Dr. Safiqul Islam

At present, Dr. Safiqul Islam works as the Director of the BRAC Education Programme (BEP) which engages 5,000 full-time personnel, 38,000 part-time teachers and 500 partner NGOs in Bangladesh. The Education Programme comprises Pre-Primary Schools, Non-Formal Primary Schools, Materials and Capacity Development, Adolescent Development, and Post-Primary Basic And Continuing Education (PACE).

He received his Ph.D. in Economics from the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in 1985. Prior to joining BRAC in 1987, he was a Research Associate at the Center for Integrated Rural Development for Asia and Pacific (CIRDAP). At BRAC he has held different positions including Senior Research Economist. He joined the Education programme in 1995 and became its Director in 2004. Meanwhile, he worked as an International Consultant for UNICEF in Pakistan in 1997-98. In 2001, he was seconded to SIDA to work for the Directorate of Non-Formal Education of the Government of Bangladesh.

As Director, Dr. Safiqul Islam represents BRAC in national and international forums and, over the years, has authored a number of papers for presentation in these seminars. In 2011, he was invited by Qatar Foundation as a panelist on the 11-member International Committee responsible for shortlisting the inaugural WISE Prize recipient. He is also a member of different inter-departmental, senior-level technical and management committees for government and NGOs, including the World Bank’s Education Sector Country Review Group.