Md Bayazid Khan :
A few weeks ago, I visited a Khasia Punji of Sreemongol upazila under Moulvibazar district. This is one of the living places of indigenous Khasi community in the remotest hill of Moulvibazar. The punji is situated at the top of the hill. Although the punji is only 20-25 Kilometers away from Sreemongol town but it takes almost two hours by jeep (only commercial transport) as to cross zigzag perilous hilly road that climbs upwards through narrow bends with more twists and turns as well as dangerous steepest downs. At the top of the hill there is a government primary school with nice teaching-learning friendly physical environment. Three female teachers and one male head teacher are working in the school to teach about 150 children of Khasi ethnic community. The school has lovely environment congenial to joyful learning as government provided with a pucca building with three class rooms, electricity facilities, multimedia projector, laptop, two separate toilets, water facilities etc. Inhabitants of the punji informed me that they have keen interest to educate their children with qualitative learning that will pave the way for promoting offspring’s lifelong journey.
Because of prevailing but preventable constraints, their offspring are depriving of getting equitable qualitative education. “Despite of having positive attitude and interest in performing duties sincerely, it is impossible for teachers, particularly female teachers, to attend school timely from town passing over terrible hilly road. Moreover, teachers have to face severe vehicle problem to travel to school. In addition, kids face difficulties to understand lessons as these are conducted in Bangla instead of our mother language” mentioned some of the parents and guardians. They thanked to government acknowledging its initiatives as a commitment to educate their children. In addition to the taken initiatives they urge to remove impediments towards fulfilling their dream of educating offspring with qualitative learning. Education is very low in the punji. This is particularly evident in this Khasi community where education of children rarely progresses past primary level. The cause of the problem can be attributed because there are no secondary schools located nearby. Only rich and conscious Khasi people send their children to secondary schools at town. On the other hand, existence of some crucial obstacles like inadequate number of teachers, absence of local community teacher and irregular teaching-learning activities at the one-off primary school are compelling children to receive inadequate learning.
Aforesaid scenario full of challenges towards ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education as well as promote lifelong learning opportunities for all is not a discrete situation of Khasi occupied area in Moulvibazar. In Bangladesh, there are so many disadvantaged vulnerable areas where minority indigenous people live in plenty like visited punji.Children of these minor ethnic community are facing challenges to receive inclusive and equitable quality education that promote lifelong journey. In addition, the country has some hard to reach areas all over the country where challenges still exist to bring success in achieving SDG 4 goal. Aiming to achieve SDG 4 goal requires ensuring of geographical inclusiveness with equitable quality education. Geographical inclusion means that students in all regions of the country should receive equity in inclusive education no matter where the community is located. And geographic inclusion in Bangladesh falls under the key dimensions of indigenous children, tea garden children, coastal area children, hoar (wetland) children, children of char (small island like area in the river), children of vulnerable families and children of the monga and flood affected areas.
The country is bound to provide support and remove all impediments regards to create opportunities of receiving qualitative education to above mentioned disadvantaged children and promoting their lifelong learning. As primary education is the base of lifelong education journey, therefore these children badly need qualitative primary education at the inception of their long education journey. But ensuring of geographical inclusion and equitable quality in primary education of aforesaid vulnerable remotest areas have challenges like shortages of teachers, unauthorized absenteeism of teachers, delay arrival & early departure by teachers, hiring janitorial staff as teacher, language problem in deliberation of teaching etc. The government is committed to achieve goal no 4 of SDG by 2030 and achievement towards ensuring qualitative inclusive primary education mostly relies on addressing said challenges.
Policy makers need to know the root causes behind acute teachers’ vacancy, dreadful unauthorized absenteeism of teachers, delay start and early finish of official school day schedule because of teachers’ late arrival and early departure in the hard to reach areas just to find out best possible problem solving effective interventions. Absence of appointing equity based local community teachers, posting of big number of female teachers, flexible transfer policy despite of getting upazila wise appointment, non-availability of frequent time consuming and cost effective vehicle/transport facilities for traveling to school, lack in smooth communication, tendency of staying at upazila head quarter far away from school, absence of lodging facilities etc are the causes behind aforesaid anomalies committed that hinder vulnerable underprivileged children to attain quality learning.
Before making policy, think tanks need to visit such areas intensively just to realize hard reality faced by teachers and students regards to provide and receive quality teaching and learning respectively. They too might be talked to the stakeholders before revisiting policy. Uniform policy can never fulfil inevitable requirements to remove all sorts of hindrances towards achieving quality leaning by children of above-mentioned areas. Policy makers may consider following initiatives to be taken:
Government may provide sufficient number of teachers to such categories of remotest schools, especially those with very small staffs (three or four teachers).Obviously, young, energetic and committed head teachers as well as assistant teachers of school areas or adjacent to school areas may be posted. After performing duties satisfactorily for a stipulated time, they should be provided price posting to the urban schools if desire.
As there is scanty possibility of posting/appointing local teachers to those schools, so beside keeping permanent head teacher with one or two assistant teachers (if available) government may think of appointing local community teachers. Local community teachers with minimum qualification (relaxing educational qualification that exists in the appointment policy) might be appointed temporarily. They might be given time to attain required level of qualification by distance learning from Bangladesh Open University. Immediately after appointment they may send to local URC to receive training on teaching method, curriculum, contents of subjects etc to make them fit for teaching. After fulfilling conditions their job might be considered for being permanent. This certainly will dispel problems like teachers’ unauthorized absence, tardiness, delay start of schedule wise teaching and language problem in deliberation of teaching.
Teachers may be provided with lucrative additional allowances like night disturbance allowance, travel allowance, food allowance etc for inspiring them to perform duties with interest. Schools might be brought under government run “School Feeding or Mid-day Hot Meal Program”. Schools might be given priority to bring under construction/reconstruction of available classrooms, wash blocks (separate for boys & girls), office room etc. NGOs may be given the responsibility of running “After or Before School Program” to help children for strengthening their understandings of daily lessons and complete homework along with prepare them for next day’s lessons. Since teachers are appointed by upazila wise therefore, there may be the provision of compulsory stay at the appointed upazila for a period of minimum five years to apply for transfer to other upazila or district fulfilling necessary terms and conditions for transfer.
Government may encourage local community by providing monetary support to hire boat for haor & char areas teachers and jeep for hilly areas teachers with a view to ensure teachers’ timely arrival and departure to school. Beside local community might be inspired to manage comfortable lodging for teachers. Government may empower the community and parents to address and establish a system of accountability with schools about teacher attendance and performance problems. Monitoring authorities might be brought under accountability to visit schools every month providing justified monetary and logistic support.
A few weeks ago, I visited a Khasia Punji of Sreemongol upazila under Moulvibazar district. This is one of the living places of indigenous Khasi community in the remotest hill of Moulvibazar. The punji is situated at the top of the hill. Although the punji is only 20-25 Kilometers away from Sreemongol town but it takes almost two hours by jeep (only commercial transport) as to cross zigzag perilous hilly road that climbs upwards through narrow bends with more twists and turns as well as dangerous steepest downs. At the top of the hill there is a government primary school with nice teaching-learning friendly physical environment. Three female teachers and one male head teacher are working in the school to teach about 150 children of Khasi ethnic community. The school has lovely environment congenial to joyful learning as government provided with a pucca building with three class rooms, electricity facilities, multimedia projector, laptop, two separate toilets, water facilities etc. Inhabitants of the punji informed me that they have keen interest to educate their children with qualitative learning that will pave the way for promoting offspring’s lifelong journey.
Because of prevailing but preventable constraints, their offspring are depriving of getting equitable qualitative education. “Despite of having positive attitude and interest in performing duties sincerely, it is impossible for teachers, particularly female teachers, to attend school timely from town passing over terrible hilly road. Moreover, teachers have to face severe vehicle problem to travel to school. In addition, kids face difficulties to understand lessons as these are conducted in Bangla instead of our mother language” mentioned some of the parents and guardians. They thanked to government acknowledging its initiatives as a commitment to educate their children. In addition to the taken initiatives they urge to remove impediments towards fulfilling their dream of educating offspring with qualitative learning. Education is very low in the punji. This is particularly evident in this Khasi community where education of children rarely progresses past primary level. The cause of the problem can be attributed because there are no secondary schools located nearby. Only rich and conscious Khasi people send their children to secondary schools at town. On the other hand, existence of some crucial obstacles like inadequate number of teachers, absence of local community teacher and irregular teaching-learning activities at the one-off primary school are compelling children to receive inadequate learning.
Aforesaid scenario full of challenges towards ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education as well as promote lifelong learning opportunities for all is not a discrete situation of Khasi occupied area in Moulvibazar. In Bangladesh, there are so many disadvantaged vulnerable areas where minority indigenous people live in plenty like visited punji.Children of these minor ethnic community are facing challenges to receive inclusive and equitable quality education that promote lifelong journey. In addition, the country has some hard to reach areas all over the country where challenges still exist to bring success in achieving SDG 4 goal. Aiming to achieve SDG 4 goal requires ensuring of geographical inclusiveness with equitable quality education. Geographical inclusion means that students in all regions of the country should receive equity in inclusive education no matter where the community is located. And geographic inclusion in Bangladesh falls under the key dimensions of indigenous children, tea garden children, coastal area children, hoar (wetland) children, children of char (small island like area in the river), children of vulnerable families and children of the monga and flood affected areas.
The country is bound to provide support and remove all impediments regards to create opportunities of receiving qualitative education to above mentioned disadvantaged children and promoting their lifelong learning. As primary education is the base of lifelong education journey, therefore these children badly need qualitative primary education at the inception of their long education journey. But ensuring of geographical inclusion and equitable quality in primary education of aforesaid vulnerable remotest areas have challenges like shortages of teachers, unauthorized absenteeism of teachers, delay arrival & early departure by teachers, hiring janitorial staff as teacher, language problem in deliberation of teaching etc. The government is committed to achieve goal no 4 of SDG by 2030 and achievement towards ensuring qualitative inclusive primary education mostly relies on addressing said challenges.
Policy makers need to know the root causes behind acute teachers’ vacancy, dreadful unauthorized absenteeism of teachers, delay start and early finish of official school day schedule because of teachers’ late arrival and early departure in the hard to reach areas just to find out best possible problem solving effective interventions. Absence of appointing equity based local community teachers, posting of big number of female teachers, flexible transfer policy despite of getting upazila wise appointment, non-availability of frequent time consuming and cost effective vehicle/transport facilities for traveling to school, lack in smooth communication, tendency of staying at upazila head quarter far away from school, absence of lodging facilities etc are the causes behind aforesaid anomalies committed that hinder vulnerable underprivileged children to attain quality learning.
Before making policy, think tanks need to visit such areas intensively just to realize hard reality faced by teachers and students regards to provide and receive quality teaching and learning respectively. They too might be talked to the stakeholders before revisiting policy. Uniform policy can never fulfil inevitable requirements to remove all sorts of hindrances towards achieving quality leaning by children of above-mentioned areas. Policy makers may consider following initiatives to be taken:
Government may provide sufficient number of teachers to such categories of remotest schools, especially those with very small staffs (three or four teachers).Obviously, young, energetic and committed head teachers as well as assistant teachers of school areas or adjacent to school areas may be posted. After performing duties satisfactorily for a stipulated time, they should be provided price posting to the urban schools if desire.
As there is scanty possibility of posting/appointing local teachers to those schools, so beside keeping permanent head teacher with one or two assistant teachers (if available) government may think of appointing local community teachers. Local community teachers with minimum qualification (relaxing educational qualification that exists in the appointment policy) might be appointed temporarily. They might be given time to attain required level of qualification by distance learning from Bangladesh Open University. Immediately after appointment they may send to local URC to receive training on teaching method, curriculum, contents of subjects etc to make them fit for teaching. After fulfilling conditions their job might be considered for being permanent. This certainly will dispel problems like teachers’ unauthorized absence, tardiness, delay start of schedule wise teaching and language problem in deliberation of teaching.
Teachers may be provided with lucrative additional allowances like night disturbance allowance, travel allowance, food allowance etc for inspiring them to perform duties with interest. Schools might be brought under government run “School Feeding or Mid-day Hot Meal Program”. Schools might be given priority to bring under construction/reconstruction of available classrooms, wash blocks (separate for boys & girls), office room etc. NGOs may be given the responsibility of running “After or Before School Program” to help children for strengthening their understandings of daily lessons and complete homework along with prepare them for next day’s lessons. Since teachers are appointed by upazila wise therefore, there may be the provision of compulsory stay at the appointed upazila for a period of minimum five years to apply for transfer to other upazila or district fulfilling necessary terms and conditions for transfer.
Government may encourage local community by providing monetary support to hire boat for haor & char areas teachers and jeep for hilly areas teachers with a view to ensure teachers’ timely arrival and departure to school. Beside local community might be inspired to manage comfortable lodging for teachers. Government may empower the community and parents to address and establish a system of accountability with schools about teacher attendance and performance problems. Monitoring authorities might be brought under accountability to visit schools every month providing justified monetary and logistic support.
(Md Bayazid Khan works for primary education; email: [email protected])
