Abstract
<title>Abstract</title> <p>Amid the unregulated spread of artificial intelligence tools in Bangladeshi K-12 education, public fear over data misuse, algorithmic bias, and teacher replacement has surged. At the same time, national policy remains devoid of mandatory algorithmic audits, impact assessments, or public registries. This study constructs an evidence-based blueprint to replace panic with accountable governance. A sequential mixed-methods design integrated policy document analysis, a 230-respondent survey of teachers, parents, and education officers, content coding of 100 media items, Right to Information requests, 22 semi-structured interviews, and four case studies, benchmarked against international frameworks including the EU AI Act, NIST AI Risk Management Framework, and UNESCO guidance. Findings revealed a stark perception-reality gap: 78% of parents reported high worry, yet 94% of respondents had never witnessed an AI-related incident, and no AI tool deployed in schools had undergone an algorithmic audit. Media coverage was 73% fear-framed, with social media as the dominant information source. Stakeholders overwhelmingly rejected blanket bans, with 34% prioritising mandatory safety audits, 28% demanding a strict children’s data protection law, and 22% calling for compulsory AI literacy training. Drawing on this evidence, the article proposes a five-pillar national policy blueprint: (1) mandatory Algorithmic Impact Assessments before procurement, (2) a public national registry of assessed tools, (3) a Children’s Educational Data Protection Code, (4) universal AI literacy for teachers and students, and (5) equity-first infrastructure requirements. The blueprint offers a rights-based, auditable, and phased pathway from panic to evidence-driven governance, directly translating stakeholder demands and international best practice into a coherent regulatory architecture for Bangladesh.</p>