Well researched and quality textbook Key to giving the nation a new look.
It is great to learn that government is planning to revamp the curriculum and textbooks at schools and colleges. According to a news report,government decided to change all the textbooks at primary level and higher secondary school level focusing more on evaluation of learning.1The new curriculum aims more on demonstration of acquired knowledge through individual task. Illustrated contents ,self and co-student evaluation will be its main features.Number of books will be lowered and at higher secondary level student of a particular discipline will be allowed to take few subjects from other disciplines.1
Government had earlier abolished number of public exams at primary and higher secondary schools. Too many exams,aimed to facilitate learning, at these levels proved disastrous and led to dependence on coaches at early level of schooling and flourishing of guidebooks. It also augmented households’ spending on education. I think government should include supplementary reading list at schools and colleges. For a particular subject, a single textbook may be chosen, but dozens more books could supplement the learning process. Avid students and institutions could include one or two of these books in classroom teaching. To facilitate the learning, government could donate funds to schools to set up library where the supplementary books will be available. Supplementary books will enhance the comprehension of the learners. In addition, such measure will dawn an array of professional educational content writers and industry.
We have been spending millions on sports to hire coaches and trainers but we do not spend a fraction to hire educational content writer, educator from abroad to train local publisher and content writers. As we have thawing relations with Russia and East European countries, we could easily engage with educators, educational content writers of these countries to help us sort out our curriculum and text books.
One textbook has to be assessed before it gets finalized. For instance, it could be introduced to some model schools and evaluated based on students' appreciation and response.
It is disappointing that we never developed a system that documents students’ understanding of educational materials round the year as reflected in exams, assignments and quiz. Such documentation and research gives you a better understanding of weaknesses in the contents,areas for improvement and how to create the next textbook. School exam papers with notes of examiners,quiz test, assignment reports and teachers’ account could be sent to institutions responsible for such documentation and research. NCTB and Ministry of Education could share and outsource the tasks to Public and Private Universities that have Institute of Educational Research/Development. Extra advantage is that research on this comes in handy during policy formulation.
Our communication satellite could also play a vital role in complementing the new curriculum. We have a 24-hour parliament channel to broadcast parliamentary activities. Yet we do not have any dedicated education channel to air educational contents. This broadcast will smooth the learning process of students who live in remote areas.Contents on popular science, popular mechanics, popular economics, chemistry,mathematics, physics could be aired to inspire mass population in science education. Contents of this channel could also be deemed as extra-class hour activities. This dedicated channel is a must and money should be attributed to this channel before construction of any new school building or any other priority project.
Another issue that is more important is legibility and comprehension of the contents. Many students of our country lack a guide at his or her home. So while reading the textbooks if he or she encounters something difficult there is a high possibility that the student needs someone to explain the matter. Contents should be well written so that none is needed to crack the mystery for the student. At class one ,two and three contents should be such that it will build the necessary repertoire of words and instruction for the elementary students who will understand future instructions and words included in the contents of the higher classes.
Before a student finishes studies of class five or six, the student will be able to use both the Bangla and English dictionaries. Sorry to say many of our students do not have access to quality dictionaries. Government could give special instruction to Bangla Academy to bring out special edition of learner’s dictionary for school goers.In addition,teachers should get proper instructions to demonstrate how to use a dictionary.
Similarly special attention should be given to create such an environment for a learner so that toys ,games and learning materials could reflect the future things that the learner will about to learn. For instance, a toy where two rectangular containers full of water fill third bigger rectangle when it is turned upside down. At a later stage,when the student will encounter the famous Pythagoras theorem memory of playing that toy will resurface in his mind and he will be able to better grasp what the theorem is all about. Similarly, school wall, rickshaw paintings,biscuits, snacks could reflect HTML coding characters like ‘@’,’#’,’{}’,'()','_' etc. Long before the student uses them ,he could at least get familiar with them. Similarly, rhyme, music could embody branching, looping and recursion techniques of coding; Lego toys could reflect the lever operations and properties of Physics. This all contributes to learning process of a student. While preparing the next curriculum we should remember this.
Unlike Bangladesh, many developing countries put education at the heart of their development agenda,mobilizing efforts and resources. They yield better benefits through improved human resources and productivity. Greatest advantage of a well-planned curriculum is to make citizens who think on the same wavelength.Net result is a more tolerant, open and confident society that withstands any challenge.
Notes And References:
1 “Paltabe pathya boi,shohoj hobe shikhon(Change in Textbooks,Learning will be Easier)”,Moshtaq Ahmed,Daily Prothom All,September 24,2021