State Minister for Primary and Mass Education Bobby Hajjaj has said 14,000 recommended primary teachers will return to classrooms within the next four to six months after completing their training.
"From now on, no teacher will be allowed to enter the classroom without having the necessary training in order to improve the quality of teaching in primary schools," said the state minister.
He said "We have already taken steps to ensure that untrained teachers do not go to classrooms. Following this decision, 14,500 teachers have protested against me. However, we remain firm in our position. They will return to the classrooms within the next four to six months after finishing their training."
Mr. Bobby Hajjaj made these remarks during a dialogue titled "Government Priorities and the Education Sector: Budget and Reality", which was held at the Bangabandhu International Conference Center (BICC) in the capital on Thursday.
The dialogue was organised by the Citizen's Platform.
Dr. Debapriya Bhattacharya, Convenor of the Citizen's Platform for SDGs and Distinguished Fellow at the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), chaired the event.
Barrister Rumeen Farhana MP, Dr Shafiqul Islam Masud MP and Rasheda K Choudhury, Executive Director of the Campaign for Popular Education (CAMPE), among others, also spoke on the occasion.
Describing the current state of the education sector as "fragile," the state minister said the sector has been destroyed over the past few years.
Speaking as the chief guest at the event, he said the government is currently working on repairing it.
Announcing that work has begun to form a "Regulatory Board" or supervisory council to oversee private schools, he said, adding that discussions regarding it would begin with relevant stakeholders, including English medium schools, on May 14.
Barrister Rumeen Farhana said she witnessed high moral principles among teachers during her time, but such moral standards have now declined.
Politicisation is now prevalent everywhere, from school management committees to the posts of university vice-chancellors, she observed.
"If politics is not on the right track, nothing will be repaired", said the lawmaker.
Dr Shafiqul Islam Masud said 'training of trainers" should be ensured and emphasised that suppliers of midday meals must be free from political involvement.
Stressing the need for quality education, he suggested restructuring the education system based on a national consensus.
While presenting a keynote paper, CPD's Additional Director (Research) Towfiqul Islam Khan said reforms are needed in the education sector.
Once the education sector saw allocation of 2.0 per cent of the GDP (gross domestic product), it has now declined to 1.8 per cent, Mr. Khan mentioned.
Rasheda K. Choudhury called for a transparent education budget and keeping school management committees free from political influence.
She said private schools should be managed by a dedicated body and suggested introducing guardian-managed midday meal programmes in line with India's experience.
She also expressed concern over growing moral degradation in the society.
Dr. Debapriya Bhattacharya said a new movement is necessary to improve the quality of education in the country and to address the challenges of the future labor market.
Simply students' enrolment in schools is not enough, Dr. Bhattacharya said, adding that the primary concern now is the quality of the students graduating from educational institutions.
Citing data from a recent study on the future labour market, he said due to technological shifts -- including AI and robotics -- about 5.6 million jobs could be lost in the coming days. Conversely, 5.0 million new jobs will also be created, he added.
He raised his concerns over whether the country's youths are prepared for these new types of employment.
Civil society member Professor Anu Muhammad, Dr. Nilufar Chowdhury Moni, Dr Mahmuda Alam Mitu MP and Mardia Mumtaz MP, among others, also spoke on the occasion.
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