‘Donor logic’, NGOs, ruling elite and the decolonisation of education in Bangladesh

This chapter explores the competing yet often complementary roles the ruling political elite, non-governmental organisations (NGO) and donor agencies have played in shaping the education system of Bangladesh. It argues that the network governance comprising the trio of ruling political elite, NGOs and donor agencies has shaped the education system within its colonial legacy in the post-1980s period in a manner which has resulted in education being used to serve their own political and economic interests and agendas. The chapter looks at how the notion of 'decolonisation' – an oft-quoted agenda in national-level decision making – has played out in policies of this period. It considers decolonisation as a discursive response to counterbalance the colonial effect – in this case the divisive politics of British colonial rule, which had repercussions in the post-independence subcontinent, and can be achieved through what Mignolo calls 'delinking'.