The improvement of the standard of English throughout Bangladesh is a high priority for the Government of Bangladesh. AusAID has been supporting primary education in Bangladesh through UNICEF since 1998, and since 2004 to the Government's Second Primary Education Development Program (PEDP II).

Funded by AusAID and managed by the VIDA (Volunteering for International Development from Australia) program in consultation with UNICEF, the ELTT program presents a practical arrangement to improve the quality of teaching in both the primary and secondary education sub-sectors. The ELTT program has been designed to assist the Government of Bangladesh to develop the skills and capacity of teachers with the overarching goal of improving the standard of English in Bangladesh. This will be done through regular classroom teaching of trainee teachers; demonstration classes; and the development of appropriate training materials and pedagogic methodologies as well as the specific outcomes developed by each Host Organisation.

Bangladesh has made significant progress towards the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) particularly in halving by 2015 the proportion of people living below the poverty line (MDG 1); the achievement of universal primary education (MDG 2); the elimination of gender disparity in primary and secondary education (MDG 3) and the reduction in child mortality (MDG 4). There is however a great deal more to achieve if Bangladesh is to meet all its goals by 2015.

Working with national counterparts for up to two years in Primary (PTI; NAPE) and Secondary (TTC) Teaching Institutes across Bangladesh, English Language Teacher Trainers (ELTTs) make a significant contribution within the education sector thereby assisting the Government of Bangladesh to meet its MDG targets.