Renewed focus on schooling

The kind of education the Bangladeshi students receive from schools and universities is not enough to make them ready to deal with market challenges and future trends, various reports suggest.

An Asian Development Bank (ADB) survey shows that about 62 per cent of young professionals and 65 per cent of the managers in the country did not have the education required for pulling off their jobs properly.

This situation, some educators conclude, is the outcome of the failure of educational institutions to meet growing demands of the world while teaching their students.

"The number of educated but unemployed youth is on the rise in Bangladesh. This is because a good number of graduates passing out every year do not possess requisite skills, which are a must-have in the light of the changing job market and world," notes Thomas Van der Wielen, Director at International School Dhaka (ISD).

Dwelling on the possible way-out, some experts' emphasis that a renewed focus on schooling years is what Bangladesh needs to implement right now to prepare students for the challenges of tomorrow.

"The world is changing very fast, so is the job market. With changed realities, there comes the need for a more concentrated and focused curriculum that will prepare students in accordance with future demands," Ramesh Mudgal, Principal of Glenrich International School, has observed. "To minimize the existing gap between education system and the market, educators need to revisit the whole system and put more emphasis on schooling years."

"Schooling years are the times," he adds, "when the learners get the opportunity to build a strong foundation. So, this is the time when educational institutions need to inculcate the sense of life and the future demands and skills imperative to become future leaders among the learners."

More than 17 million students are believed to have been enrolled with almost 79,000 schools in the country whereas parents want their children be taught with due care right from the schooling years.

Since there is a dearth of accessible quality education, some initiatives are yet to address this problem. One such initiative is Glenrich International School (GIS) located in Dhaka city's Shatarkul area.

"A school should not limit itself to the curriculum alone. It can be motivated by the concept 'School of life' where students will be infused skills and knowledge that will help each of them to overcome the challenges of tomorrow," according to Erana Sabrin, mother of a 7-year-old student at a reputed English school in the capital.

GIS is said to have internalised the philosophy 'School of life' to develop an all-round individual who will be prepared to take on any challenge in future life and transform learners into globally competent citizens. Its features include curriculum embedded with STEM and Robotics Program in partnership with STEMROBO, Mathematics comes to life at GIS Math lab which is powered by Mathbuddy, skating rink, robotics in the curriculum, Certified music programmes by Associated Board of Royal Schools of Music (UK), language programmes with Alliance Française.

[email protected]