socialisation process of Bangladeshi society, shaping individuals' attitudes to perceive different educational and career choices as being gender appropriate. Using 'gender role socialisation theories', Tonima argues that socialisation predetermines behaviours, perceptions and decisions of individuals in later life. The author concludes her article with a strong recommendation: "The Bangladesh labor force cannot afford to lose half of its resources - the women - if the nation aspires to achieve an equitable society: in fact, there should be no room for gender differences in the educational institutions in Bangladesh."

The final chapter of the book summarises the Panel Discussion on Education at the Conference - "Ideas and Innovations for the Development of Bangladesh: The Next Decade" held at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, in October 2009. With the plenary theme 'Quality Assurance for a 21st Century Education System', the panel suggests various strategies that our education sector ought to adopt which can help reinvent Bangladesh socially, politically, economically, culturally, and even, spiritually.

S. M. Rayhanul Islam is an independent researcher.

[email protected]

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Problems Facing Bangladesh and Solutions

• Post author: Edeh Samuel Chukwuemeka ACMC
• Post published: June 19, 2021
• Post category: Scholarly Articles

Major problems facing Bangladesh and solutions: Bangladesh is a Country in the South-East Asian region located on the bay of Bengal boarded by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma(Myanmar). Since Independence in 1971, Bangladesh has been facing multiple problems which has become a matter for world concern and therefore making it pertinent for us to address these problems in this Article, as well as suggesting solutions to mitigate these problems.

I trust by the end of this Article, you will become acquainted with the Major Social, Economic, and Political problems faced in Bangladesh, and will be able to know the way forward in eradicating these problems.

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Table of Contents

Problems facing Bangladesh as a developing country

1) Political Instability : Political Instability is a major problem in Bangladesh. According to a Research Paper by IIASS (Innovative Issues and Approaches In Social Sciences) , Bangladesh is ranking 172nd position in Political Stability with an index of -1.15. Thus showing that Bangladesh is one of the most affected countries in the World with Political Instability.

By way of definition, Political Instability is the propensity of a Government Collapse either because of Conflicts or rampant competition between various Political parties. This is a Norm in Bangladesh as there are always Political Conflicts, especially between the two major Political parties who see themselves as enemies. This problem of Political Instability has been fundamental to other problems like Corruption, Weak Governmental Institutions, Islamic terrorism, Illegal migration to and from Bangladesh, and Poverty.

2) Poverty: With a Population of 161 Million, there is a corresponding Poverty rate of 21.8% in Bangladesh, and over 40% of the Population is estimated to be living below the Poverty line.

In recent years, Low urbanization, Weak institutions, Inadequate infrastructures, Insufficient entrepreneurship, Class exploitation, Inequality, stunted Economic Growth, and Overcrowding has aggravated the problem of Poverty in Bangladesh.

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3) Overcrowding : Overcrowding has been an issue of concern in Bangladesh, no thanks to it’s ever increasing Population growth. Bangladesh is currently the 8th most populated Country in the World, having a Population above 160 Million people in 55,598 Square Mile which gives a Population density of almost 1000 people per kilometer. The population growth rate is at 1.56%, and if not checkmate will double in no distant years.

The Problem of Overcrowding in Bangladesh is not just a function of the number of density to individuals, but also the number of individuals compared to the resources they need to survive. That’s to say the ratio of Population divided by resources.

There are limited resources to cater for the Population in Bangladesh, reason why the Government imports 2.5 Million tons of Food grains each year on an average besides local production. This increasing Population growth has also led to the domestication of Lands used for Cultivation to be used for building houses to accommodate the growing Population, thereby hampering the Agricultural Sector which is a major source of Income for Citizens and the Government of Bangladesh as Agriculture contributes to One Third of the Country’s GDP.

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4) Inflation : Inflation has become a Recurrent issue in Bangladesh. According to a Survey Conducted by the Daily Star, 90% of the respondents in various Communities in Bangladesh all complained that the prices of Food stuffs such as Rice, Vegetable, Pulses, Edible Oil, Fish, Meat has increased by approximately 40%. Thus, resulting in Higher Price of Products and a Decreasing Purchasing Power.

The issue of Inflation has birthed a Multiplicity of other issues such as Decrease in the real value of Money, Shortage of goods, and discouragement of investment and savings in Bangladesh.

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5) Corruption: Corruption is one of the greatest obstacle to development in Bangladesh. It as a result of Weak Institutions in the State, Monopoly of Power, Lack of Accountability on the path of Leaders, abuse of Public Office, and wide discretionary decision making powers.

Corruption in Bangladesh is germane to the issue of Poverty, Economic and Income inequality currently witnessed in the Country.

6) Inequality: Another Problem in Bangladesh is Income and Economic inequality arising through the distribution of Income, Consumption, Wealth or Assets.

By way of Definition, Income Inequality is the extreme concentration of Wealth or Income in the hands of a small section of the population, thereby resulting in a gap between the rich and the poor. The rise of the Gini-Coefficient, a measure of Income inequality shows that the rate of Income inequality is worsening by year in Bangladesh. Thus, resulting in Increasing Poverty rate, Inequality of Opportunities, particularly Access to Healthcare, Education, Financial Services, Social Protection, and Stunted Economic growth.

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Solutions to the problems of Bangladesh

The solutions to the aforementioned problems in Bangladesh are as follows :

1) There should be Proper Formulation and Implementation of Monetary and Fiscal Policy in Bangladesh in order to narrow the gap between the Rich and the Poor thereby solving the Problem of Inequality. Further acts such as Creation of Jobs, Employment opportunities, and review of the Present Tax system in Bangladesh will go a long way in solving this problem of Economic and Income Inequality.

2) The Government should implement Plans aimed at eradicating Poverty in the Country. Such plans could include: Increasing Agricultural and Industrial Population, ensuring proper distribution of Wealth, curbing Corruption of Office holders, developing communal facilities like Water, distributing agricultural tools, and putting measures to resolve the issue of Overpopulation.

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3 ) The Government should formulate a Population Policy channeled towards solving the Problem of Overpopulation. Compulsory Education should be upheld inclusive of Female Education, thereby ensuring that Female’s participate in schooling activities thereby reducing the numbers of early Marriage.

Importantly, Citizens should engage in Family Planning as it is Impossible for the Government or any Institution to Control the issue of Overpopulation without Families getting Involved in their Family Planning.

4 )  Availability of Agricultural tools and  Inputs such as Fertilizers, Diesel should be encouraged so as to boast food availability, therefore resulting in access to food and reduction in the problem of Inflation in Bangladesh.

5) Institutions of the Government needs to be Strengthened, the Independence of the Judiciary must be strictly upheld, and the Code of Conduct and Strong Independent Oversight bodies must be put in place to further checkmate the activities of Political leaders in Bangladesh to ensure accountability, transparency, and maximum performance from these Leaders. Thus curbing the issue of Corruption prevalent in the State.

Furthermore, Dialogue should be implemented to curb the varying Political Conflicts between Political Parties in the State which has majorly contributed to Political Instability witnessed in Bangladesh today.

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In Conclusion, I must emphasize that Implementation is of essence in curbing these Problems. Therefore, Measures, Policies, and Programs must be put in place by the Government and other relevant agencies to ensure that these aforementioned solutions and other progressive solutions to the Problem of Bangladesh are adequately implemented in other to eradicate these Problems.

Edeh Samuel Chukwuemeka, ACMC, is a lawyer and a certified mediator/conciliator in Nigeria. He is also a developer with knowledge in various programming languages. Samuel is determined to leverage his skills in technology, SEO, and legal practice to revolutionize the legal profession worldwide by creating web and mobile applications that simplify legal research. Sam is also passionate about educating and providing valuable information to people.

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Chemistry Education Research and Practice

Metacognitive problem solving: exploration of students’ perspectives through the lens of multi-dimensional engagement.

Solving chemical problems entails content knowledge and mastery of problem-solving processes. However, students sometimes lack metacognitive processes required for problem solving in chemistry. This study investigated how first-year chemistry students engaged with the metacognitive problem-solving scaffold Goldilocks Help. Data was collected from an activity, which involved students reflectively comparing their problem-solving attempts to an expert solution. These comparative reflections (N = 373) were thematically analysed to investigate scaffold engagement in three dimensions: cognitive, emotional, and behavioural. Finding showed that scaffold use, coupled with self-reflection, allowed students to identify flaws in their solutions that were either problem specific or related to their problem-solving skills. Students were able to propose improvement strategies, such as posing prompting questions to themselves and finding multiple alternatives for evaluating an answer. Students, who initially lacked structured problem-solving skills, found that scaffolding helped them to slow down metacognitive processes that would otherwise be rushed through or engaged with on a surface level. Students’ resistance to the scaffold was due to fear of making a mistake or viewing the scaffold as requiring extra time and effort. Within a semester, many students demonstrated an improvement in successful and structured problem solving but some required more practice to internalise the scaffold. Our findings also indicated that students’ reflections on problem solving became more sophisticated as a result of continued exposure to the scaffold and iterative opportunities to compare their work to expert solutions, to self-assess, and to reflect. Further research on reflective writing in chemistry education should focus on the ipsative nature of such assessments, i.e. processes focussing on students’ own progress, growth, and improvement, compared to their previous performance, while recognising the power relations operationalised in course-embedded reflections. From the teaching practice perspective, having an awareness of students’ thoughts, emotions, and actions can help instructors differentiate between levels of student capabilities, mindsets, and needs for extra support, allowing teaching efforts to be directed at promoting metacognitive and structured problem solving.

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K. Vo, M. Sarkar, P. J. White and E. Yuriev, Chem. Educ. Res. Pract. , 2024, Accepted Manuscript , DOI: 10.1039/D4RP00096J

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How Georgia Tech is Using AI to Solve Sustainability Problems

Aug 21, 2024 —.

L to R, T to B: Josiah Hester, Peng Chen, Yongsheng Chen, Rosemarie Santa González, and Joe Bozeman.

- Written by Benjamin Wright -

As Georgia Tech establishes itself as a national leader in AI research and education , some researchers on campus are putting AI to work to help meet sustainability goals in a range of areas including climate change adaptation and mitigation, urban farming, food distribution, and life cycle assessments while also focusing on ways to make sure AI is used ethically and equitably.

Josiah Hester, interim associate director for Community-Engaged Research in the Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems (BBISS), sees these projects as wins from both a research standpoint and for the local, national, and global communities they could affect.

“These faculty exemplify Georgia Tech's commitment to serving and partnering with communities in our research,” he says. “Sustainability is one of the most pressing issues of our time. AI gives us new tools to build more resilient communities, but the complexities and nuances in applying this emerging suite of technologies can only be solved by community members and researchers working closely together to bridge the gap. This approach to AI for sustainability strengthens the bonds between our university and our communities and makes lasting impacts due to community buy-in.”

Flood Monitoring and Carbon Storage

Peng Chen , assistant professor in the School of Computational Science and Engineering in the College of Computing, focuses on computational mathematics, data science, scientific machine learning, and parallel computing. Chen is combining these areas of expertise to develop algorithms to assist in practical applications such as flood monitoring and carbon dioxide capture and storage.

He is currently working on a National Science Foundation (NSF) project with colleagues in Georgia Tech’s School of City and Regional Planning and from the University of South Florida to develop flood models in the St. Petersburg, Florida area. As a low-lying state with more than 8,400 miles of coastline, Florida is one of the states most at risk from sea level rise and flooding caused by extreme weather events sparked by climate change.

Chen’s novel approach to flood monitoring takes existing high-resolution hydrological and hydrographical mapping and uses machine learning to incorporate real-time updates from social media users and existing traffic cameras to run rapid, low-cost simulations using deep neural networks. Current flood monitoring software is resource and time-intensive. Chen’s goal is to produce live modeling that can be used to warn residents and allocate emergency response resources as conditions change. That information would be available to the general public through a portal his team is working on.

“This project focuses on one particular community in Florida,” Chen says, “but we hope this methodology will be transferable to other locations and situations affected by climate change.”

In addition to the flood-monitoring project in Florida, Chen and his colleagues are developing new methods to improve the reliability and cost-effectiveness of storing carbon dioxide in underground rock formations. The process is plagued with uncertainty about the porosity of the bedrock, the optimal distribution of monitoring wells, and the rate at which carbon dioxide can be injected without over-pressurizing the bedrock, leading to collapse. The new simulations are fast, inexpensive, and minimize the risk of failure, which also decreases the cost of construction.

“Traditional high-fidelity simulation using supercomputers takes hours and lots of resources,” says Chen. “Now we can run these simulations in under one minute using AI models without sacrificing accuracy. Even when you factor in AI training costs, this is a huge savings in time and financial resources.”

Flood monitoring and carbon capture are passion projects for Chen, who sees an opportunity to use artificial intelligence to increase the pace and decrease the cost of problem-solving.

“I’m very excited about the possibility of solving grand challenges in the sustainability area with AI and machine learning models,” he says. “Engineering problems are full of uncertainty, but by using this technology, we can characterize the uncertainty in new ways and propagate it throughout our predictions to optimize designs and maximize performance.”

Urban Farming and Optimization

Yongsheng Chen works at the intersection of food, energy, and water. As the Bonnie W. and Charles W. Moorman Professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering and director of the Nutrients, Energy, and Water Center for Agriculture Technology , Chen is focused on making urban agriculture technologically feasible, financially viable, and, most importantly, sustainable. To do that he’s leveraging AI to speed up the design process and optimize farming and harvesting operations.

Chen’s closed-loop hydroponic system uses anaerobically treated wastewater for fertilization and irrigation by extracting and repurposing nutrients as fertilizer before filtering the water through polymeric membranes with nano-scale pores. Advancing filtration and purification processes depends on finding the right membrane materials to selectively separate contaminants, including antibiotics and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Chen and his team are using AI and machine learning to guide membrane material selection and fabrication to make contaminant separation as efficient as possible. Similarly, AI and machine learning are assisting in developing carbon capture materials such as ionic liquids that can retain carbon dioxide generated during wastewater treatment and redirect it to hydroponics systems, boosting food productivity.

“A fundamental angle of our research is that we do not see municipal wastewater as waste,” explains Chen. “It is a resource we can treat and recover components from to supply irrigation, fertilizer, and biogas, all while reducing the amount of energy used in conventional wastewater treatment methods.”

In addition to aiding in materials development, which reduces design time and production costs, Chen is using machine learning to optimize the growing cycle of produce, maximizing nutritional value. His USDA-funded vertical farm uses autonomous robots to measure critical cultivation parameters and take pictures without destroying plants. This data helps determine optimum environmental conditions, fertilizer supply, and harvest timing, resulting in a faster-growing, optimally nutritious plant with less fertilizer waste and lower emissions.

Chen’s work has received considerable federal funding. As the Urban Resilience and Sustainability Thrust Leader within the NSF-funded AI Institute for Advances in Optimization ( AI4OPT ), he has received additional funding to foster international collaboration in digital agriculture with colleagues across the United States and in Japan, Australia, and India.

Optimizing Food Distribution

At the other end of the agricultural spectrum is postdoc Rosemarie Santa González in the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, who is conducting her research under the supervision of Professor Chelsea White and Professor Pascal Van Hentenryck , the director of Georgia Tech’s AI Hub as well as the director of AI4OPT.

Santa González is working with the Wisconsin Food Hub Cooperative to help traditional farmers get their products into the hands of consumers as efficiently as possible to reduce hunger and food waste. Preventing food waste is a priority for both the EPA and USDA. Current estimates are that 30 to 40% of the food produced in the United States ends up in landfills, which is a waste of resources on both the production end in the form of land, water, and chemical use, as well as a waste of resources when it comes to disposing of it, not to mention the impact of the greenhouses gases when wasted food decays.

To tackle this problem, Santa González and the Wisconsin Food Hub are helping small-scale farmers access refrigeration facilities and distribution chains. As part of her research, she is helping to develop AI tools that can optimize the logistics of the small-scale farmer supply chain while also making local consumers in underserved areas aware of what’s available so food doesn’t end up in landfills.

“This solution has to be accessible,” she says. “Not just in the sense that the food is accessible, but that the tools we are providing to them are accessible. The end users have to understand the tools and be able to use them. It has to be sustainable as a resource.”

Making AI accessible to people in the community is a core goal of the NSF’s AI Institute for Intelligent Cyberinfrastructure with Computational Learning in the Environment (ICICLE), one of the partners involved with the project.

“A large segment of the population we are working with, which includes historically marginalized communities, has a negative reaction to AI. They think of machines taking over, or data being stolen. Our goal is to democratize AI in these decision-support tools as we work toward the UN Sustainable Development Goal of Zero Hunger. There is so much power in these tools to solve complex problems that have very real results. More people will be fed and less food will spoil before it gets to people’s homes.”

Santa González hopes the tools they are building can be packaged and customized for food co-ops everywhere.

AI and Equity

Like Santa González, Joe Bozeman III is also focused on the ethical and sustainable deployment of AI and machine learning, especially among marginalized communities. The assistant professor in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering is an industrial ecologist committed to fostering equitable climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies. His Social Equity and Environmental Engineering Lab works to make sure researchers understand the consequences of decisions before they move from academic concepts to policy decisions, particularly those that rely on data sets involving people and communities.

“With the administration of big data, there is a human tendency to assume that more data means everything is being captured, but that's not necessarily true,” he cautions. “More data could mean we're just capturing more of the data that already exists, while new research shows that we’re not including information from marginalized communities that have historically not been brought into the decision-making process. That includes underrepresented minorities, rural populations, people with disabilities, and neurodivergent people who may not interface with data collection tools.”

Bozeman is concerned that overlooking marginalized communities in data sets will result in decisions that at best ignore them and at worst cause them direct harm.

“Our lab doesn't wait for the negative harms to occur before we start talking about them,” explains Bozeman, who holds a courtesy appointment in the School of Public Policy. “Our lab forecasts what those harms will be so decision-makers and engineers can develop technologies that consider these things.”

He focuses on urbanization, the food-energy-water nexus, and the circular economy. He has found that much of the research in those areas is conducted in a vacuum without consideration for human engagement and the impact it could have when implemented.

Bozeman is lobbying for built-in tools and safeguards to mitigate the potential for harm from researchers using AI without appropriate consideration. He already sees a disconnect between the academic world and the public. Bridging that trust gap will require ethical uses of AI.

“We have to start rigorously including their voices in our decision-making to begin gaining trust with the public again. And with that trust, we can all start moving toward sustainable development. If we don't do that, I don't care how good our engineering solutions are, we're going to miss the boat entirely on bringing along the majority of the population.”

BBISS Support

Moving forward, Hester is excited about the impact the Brooks Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems can have on AI and sustainability research through a variety of support mechanisms.

“BBISS continues to invest in faculty development and training in community-driven research strategies, including the Energy Equity, Environmental Justice, and Community Engagement Faculty Fellows Program (with the Center for Sustainable Communities Research and Education ), while empowering multidisciplinary teams to work together to solve grand engineering challenges with AI by supporting the AI+Climate Faculty Interest Group, as well as partnering with and providing administrative support for community-driven research projects.”

Brent Verrill , Research Communications Program Manager, BBISS

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