It is heartening to note that the government is going to bring about substantial changes in textbooks in order to make our education system more competent in the job market. For competing in the modern job market, bringing about necessary changes in our textbooks has been long overdue.
While addressing the inaugural ceremony of Education Reporters Association's 'Best Reporting Award-2020', Education Minister Dr Dipu Moni rightly said our textbooks have nothing to do with the present reality and
which is why many graduates struggle to land suitable job.
Bangladesh has achieved a remarkable success in gender parity in school enrolment with more girls joining school than boys. Undoubtedly, the country has a great potential to create a globally competitive workforce by investing more in education. But despite Bangladesh’s notable success in bringing nearly all children across the country to primary school, the quality of education being imparted to our students remains a cause of grave concern.
Nurturing skills still has not
been an area explored by
our alma mater
Many graduates in Bangladesh find it hard to find good jobs because of the sheer inconsistency between the education system and job market. The country should address this crisis by investing more in education and ensuring effective utilization of the investment.
We receive theoretical knowledge under local boards (SSC, HSC, Dakhil) or foreign boards such as Edexcel, Cambridge. But nurturing skills however still has not been an area explored by our alma mater. Reports tell us that over 40 per cent of our high school teachers cannot prepare creative questions and 55 per cent of them do not understand critical education methods. It is discouraging to learn that more than 50 per cent of English and mathematics teachers in secondary schools aren't equipped with any proper training in their respective subjects. Such a large number of unskilled teachers are degrading the quality of education being imparted to students across the country. The Ministry of Education must address the urgency of incorporating new training institutes and improving the functions of the existing ones.
To ensure quality education and create a skilled workforce Bangladesh needs to invest more in education sector. We have long been longing for reform and rectification of flawed education system. We hope the government will give its best to rejig our education system to make it more consistent with the job market.