DSHE cannot avoid responsibility for hindering implementation of  new curriculum

There have been various experiments over the education system in our country. Similarly there is no end to mismanagement in this sector. Policy makers of this sector are not as interested in implementation of the policies as formulating new policies and procedures.

The new curriculum will be launched in the new year. The pattern of learning and tests are changing. But the teachers who will implement the new curriculum have not yet been properly trained. Teachers received only one hour of subject-specific training online for teaching the students.

The implementation of the new curriculum in the first, sixth and seventh classes will begin on 1 January. The new curriculum will be introduced in the remaining grades from 2024. The outline of this curriculum was formulated last May. After that, the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) sets a target and guidelines for teacher training.

As per the guidelines, there will be three master trainers or key trainers for each subject in each district. They will train three teachers in each upazila. Those three teachers will conduct in-person training for all teachers across the country by December this year. Prothom Alo reports that so far it has been possible to train teachers in only district level.

Despite approval of the new curriculum and guidelines for teacher training being finalised a few months back, not implementing it yet is not acceptable at all. Although NCTB formulates the curriculum, it is the responsibility of the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE) to implement it, including teacher training.

However, the decision to train teachers online came at the eleventh hour with the intervention of high-level officials of the ministry of education. DSHE said that the teachers have already been informed about the outline of the new curriculum. Subject-based online training is being delivered. In the first week of January, five days of in-person training will be provided to teachers.

 There is a radical change in the new curriculum compared to the previous one. The pattern of test will also change as new subjects are added. In the new curriculum, there will be more exams (in course) in educational institutions than traditional tests from primary to higher secondary level.

Educationists feel that implementing the new curriculum is a big challenge in terms of both the new textbooks and the evaluation system. Many also have doubts about the teachers’ capability to implement the new curriculum. In this context, the most important task is to prepare the teachers for the implementation of the new curriculum by providing proper training.

It is evident that the DSHE did not take the matter of implementing the task seriously as the teachers could not be trained before the new year.

Earlier in 2008, the implementation of creative education system in the country was launched. From data so far more than 38 per cent of school teachers cannot formulate creative questions.

This is ridiculous to send the teachers into the classroom to implement a new curriculum with an hour of online training. This naivety over education, students and teachers must stop. DSHE cannot escape the responsibility of not being able to train teachers properly before the start of the new academic year.