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Bogura: Education Minister ANM Ehsanul Hoque Milon on Tuesday inaugurated the expansion of Khan Academy Bangladesh’s digital learning programme to 100 additional schools in Bogura, Netrokona and Cox’s Bazar, stressing the need to improve students’ proficiency in mathematics and English.
Speaking at the inauguration ceremony at the Rural Development Academy (RDA) conference hall in Bogura, the minister identified weakness in mathematics as a major reason for the high failure rate in Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examinations.
“If students had been good at mathematics and English, the SSC results would have been better,” he said, appreciating Khan Academy Bangladesh for helping students overcome their difficulties in mathematics.
The minister assured the organisation of all necessary cooperation from his ministry to expand the programme further, saying the government had given education the highest priority and allocated the largest share of the national budget to the sector in the current fiscal year.
Khan Academy, a US-based global non-profit educational organisation, has been working with SAJIDA Foundation to provide digital mathematics education in Bangladesh using a teacher-first approach designed to make lessons more engaging and effective.
Before Tuesday’s expansion, the programme was running in 115 schools across seven districts: Dhaka, Narayanganj, Gazipur, Cumilla, Narsingdi, Chandpur and Panchagarh. The latest initiative will extend its reach to 100 more schools in the three new districts.
SAJIDA Foundation launched Khan Academy Bangladesh in 2025, with a long-term target of bringing the programme to 21,000 schools by 2030.
Research conducted by the Institute of Education and Research at the University of Dhaka found that students participating in the Khan Academy pilot project showed a ninefold improvement in mathematical skills, a sixfold improvement in concentration during learning and a 70 per cent increase in their ability to apply what they had learnt.
Bogura-6 MP Rezaul Karim Badsha, Education Ministry Secretary (routine charge) Dr Sardar Md Keramat Ali, Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education Director General Prof Dr Khan Moinuddin Al Mahmud Sohel, and Dhaka University Institute of Education and Research Professor Dr Shah Shamim Ahmed attended the programme as special guests.
Khan Academy Bangladesh Chief Executive Officer Azwa Nayeem also spoke at the event, while RDA Bogura Acting Director General Dr Md Abdul Majid was present, among others.
Headteachers from 50 secondary schools in Bogura, selected for orientation on the programme, attended the launch.
Rezaul Karim Badsha thanked Khan Academy and SAJIDA Foundation for including Bogura in the expansion and expressed hope that the programme would eventually reach more upazilas across the district.
Dr Sardar Md Keramat Ali said the Education Ministry would extend all possible support to Khan Academy’s nationwide expansion efforts and explore new areas of cooperation with the organisation.
Prof Dr Khan Moinuddin Al Mahmud Sohel said around 60 per cent of students failed promotion examinations at the secondary level, mainly because of weaknesses in mathematics and English.
He said Khan Academy had helped students in areas where the programme was already operating overcome their difficulties and develop greater interest in mathematics.
“We wish to expand the Khan Academy programme to all the schools and all districts. And if we are able to do that, the failure rate at the secondary level will go down by 50 per cent and the education landscape of Bangladesh would change,” he said.
SAJIDA Foundation Deputy Chief Executive Officer Md Fazlul Hoque said the foundation aimed to extend the initiative to every secondary school in the country, but stressed that strong government support and integration into the national education system would be essential to achieving that goal.