ADB AI Needs Assessment and Training for Primary Education Teachers in Bangladesh

Between August 2023 and January 2024, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), working with Bangladesh's Directorate of Primary Education under the Fourth Primary Education Development Program (PEDP4) and researchers from the University of Oxford's Department of Education, ran Bangladesh's first small-scale AI needs assessment and training exercise for primary-school teachers. The exercise surveyed teachers on their readiness and perceptions of AI-enabled pedagogy and delivered a hands-on training workshop. Results were published in December 2024 as an ADB working paper.

Assess primary-school teachers' awareness of and readiness for AI-enabled pedagogy, identify which teaching tasks could benefit from AI automation, and pilot a training workshop to address gaps.

Surveyed 1,253 primary teachers (1,224 online, 29 in person) on which pedagogies could benefit from AI-enabled automation and on their perceptions of integrating AI into teaching tasks, then delivered a hands-on training workshop to the surveyed teachers.

The survey identified concrete gaps in teacher AI awareness and highlighted specific tasks -- such as grading and preparing lesson resources -- as most suited to AI assistance. The authors noted the online-heavy sample likely over-represented better-connected teachers.

The authors explicitly characterise the findings as exploratory rather than a basis for immediate national rollout, and note the study measures teacher readiness/perceptions and workshop uptake rather than pupil learning outcomes.