Classroom Quality at Pre-Primary Level in Bangladesh: An Analysis of Structural and Process Dimensions

Posted 19th August 2026

Guest post by Sharmin Heena

Quality pre-primary education (PPE) is now seen as essential for children’s lifelong learning and well-being. Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4.2 highlights the importance of quality early childhood education for building literacy, numeracy, social-emotional skills, and school readiness. While many countries have expanded access to PPE, ensuring consistently high-quality learning environments remains a major challenge, especially where resources are limited.

My upcoming EECERA presentation explores an important question: What does classroom quality look like in Bangladesh’s pre-primary classrooms, and how do structural conditions influence pre-primary students’ learning experiences?

Transitioning from Access Expansion to Quality Enhancement

In the last ten years, Bangladesh has made strong progress in expanding pre-primary education. Government efforts have boosted enrolment and shifted the focus from just increasing access to improving quality. This commitment is clear in the recent launch of a two-year pre-primary program for four- and five-year-olds, piloted in 2023 as part of the National Education Policy 2010 and the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) 2021. The updated curriculum uses a competency-based, play-centered approach that matches current research and international standards. However, making sure all classrooms improve in quality remains a difficult task.

Examining Classroom Environments

Quality in early childhood education is about more than curriculum documents or enrolment numbers. Children’s daily experiences—such as their classrooms, teachers, and daily interactions—shape their learning. Prior research in Bangladesh has assessed the quality of pre-primary education through quantitative indicators, primarily highlighting challenges within the education system. However, less attention has been given to how different parts of classroom quality work together to affect children’s learning. This study looks at classroom quality through two contemporary dimensions:

• Structural quality, encompassing teacher characteristics and classroom conditions;

• Process quality, emphasizing interactional and instructional quality within the classroom.

Instead of considering these dimensions in isolation, the study examines how variations in structural quality affect teacher-child interactions and teaching practices.

Significance of the Research

Educational reforms work best when policies lead to real changes in classrooms. To improve the implementation of Bangladesh’s revised pre-primary curriculum, it is important to understand how structural factors shape children’s daily learning. By identifying differences in classroom quality and examining how structural and process factors relate, this study offers evidence to inform teacher training, classroom improvements, and future policies. These insights may also help other low- and middle-income countries working to improve early childhood education with limited resources.

Overview of the EECERA Session

Participants will have the opportunity to:

Examine the variation in classroom quality across structural and process dimensions within Bangladesh’s pre-primary classrooms.
Understand how teacher characteristics and classroom conditions affect interactional and instructional quality.
Engage in discussions regarding the implications of these findings for the implementation of competency-based, play-centered curricula.
Contemplate how evidence derived from classroom practice can assist in bridging the gap between policy expectations and daily teaching activities.

Integrating Research, Policy, and Practice

As Bangladesh moves forward with pre-primary education reforms, it is more important than ever to understand classroom quality. By examining both the structural factors that support teaching and children’s daily experiences, this research provides a full picture of quality in pre-primary education. I look forward to presenting these findings at EECERA and engaging in discussions on how research can contribute to more equitable, effective, and high-quality early childhood education in Bangladesh and beyond.

If you’re interested in this, you may also like:

Evertsen, C., Størksen, I., & Kucirkova, N. (2022). Professionals’ Perceptions of the Classroom Assessment Scoring System as a structure for professional community and development. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 30(5), 701–714. https://doi.org/10.1080/1350293X.2022.2031245.

Mroué, R., Masson, C., Geurten, M., & Maillart, C. (2026). Exploring the link between activity types and educator-child interaction quality in French toddler classrooms. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/1350293X.2026.2687632.

Wengman, J., & Forssman, L. (2026). Factor structure of the Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale – Third Edition and its association with structural quality in Swedish preschools. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/1350293X.2026.2635385.

About the Author

Sharmin Hena, a PhD student at Hiroshima University, Japan, has over 10 years of experience as a teacher trainer in Bangladesh’s pre-primary and primary education. She contributed to national education reforms through textbook writing, teacher guides and training module development. Her research aims to improve pre-primary education quality by examining classroom quality and the policy–practice gap. She focuses on generating evidence to support curriculum implementation, teacher development, and quality enhancement in resource-limited settings like Bangladesh.