There are 30 aims, objectives, goals and principles mentioned in the Education Policy which include, among others:
To create a society free from the curse of illiteracy;
To
remove socio-economic discrimination in regards to race, religion and
creed, and to eradicate gender disparity; to develop non-communalism,
global fraternity, fellow-feeling and respect for human rights;
To
give priority to primary and secondary education; to show students the
dignity of labour; to enable them to acquire skills in vocational
education and facilitate self-employment, irrespective of educational
qualifications;
To ensure the proper context and situation in the
education system at the higher level to facilitate the ideal environment
for learning;
To ensure the education of the physically and mentally challenged learners.
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important steps regardless of the level of education are also suggested
in NEP 2010, of which mention may be made of the following:
Gradually,
programs have to be implemented at all level through the co-ordination
of the demands for different levels of socio-economic manpower,
educational qualification and expertise acquired through education.
It
is urgently required to free the educational institutions from the
influence of party politics. To realise this objective, guidelines have
to be prepared and strictly implemented.
It is necessary to prepare
some code of conduct for the teachers and learners at all levels of
education; they will be made aware of it accordingly. To do this,
different and appropriate committees must be formed. It has to be
ensured that students, at any level of education, do not face any
physical or mental abuse.
Effective co-ordination of all levels of
education and differential responsibilities for management of those
levels will be in place. There will be an effective inter-ministerial
coordination of work.
Another progressive step recommended in the
NEP is teaching common core subjects like Mathematics, Science,
Bangladesh Studies, Environment and Climate Change in all streams at the
primary level, including general, English medium, technical schools and
madrasas.
Continuity in education and reports
The question of
continuity is very vital in education and there is little scope for
placing completely new things in the world of knowledge. Not just
anybody can write a book on Physics or Chemistry to satisfy his or her
whim, ignoring the axioms and theories established through years of
research and experimentation. This is the case with the education policy
as well, which is for the most part a continuous process. Here, neither
the past can be turned down nor new innovations can be disowned. The
Qudrat-E-Khuda Commission Report of 1974 must be given due credit for
its uniqueness, forward-looking ideas, in-depth analysis and concrete
recommendations for the removal of malaise in almost all the tiers of
education including disparity and discrimination. However, we find many
things common in the education reports of Bangladesh. Not only the
Qudrat-E-Khuda Education Commission Report, almost all the reports on
education support the extension of primary school to the eighth grade
and the introduction of pre-primary education, and stress on
vocational/technical education. The reports in question include the
Interim Education Policy of 1979, Mofizuddin Report of 1988, and
Maniruzzaman Mia Report of 2003. In my view, the difference actually
lies in the approach, which has been traditionally political in nature
and has had concerns regarding implementability. In this regard, the
initiative to thrash out the difference of opinion by the government led
by Sheikh Hasina could achieve national consensus; no apparent discord
or protest was also evident during the adoption of the NEP 2010. But
many do not consider the question of implementation, particularly its
progress, satisfactory.
Photo: Star Archive
Challenges in implementation
As a member, I proposed in the first
meeting of NEP Implementation Committee to constitute an independent
body which would have a separate office either in the Ministry of
Education or outside, like NAEM, managed by people other than government
officials since they remain preoccupied with their normal work or are
overloaded. Only secretarial services from government officials were
sought. But the proposal did not receive due consideration.
The
formulation of NEP was relatively more smooth because of openness in the
process, valuable guidance from the Chair Prof. Kabir Chowdhury and the
tireless efforts, rather round the clock engagement of the Co-Chair
Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad in maintaining both the timeliness and
preciseness of the NEP draft. The services rendered by the then NAEM
Director Sk. Ekramul Kabir also deserve mention; he helped the Co-chair
especially in sorting out and copying the divergent proposals made by
some thousand individuals and organisations. As members, some of us were
given specific responsibilities such as preparing write-ups or draft on
one or more particular topic. This was done to save time and to utilise
our services in the required areas.
In regards to implementation,
isolated actions, such as not linking NEP in the decisions of the
government in the field of education, also reflect the lack of
co-ordination. For this, not even the positive actions of the government
could be circulated properly. Now that the slow pace of implementation
of the NEP is under question, ascertaining coordination and fixing
priorities is vital in the process. To mention a few:
1. Passing of the Education Policy without any further delay;
2. Establishment of a permanent statutory Education Commission;
3. Formation of Teachers' Recruitment Authority;
4. Introduction of decent, attractive pay structure/separate payscale for teachers from primary to higher education levels.
Again the challenges that stand in the way of implementing the Education Policy must also be faced with courage and vision:
1. Appropriate allocation for education;
2. Ending politicisation in education and the interference of vested quarters;
3. Linking the existing education system to the job market;
4. Taking effective steps to keep a check on brain drain;
5. Promoting science education;
6. Establishing coordination in the management of education and educational institution;
7. Ensuring the process of monitoring in every tier and stage of education;
8. Adopting effective measures to check corruption;
9. Introducing proper pre- and in-service training for teachers;
10. Ending corporal punishment of students at the hand of teachers.
The
Education Minister refers to debt servicing as a challenge to increase
education budget, though he himself supports allocating 20 percent of
the budget or 6 percent of the GDP to education. There are merits in his
contention but the political will of the government is also considered
no less important a phenomenon. Collection of revenue from utility
services like the ongoing levy on mobile phones and other avenues like
the CSR and the local self-government have also been suggested by
members of the civil society. In connection to this, Rasheda K
Choudhury, Executive Director of CAMPE and elected Board member of
Global Campaign for Education (GCE), has rightly emphasised the need to
strength participatory planning and accountability, the watchdog role of
civil society in local level education governance, academic
supervision, community engagement and monitoring.
Education can be universal and transformative
Very recently I
received a message from the office of Irina Bokova, the Director-General
of UNESCO in response to my new year greeting which reads: “On behalf
of the Director-General who is currently on an official visit abroad,
thank you very much for sending these kind greetings for 2015. In return
she has asked me to convey to you her warm wishes for good health,
wellbeing and every success in taking forward your country's ambitious
education and human development agenda. In the course of her visits, she
has had the opportunity to witness first-hand the formidable commitment
of your government to providing all children and youth with quality
education and skills, and often cites the impressive results achieved,
in particular with regard to overcoming gender disparities in education
at primary and secondary levels, as proof that with political will at
the highest level, the right policies and resources, Education can
become universal and transformative.”
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The writer is the Chairman of Initiative for Human Development (IHD),
a member organisation of Asia and South Pacific Association for Basic
and Adult Education (ASPBAE). He can be reached at ihdbd@yahoo.com
