Quality education, the key

Over half-a-century-year-old Wills Little Flower School and College had started off as an English medium school. Later it branched out into a Bangla medium school and college, and an English section as well.

Farhana Akther Khan, section head of day shift and Zesmin Khan, section head of morning shift of Wills Little Flower English Medium section, spoke to Prothom Alo about the quality, the future and other aspects of English medium schools.
There is a debate that most students of English medium school fail to score well in the admission tests of public universities as the admission test papers are based on the Bangla medium syllabus mostly.
“There should be a level playing field for all students. Be it an English medium student or be it a Bangla medium student, the admission test paper pattern should be designed in a way so that students from both mediums can compete equally in the admission tests of public universities,” said Farhana Akhter Khan. 

What is unique about Wills Little Flower?
“Look at the view from here,” replied Farhana Akhter Khan, pointing to the greenery of the school grounds from the window of her office.
“Which school has a fountain on its grounds?” she added.
Unlike several English medium schools mushrooming in residential areas of the city, without adequate space for children to play, Wills Little Flower has sufficient grounds for its students to play.
Zesmin Khan, section head of the morning shift, thinks the rising number of English medium schools can be a positive thing if the schools ensure good quality of education.

“Let us look at the brighter side. Area wise English medium schools could be a positive thing. Here in this city, where traffic jams are an everyday ordeal, it is really cumbersome for the parents to send their children to schools far away from their residential areas,” said Zesmin Khan.
“I think it is not possible here in the city to reconstruct the school building and expand spaces for playground. Quality of education and skilled faculties are the keys. If the school can provide them good education by good teachers, students will benefit at the end of the day,” she added.
“Here in our school, students are leaning towards commerce subjects. Apparently literature is the least preferable subject for the students these days,” said Farhana Akhter Khan regarding the subject preference of the student of Wills Little Flower.
Learning English language is not as difficult as many learners presume it is, observed Farhana.
“All you need is to have the zeal to learn. Nowadays you can purchase secondhand English magazines like Time, Readers’ Digest from the book market of Nilkhet at very cheap prices. Buy these, go through them, practice reading and writing, and eventually you will be able to excel in English language. Not necessarily everybody has to get enrolled in English medium schools to have a good command over English,” she added.
The school has a long list of students to be proud of. Gowher Rizvi, foreign affairs adviser to the prime minister, is an alumnus. Then there are cricketers Naimur Rahman Durjoy, Khaled Mahmud Sujon, Mehrab Hossain, and singer Bappa Mazumder, who have had their schooling in Wills Little Flower.
A total of 2700 students are studying in the English medium section of Wills Little Flower School and College in the morning shift and the day shift.
Tuition fees of Wills Little Flower English medium section are reasonable. The monthly tuition fee is Tk 2100 and admission fee is Tk 12,000.
One of the oldest English medium schools in Dhaka, Wills Little Flower was established in 1956.