National education policy
Sunday, 5 October 2008
Dr. Jamir Chowdhury
Education Adviser Hossain Zillur Rahman made a welcome proposal to have an education summit in November, 2008 to formulate a national education policy. It would be a positive initiative to develop a methodical approach to draw a strategic plan to formulate short-term, mid-term and long-term education policies. The Advisor should invite Bangladeshi institutional researchers, planners, assessment and accreditation specialists, academicians, and experts, working abroad.
I participated in a Town Hall meeting in Chittagong during the Zia presidency (1976-77), under the leadership of Kazi Zafar, Education Advisor to Zia. In the last 30 years, the Ministry of Education organised numerous meetings, conferences, summits, and working groups. A lot of decisions were made but most of them never saw the day light. One of the reasons may be that the education ministry always lacked specialists and experts to lead with new, innovative ideas and thoughts. The ministry, with its current rigid format and structure, will never be in a position to move education sector forward in a new direction. In spite of the limitations there is a new hope that the private sector has started producing some good results in developing and improving education.
On its part, the government should develop a pragmatic policy and create a congenial environment to develop a partnership with private sector, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), foreign experts and government units to review the education sector from a holistic perspective and approach. The elementary, middle, and high school education needs to be evaluated and improved to meet the demand of the 21st century. There is a need to look into the tertiary-level education. The Advisor's proposal to form a high-powered committee to perform SWOT analysis and take appropriate actions is highly appreciated.
The Advisor should consider forming accreditation councils for various levels to deal with all matters related to quality and standard of education. The examples of Singapore, India, the USA and other developed and developing countries could be reviewed for adopting a model for Bangladesh. Bangladesh can achieve sustained progress if the nation is unified for a long term national policy and goal, based on consensus and not coloured by the partisan politics.
(The writer, director, institutional research, Qatar University, can be reached at e-mail: americamyland@gmail.com)
Education Adviser Hossain Zillur Rahman made a welcome proposal to have an education summit in November, 2008 to formulate a national education policy. It would be a positive initiative to develop a methodical approach to draw a strategic plan to formulate short-term, mid-term and long-term education policies. The Advisor should invite Bangladeshi institutional researchers, planners, assessment and accreditation specialists, academicians, and experts, working abroad.
I participated in a Town Hall meeting in Chittagong during the Zia presidency (1976-77), under the leadership of Kazi Zafar, Education Advisor to Zia. In the last 30 years, the Ministry of Education organised numerous meetings, conferences, summits, and working groups. A lot of decisions were made but most of them never saw the day light. One of the reasons may be that the education ministry always lacked specialists and experts to lead with new, innovative ideas and thoughts. The ministry, with its current rigid format and structure, will never be in a position to move education sector forward in a new direction. In spite of the limitations there is a new hope that the private sector has started producing some good results in developing and improving education.
On its part, the government should develop a pragmatic policy and create a congenial environment to develop a partnership with private sector, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), foreign experts and government units to review the education sector from a holistic perspective and approach. The elementary, middle, and high school education needs to be evaluated and improved to meet the demand of the 21st century. There is a need to look into the tertiary-level education. The Advisor's proposal to form a high-powered committee to perform SWOT analysis and take appropriate actions is highly appreciated.
The Advisor should consider forming accreditation councils for various levels to deal with all matters related to quality and standard of education. The examples of Singapore, India, the USA and other developed and developing countries could be reviewed for adopting a model for Bangladesh. Bangladesh can achieve sustained progress if the nation is unified for a long term national policy and goal, based on consensus and not coloured by the partisan politics.
(The writer, director, institutional research, Qatar University, can be reached at e-mail: americamyland@gmail.com)