Dr. ForqanUddin Ahmed :
Generally speaking, education in Bangladesh today is greatly dependent on rote learning. It is heavily examination-oriented, with very little contribution of libraries, laboratories and the outside world of education. The pedagogy that is widely practiced is teacher-centered and evaluation and testing follows the traditional, rigid system of rewarding faithful reproduction of lessons learnt. Research in higher education is mostly done by the faculty, with not much option given to students, especially in humanities and many areas of social science and law. Students are encouraged to memorize key information and facts, finish the allotted number of subjects and courses in time, and prepare for different exams. The main thrust is on passing the high-stake exams and getting into the job market, although the jobs might entail very different expertise and skills than what the students had picked up in their educational institutions. Students are also not ethically and culturally endowed, and, with their generally unsatisfactory language abilities, face problems in communicating meaningfully. Not every graduate finds a job – they only further swell the ranks of the unemployed every year. Unfortunately our education is failing to develop all around capabilities, knowledge and skills required for our graduates to compete even in the local market, let alone in the global arena. If even one third of our migrant workers who provide a lifeline to our economy, were given those abilities by our education, their remittances would have increased manifold, allowing the country to further improve our education and economy, making it unnecessary for the migrants to work for survival in such an inhuman conditions as they do now.
The curriculum enables a learner to feel, see, draw and describe perfectly how an elephant looks like. Our learners must be prepared accordingly. In the current situation, our learners prove themselves as examinees, not learners. So, some of them feel an elephant is just like a thumb, some feel it is just like a stick, whereas some think of it as a big ear and rope. They cannot form a clear idea about an elephant. Education is the process of facilitating learning or the acquisition of knowledge, skill, values, beliefs, and habits. There lays no alternative to advance the social system through proper channels to build up skilled manpower. For that purpose, an education system needs to be life-oriented, welfare-oriented. A planned education system calls for social and economic development. Skilled manpower is the prime necessity of sustainable development of a country that assigns to develop manpower equipped with quality and suitability to face the 21st-century challenges.
With drastic changes in syllabus design, testing and evaluation and pedagogy, students will not be tested solely on half-yearly and yearly sit-down exams, nor will they be forced to rote-learn, but there will be plenty of scope for creativity and imagination. Primary schools may set up clubs- for example, book reading club, nature club, adventure club, cultural club and creative activities club as well as various debate and sports clubs- and students be required to join at least two of them. Students will actively participate in club activities which will be geared towards enhancing their knowledge, communication and social skills. For example, nature club students will visit a forest or a river under the guidance of a teacher and write about what they see- plants, flowers, birds, animals etc. and will also make power point presentation on their visit. They will be asked to explore the internet for further information. The club activities and presentations will be evaluated, and may count for 40 per cent of the total examination marks. Similarly, through Scout and Girl Guide activities, student will learn discipline and ethical conduct. A day may be set for club activities. The schools will organize different kind of exhibitions and festivities throughout the year. Once the students find schools a wholesome and enjoyable place, they will find pleasure in learning. If the students are able to express their thoughts accurately and clearly in both standard Bengali and English, they will develop self confidence.
Before embarking on the plan for a new education era, it is important to assess the state of education of the country to see how we are faring, what the problems and limitations are, and how we can overcome them. If teaching as a profession is made attractive and secure with a compensation packages that take care of every need of the teachers, there will be no shortage of talented and dedicated teachers who will give their best to bring the required changes in our education. Improvement of education in the current global village requires improvement of teaching system. For this, all the teachers of the school, college and madrasa need to know the technical and advanced class management of modern teaching method teaching process can be attractive and self-motivating to students by following appropriate methods and techniques. In order to make teaching successful, effective and productive, it is not only necessary to give a lecture in the classroom with a college-university degree; the teacher must also know the technique and proper classification of modern teaching methods.
(The writer is former Deputy Director General, Bangladesh
Ansar & VDP).
