Proliferating English-Medium Schools in Bangladesh and Their Educational Significance Among the “Clientele”

This paper investigates clientele’s perception of choosing English-medium schools in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It surveys students, parents, teachers, and principals from both English and Bengali-medium schools. The clientele of these schools has cognizance of international examinations and inextricably associate themselves with the international community as it gives them diverse opportunities and upward mobility. The findings highlight English-medium schools as a launching pad to go abroad. It is also clear that English-medium schools in Bangladesh are only available to the elite, unlike many other developing countries where even the poor can ‘buy’ English-medium education through ‘low-fee English-medium schools.’