English being taught in Bengali !

Admin — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 04:13:14 +0000

Second part
A report, prepared by a 16-member government committee, headed by University Grants Commission member Prof. Atful Hye Shibly, has observed that English is usually being taught through Bengali in classrooms and this practice hinders proficiency in English. The committee was assigned the task of identifying the obstacles to learning English and put forth recommendations to the government.
The report, submitted to the education ministry, has been gathering dust there for the past few months. It said, “Presently, only reading and writing skills are exercised in our teaching and testing system. But it is of paramount importance to design an English education scheme, giving equal importance to reading, writing, listening and speaking,” it stated.
The committee’s report, submitted last year, stated: “The present textbooks were developed 10 to 11 years back. These books are not attractive and the contents therein are not suitable for inclusive education. It is a common phenomenon that makeshift English teachers are teaching English in schools and madrasas and those teachers do not have sufficient professional skills to conduct a successful English class.”
The committee recommended establishment of a National English Language Institute for improving communicative competence of teachers and students, including an appropriate English language teaching methodology for Bangladesh through a programme of in-service training of English teachers. It also recommended class-wise mono-lingual (English) dictionary in the curriculum as a supplementary study, modernisation of English textbooks, reform of examination systems and development of an audio-visual English classroom in all institutions.
Expressing their surprise for not having a list of English teachers, the committee recommended that a database of genuine English teachers should be maintained and sent to all English training centres. “It is seen that in the name of English teachers, institution heads usually send non-English teachers to English training programmes,” it stated.
Professor Fahima Khatun, chairman of the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education in Dhaka, said: “According to the results of the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) exams, 2011, published in May, my board’s pass percentage was 84.63. It was 77.99 per cent last year. This year, the pass percentage in the English first paper and second paper was 97 and 95, respectively while the marks were 89 and 83 in 2010.”
Professor Abul Khaleq, chairman of the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education in Sylhet, said: “Like the HSC and SSC, English has become the determinant of the percentage of pass for the newly-introduced Junior Secondary Certificate exams for Class VIII students. In the first-ever exam results published in December 2010, the pass percentage of my board was 61.97 and the percentage of unsuccessful candidates was 19 in English.”
The Independent found that the only English Language Teaching Improvement Project (ELTIP) of the education ministry has remained suspended since June last year owing to a severe funds crunch. From 2002 to early 2010, nearly 33,000 English teachers were given 21-day training under the project.
“Paying little heed to the education ministry’s request, chairpersons of the education boards have refused to fund the project. The ministry had asked the boards to provide Tk. 40 crore for the three-year ELTIP phase IV,” said M Mujibur Rahman, ELTIP project director.
“I have told the education secretary to transfer me from the project. Me and my 74 colleagues are not getting salaries since June, 2010,” said Mujib, who is also a joint secretary of the government.
Replying to a query, Professor Fahima Khatun, said: “The ministry runs a number of projects with the revenue budget. If it really considers the particular project to be important, it should provide funds from the revenue budget. Education boards cannot fund such projects because of legal barriers.”
Financed jointly by the World Bank and the Bangladesh government, SEQAEP in 2009 had introduced extra classes for English and Mathematics in 1,621 selected schools and madrasas located in remote rural areas. However, the initiative came to an end in March this year.
A circular, signed by SEQAEP director Md. Sirajul Islam, had been sent to all 121 upazila secondary education officers, directing them to stop the programme as teachers allegedly took money without arranging for extra classes. “They pocketed a considerable sum without taking extra classes.
This project has cost us Tk. 20 crore since June 2009,” said Islam.
Education minister Nurul Islam Nahid told The Independent that the ministry will bring some major changes in accordance with recommendations made by the 16-member committee.
There are more than 1.60 crore students in 82,218 primary and equivalent institutions, and over 87 lakh students in 28,140 secondary schools and madrasas.

-With The Independent input

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Schools in rural areas face English

Admin — Sun, 30 Jan 2011 03:35:22 +0000

Shortage of good English language teachers in rural schools is a significant factor that results in an increase in gap between education of urban and of rural students, educationalists say.
‘Most schools in rural area are suffering from an English teacher shortage,’ Amir Farukh Talukder, the headmaster of Nurpur Adarsha High School in Habiganj, told New Age.
‘In my school, there is no specialised English teacher. Teachers of other subjects teach English. The condition of other schools in the area is more or less the same,’ he said.
Moin Uddin, the headmaster of Shap Chari High School in Rangamati, told New Age that the reason why students from rural areas fared poorly compared with urban students was that ‘students from rural areas mainly failed in English and maths.’
‘The shortage of English teachers contributed to poor performance of rural schools,’ he said. ‘Almost every rural school has shortage of English teachers. It is not possible to improve the quality of education in rural areas without increasing the number of teachers and developing the infrastructure.’
The Junior School Certificate exams results published on December 30 showed that students outside Dhaka did far less well in the exams.
While students under the Dhaka education board had a pass rate of 80.58, under the Comilla board the pass rate was 73.56, under the Chittagong board, it was 70.26, under the Rajshahi board the pass rate was 63, under the Jessore board it was 62.45, under the Dinajpur board it was 62.18 and under the Sylhet board the pass rate was 61.97
Students under the Barisal education board were, however, an exception with a pass rate of 81.75.
The number of students scoring GPA 5 was also higher in Dhaka than in areas outside the capital.
Under the Dhaka education baord, 3,218 students scored GPA 5, under the Rajshahi board 1,508 students, under the Dinajpur board 763 students, under the Jessore board 740, under the Comilla board 624, under the Chittagong board 518, under the Barisal board 478, and under the Sylhet board 203 students scored GPA 5.
Teachers of rural schools said that in many schools, no student at all could score GPA 5.
‘It is a social problem. The poor results of rural schools indicate a class division in the education sector. Nowadays well-to-do families do not want to stay in rural areas. As result, it is only children of comparatively poor families that stay in the rural schools,’ said Professor Emeritus Serajul Islam Choudhury.
‘If children of well-to-do families had studied in rural schools, such schools would have got good teachers and good infrastructure,’ he added. ‘Schools in rural areas must be improved.’
The education minister, Nurul Islam Nahid, said, ‘The education ministry is working to bring about equality in education in rural and urban areas. We have taken various measures to bridge the gap between the education standards of rural and urban areas,’
‘But, it is not possible overnight and it will take time,’ he said.

Via: New Age

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English being taught in Bengali !

Schools in rural areas face English