There is no sign that the draft Education Act 2016 with all its restrictive provisions has any effect on practices by all who have been targeted for punishment. Commercial coaching centres are doing roaring business, teachers are offering private tuition as they did before and note, guide and suggestion books are selling like hot cakes. There is little indication that either party is unduly concerned. But everyone of them should have panicked.
Why? The reason is simple. The draft Education Act has outlawed coaching or private tuition altogether. For violation of the provision, one is to suffer six moths' imprisonment or a fine of Tk 200,000 or both. Similar provision for punishment has been incorporated in the Act for publishing notes and guide books.
The most important changes the draft Act has sought to bring about is in the levels of education. Instead of the existing primary, junior and secondary levels, there will be pre-primary, primary and secondary tiers in which the pre-primary will be of two years and classes from I to VIII will be considered primary and up to this the education will be for free. The secondary level will start from class IX and terminate at XII. There will be fixed syllabi for general education, madrasa stream and English medium. At least a few subjects will be compulsory for all.
It is too early to comment on the merit of educating students following the format unless the more important issue of recruitment of teachers is taken into consideration. The most crucial matter is the role of teachers. Their quality in terms of their academic records, training, aptitude and leadership is the clinching factor. Instead of repeated experimentation with education and students, the need is to raise a breed of teachers who can take the challenge of teaching the young generation as competitively as is required.
Infrastructure of educational institutions is important but not as important as quality teachers. Currently, quality has been overwhelmed by commercial considerations. So there is need for taking the derailed system of education back on to the track. Only highly qualified teachers with commitment to students, education and the country can do this. Sure enough, teachers are now drawing good salaries but compared to others in government service those are still very low. It is impossible for teachers to lead a decent life what they get as emolument. Private tuition is to them what private practice is to doctors in the country. What if private practice is banned for physicians employed in government service! Shouldn't they be available at government hospitals or clinics round the clock?
Mass private coaching is one thing and helping a laggard individually is a completely different proposition. Ideally, all students should learn their lessons in classrooms. But even the best of classroom teaching cannot guarantee that all students in a class will grasp the subject taught with equal clarity. A few will falter here and there unless of course the top crops are selected for admission through admission tests. If the private tuition is applied in its strictest sense, even a father or mother will be violating the law if s/he helps his or her son or daughter with lessons the latter has difficulty in comprehending.
Certainly, there is a need for taking the reality into consideration. Class teaching has not improved a lot and without addressing it the government is going for slapping a ban on private coaching. This will simply not work. It is like putting the cart before the horse. What is practicable is to improve the quality of classroom teaching and making redundant private coaching for the majority of students. The laggards will still need private coaching and better it would be if they are helped after or before school under the supervision of the educational institutions.
The jail terms or fines will not act as a disincentive. Rather, under a crash programme the best crop of teachers should be trained intensively to arm them with repertoire for the purpose and those falling behind by a wide margin should be told to retire or absorbed in other services. At the same time a bench mark for new recruitment should be fixed so that they can take over within the next five to eight years. By then such laws can be implemented with some assurance of success.
Otherwise, the enactment of law will be an exercise in futility. Even taking action against writers and publishers of illegal notes and guide books will not meet the mandate. As long as there is demand for such services or materials, there is no certainty of dispensing with them so easily. The prerequisite is to eliminate the demand. That is the hardest task. Students have to be oriented from day one that they can think creatively and appreciate what they are asked to do. They must learn to love their studies and have to be constantly inspired to do what their talents afford them. This calls for an authentic assessment of the inherent talents in children. If they are nurtured in an environment where they get the opportunity to make the most of their talents, derailment at a later stage too becomes a rarity. To make this happen services of child psychologists will be essential for schools. Is the government ready to appoint child psychologists and expert academics capable of catching talents young?
Such a system will require far greater investment. Teachers will need special pay packages if they have to serve to their satisfaction. Without making its backup system strong and solid enough, the education act will lose its way into the wilderness.
nilratanhalder2000@ yahoo.com
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