New curricula in 2013: Nahid

Some changes will be brought about in the curricula for grades VI, VII and VIII students in 2012, and new curricula will be introduced from 2013, said Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid, reports bdnews24.com. "Three sub-committees that have been formed to change and modify the curricula, have submitted draft curricula," the minister told reporters after a function Thursday. He said a new subject would be included in the curricula of grade VI. "Also, there'll be changes in two other subjects which the students will have to study from 2012." According to the minister, the drafts include a proposal for renaming 'Sociology' as 'Bangladesh and Global Studies' besides bringing some other changes in Bangla subject. The proposal to include a new subject - Information and Communication Technology (ICT) - in the curriculum of grade VI was also submitted, Nahid added. The National Curriculum and Textbook Board and Secondary Education Sector Development Project (SESDP) are working together to introduce the new curricula. Suraya Parveen, the head of the sub-committee formed to introduce ICT, said the matter of training the teachers in order to properly teach the students should be given emphasis from now on. "Or else, a fear might grip the students about the new and scientific subjects," she added. Mahbubul Huq, the head of the sub-committee to change and modify Bangla, said his sub-committee proposed to make 150 as the full marks for Bangla in both general education and madrasah education. Currently, the full mark for Bangla in general education is 200, while it is 100 for madrasah students. Head of the third sub-committee Momtazuddin Patwari, Education Secretary Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury and SESDP Director Ratan Kumar Roy were also present on the occasion.