Gazi Md. Abdur Rashid :
Pre-primary education is education that focuses on educating children from the ages of infancy until six years old. Pre-primary Education means that a enjoyable education preparation stage of under 5+ children to adopt and adjust with their next education stage and to reduce the school timidity. Actually, different kinds of kindergarten, play group and non government primary school mostly in the town area have been operating pre-primary education from many years. But there is no any pre-primary education in our government primary school. Our government has taken a great decision to start pre-primary class in our primary education all over the nation.
In 1997 Primary Education Department took a decision to open pre-primary class in our all government school for the welfare and to reduce or eradicate the timidity of our little children. For this reason, one year pre-primary education has been included in new Education Policy-2010. It allows developing a child’s personality by exposing the creativity of the child in a natural way and helps to learn that how a child can adjust with his/her peers and interact with outsiders. It ensures the physical, mental and emotional growth of the child. The child develops his cognitive skills in the scientific curriculum that nurtures the child.
Learning competencies of pre-primary education: (1) Physical and mobility: Regular walking, running, playing, physical exercise and being able to participate in various activities, to capture, draw and create different things, to work with the use and coordination of different senses, to interact and behave with adults according to social norms. To be able to mix up with friends and same age groups. (2) Social and Emotional: To be self-aware, to control and to express emotions, to be aware of morality and values, to practice the culture and heritage of Bangladesh. (3) Language and Communication: Feeling (seen and heard) and to be able to express (say and do physical gestures), reading (pre-reading), writing (pre-writing). (4) Introductory Mathematics: Getting pre-mathematical concepts, obtaining numerical concepts, writing numbers, comparing numbers, acquiring the concept of addition, obtaining subtraction concepts. (5) Creativity and Aesthetics: Being able to express creativity and aesthetics through works of arts and crafts, to express creativity and aesthetics through rhythm, dance, song, story and acting, to express aesthetics in everyday tasks. (6) Environment: To know about the various objects and events of the environment, to save the environment. (7) Science and Technology: Being a science psychic, to know about plants and animals, to learn about the technology that is always used, getting a basic idea about information and communication technology, to know about different types of vehicles. (8) Health and Safety: To do health related daily tasks and to develop a habit of eating and resting, develop a habit of staying safe and risk free.
The government has already taken various initiatives for the development of pre-primary education. One of them is to recruit teachers for the pre-primary education pattern, provide training for new recruited teachers with respect to the content of pre-primary education, schools infrastructure has been decorated due to continued pre-primary education smoothly, providing books and teaching aids relating to pre-primary education in all the schools.
(Gazi Md. Abdur Rashid, Research Officer, District Education Office, Secondary and Higher Education, Munshiganj)
