Creative Method
Teachers lack skill, training
Govt report reveals teachers of 30pc schools unable to prepare question papers
Teachers of around 30 percent secondary schools of the country are unable to prepare question papers in creative method introduced at secondary level in 2009, revealed a government report.
Planning and Development Unit of the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE) prepared the report in March this year by monitoring 4,810 out of 18,404 institutions in nine regions under DSHE, namely Dhaka, Mymensingh, Sylhet, Chittagong, Rangpur, Rajshahi, Khulna, Barisal and Comilla.
The government has so far trained around 3.25 lakh teachers of different subjects in different phases in the creative method since its introduction in 2009.
The report showed that teachers of 1,443 out of 4,810 institutions cannot compose question papers in the creative method. These teachers buy question papers from different teachers’ associations for their school exams, the report said.
Teachers of over 53 percent schools out of 274 schools in Rajshahi region collect question papers from external sources, while teachers of 251 out of 553 schools in Barisal region cannot set questions in the method, said the report.
Over 32 percent schools — 229 out of 697 — in Dhaka region cannot prepare creative question papers either.
The government introduced the system in a bid to reduce students’ dependence on memorisation. Currently, the method is being followed in all papers except Bangla 2nd, English 1st and 2nd, and Mathematics in SSC examinations.
According to the creative method, each question in the narrative section of the book has four segments of a particular topic. Textbooks do not contain any sample questions about the segments, and only students who have thoroughly studied the books can answer those questions.
Teachers said they have difficulty preparing question papers in the creative method due to a lack of reference books and relevant literature on the method.
“The training we received in the creative method is inadequate in regard to time and concept of the method,” said a school teacher from the capital.
A study on the creative method by National Academy for Educational Management said many teachers are still not clear about this approach and that only one training session cannot make the teachers efficient.
The study published in June last year recommended giving teachers more training and providing them with reference books on the method.
-With The Daily Star input
