What shall we be prepared for?

National Curriculum Framework 2021

AHNAF MD. SHAFEE RAHMAN | Published: May 04, 2024 21:56:49

On December 13, 2023, a seminar on 'National Curriculum 2021: Why we are worried' which was to be organised in RC Majumdar Arts Auditorium got cancelled 10 minutes prior to the event. Since then, up until now there have been criticisms not only about the 'National Curriculum Framework 2021' but also the education system of Bangladesh in general in the newspapers and social media. Most of the criticisms centred around the point of lowering the budget for education in 2023-2024 fiscal year. But there are deeper issues, which if we shed some light upon, will make us rephrase the question of that seminar and ask 'Are we worried enough?'
Since the formation of 'Qudrat-i-Khuda Commission for Education' in 1972 after independence, there has always been this objection that the budget for education is not up to the requirement. The reason this fiscal year is getting special attention is that this is the lowest budget for education in the last 15 years. The criticisms from the intellectuals are also centring around the fact that the curriculum is giving over emphasis on practical education which is lowering the time for the basic disciplines like mathematics and science. If observed closely, the situation is graver than it seems from the outside. Because, a practical approach to education actually needs more funding and with the reducing funding for education that also will not be achieved. The inclusion of disciplines like computer science and livelihood from the primary to the higher secondary level necessitates teachers who are trained in computer science and availability of technologies for education all over the country. The only question is how that is possible with the fact that the education budget of Bangladesh is 1.76 per cent of the total GDP (gross domestic product) which is lower than before when it was 1.8 per cent. The education budget of Bangladesh is one of the lowest of the least developed countries according to the report of Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD).
Getting into the subject-wise details of the National Curriculum 2021, we notice that in the language section the same problem that was prevalent in every national curriculum of Bangladesh is still there. There is more importance on communication and less importance on literature, especially in the case of the English language. But the commonsensical issue that has always been denied is that any language is mastered by the practice of that language in all forms and not only focusing on functional purpose. That is why, in the English medium education system there have always been works from English literature in the high school level. The contents and credit hours of the fundamentals of science and mathematics have been reduced for the inclusion of disciplines like computer science and livelihood. The credit hours for science and mathematics are respectively 14 and 12. The total credit hours for computer science and livelihood is 20. That alone could be acceptable if this was not mentioned in the curriculum that computer science and livelihood will be cross cuttingly connected to other disciplines outside of their credit hours. This over emphasis on technology or applied science and reducing the contents of pure science and mathematics is nothing but turning the whole education system upside down.
Before addressing the philosophy of the curriculum, a short comment could be made of the evaluation system mentioned in the curriculum. Dr. Kamrul Hasan Mamun, professor of Physics Department of University of Dhaka, in his recent interview with Drik News said that the decision that a certain portion of the marks of any student in his secondary and higher secondary examination will be given by the subject-teacher of his or her own school is disastrous. Any kind of personal marking system outside the board exam in our country has never been independent of any kind of socio-political influence. Therefore, this decision can make the whole evaluation system inherently biassed.
Before wrapping up, the philosophical underpinning of this curriculum has to be addressed a little bit. In the section of the 'National Curriculum 2021' named 'Philosophical Foundations of curriculum development', the different stream of thoughts on education was mentioned. The philosophy mostly emphasised was progressivism. Progressivism connects education to the solution of daily lives and problems for social reforms with technological innovations. The problem with progressivism is two-fold. Firstly, looking at the history of the developed countries it is undeniable that technological innovations never came without the development of pure science like physics, chemistry, mathematics, biology etc. The denial of this proposition is very much prevalent in our education system. Secondly, too much emphasis on progressivism demands these philosophical questions of what are the effects of progress and technological innovations? Isn't it true that technology is a double-edged sword? Isn't that true that the environmental degradation in the modern world happened as a consequence of the rapid growth of technology without preventive measures? What are the effects of progress and technology on human lives in Japan? Isn't Japan one of the most developed countries in the world with this distinction that suicide rate is highest in there than anywhere else? It's no wonder that radical thinkers like Paulo Freire have not been mentioned in this curriculum who spoke for freedom and challenged the present situation as the purpose of education rather than adopting it. It's no wonder that a student in this country can go through his whole student life without ever studying philosophy whereas, in countries like France, it is unimaginable to pass even high school without any basic understanding of philosophy.
Let us end the article with the question with which it started. 'Are we worried enough?' We are not. If the possible demise in the education sector happens, we have to be prepared for seeing our future generation getting ruined. The only way out, if there is any, from avoiding any disaster in our education is to consider this feature only as a step for further discussion and not as a conclusion.
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