 After completing primary education from Calcutta, Ahmed moved to Dhaka with her family.There she attended Kamrunnesa Government Girls High School and afterwards received a Bachelor of Arts from Eden Girls' College, University of Dhaka, in 1958.She then attended the College of Social Welfare and Research Center (also affiliated with Dhaka University and now an institute called the Institute of Social Welfare and Research), receiving her Master of Arts in the school's first graduating class in 1960.