We have to work to improve the quality of education

 At a roundtable meeting on the quality of education, the speakers said that despite the progress of education in Bangladesh, it is not sustainable. They said they should continue to strive to improve the quality of education through their own talents, resources and management without looking to anyone for help or support.

The meeting titled 'Sowing Seeds in Fertile Fields: Education That Will Benefit Bangladesh' was held at Prothom Alo office in Karwan Bazar on Thursday. Organized by Prothom Alo and Morcha Mass Literacy Campaign of NGOs working on education. The speakers called upon the government, donor agencies, non-governmental organizations, teachers and all concerned to work together to improve the quality of education.

At the meeting, Primary and Mass Education Minister Mostafizur Rahman said, "Everyone at home and abroad is saying that Bangladesh has advanced in education." Achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Even after that I will say, we have to move forward with all our abilities. Let's not go too far. '

The minister thinks that the quality of education is less than the expenditure and investment. He thinks that if one learns real education, no one will be unemployed.

Rasheda K Chowdhury, a former advisor on primary and mass education and executive director of the mass literacy campaign, said the quality of primary education also controls the secondary and weaknesses in education at these two levels affect higher education. He said, "Even after getting GPA-5 now, many of the aspirants are not able to pass the university admission test. This is a great example of understanding the quality of education. "

Shyamal Kanti Ghosh, Director General of the Department of Primary Education, said that the main place of education is the classroom, teachers are the lifeblood of the classroom. So if we can ensure education in the classroom and strengthen the teacher, the quality will increase even more. He added that some people criticized the preliminary final examination. But as a result it is becoming possible to know and know the value of the student.

Manzur Ahmed, a senior adviser at BRAC University, said the primary school now has about four lakh teachers and one crore 16 lakh students. If we want to teach the children properly and maintain the learning environment in the classroom, we have to recruit two lakh more teachers at the moment. He also complained that the national education policy was not being implemented in an orderly manner.

Chowdhury Mufad Ahmed, joint secretary to the government and director of the Skills Development Project, emphasized the need to try and find ways to teach in crowded classrooms. According to him, whether the students completed the syllabus or not is now important for teachers and parents. But what they learn doesn't matter. As a result, many have risen to the third grade without learning the alphabet. By the fifth grade, only one-fourth of the students are proficient in Bengali and one-third are proficient in mathematics.

Samse Ara Hasan, head of the education program at Gana Sahay Sangstha, said education is now given to students in the first two benches in the classroom. And the teacher's goal is to finish the book. He added that teachers do not listen to all students. He opined that the quality and standard of education would not be ensured without mutual understanding between teachers and students.

Farah Kabir, the local director of ActionAid, questioned whether education should be used to create a healthy and conscious mindset or education to get a job or wealth. He said that instead of quality and standard, now there is a race to see how many students passed and how many got GPA-5.

The investment that has been made in pre-primary education is logical and its benefits will be available in the future, says Save the Children's education adviser. Habibur Rahman. However, according to him, the government, donors and the private sector must work together to make pre-primary education a success.

During the meeting, some speakers discussed the recent report of the World Bank on the quality of education in Bangladesh. Subrata Shankar Dhar, a senior education official at the World Bank, said the data from the study showed that the quality of education was linked to a wide range of factors, including geographical area, age of teachers and quality of educational institutions. He proposed to formulate and implement the policy on the basis of this information.

Mohammad Mohsin, education manager for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), said oversight of primary education was very weak. If the doctor makes a mistake, a case can be filed against him. But if a child grows up crippled because of the teacher, no action can be taken against him. He emphasized on building community learning system to improve the quality of primary education.

James Jennings, Regional Education Adviser to the Australian High Commission, has been in Bangladesh for almost four decades. He has taught in this country. According to him, once upon a time in Bangladesh the slogan was to send your child to school. Now there is no need for that publicity. He said poverty is the main reason for the dropout of children in this country.

Question about the quality of teachers: M Shamsher Ali, president of the Education Quality Assurance Foundation and former vice-chancellor of the Open University, said that even if a good teacher takes classes while standing on the floor, it can attract students. But sitting in an air-conditioned room will not create a class attraction for less qualified teachers. He added that it is not possible to exclude teachers who have less qualifications. They have to be qualified with training. According to him, it is possible to give this training through distance learning.

Kazi Saleh Ahmed, former vice-chancellor of Jahangirnagar University, said quality teachers are needed for quality education, which is very rare. He said, ‘In the classroom, Lt.