Manzoor Ahmed

Which five tasks should be on top of the list of someone appointed as the education tsar of Bangladesh? The question was posed by Dr. Binayak Sen, Director General of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies in a public discussion about this writer’s recent book  Ekush Shotoke Bangladesh -- Shikkhar Rupantor (Bangladesh in the 21st Century – Transformation of Education, published by Prothoma).

The new round of curricular reform and textbook re-writing has given rise to a spate of debate, pointing to different kinds of problems with the new initiative.

The education that a child can acquire is currently a matter of how much his/her family can pay.

Politics has been captured by the nexus of an oligopoly of business interests and the willingly colluding political class.

In 2008, the party promised to achieve ambitious goals. So, what have we achieved after over a decade?

The HSC milestone is more a source of anxiety and premonition for the large majority of young people.

We may be witnessing a deja vu with the new curriculum.

It needs to recognise both the challenges and the opportunities.

The credibility and significance of literacy rates become questionable when seen in the light of primary education outcomes and the character of the literacy projects undertaken so far.

The debate about control of education has become more intense across the globe, manifesting in varying ways in different historical and socio-political contexts.

To what extent do the top scorers’ performance represent the performance of their schools and teachers?

Teachers have been carrying out sit-ins in front of the National Press Club and being subjected to coercion by police to restrain them.

Our education decision-makers have a narrative that largely denies any serious deficiency in the system.

The new budget has not displayed cognisance of the need for post-pandemic recovery and remedial actions.

AI and edtech can be helpful for our students in an inclusive manner when the plans and programmes in this respect recognise the basic and long-standing weaknesses in the system.

This isn't the first time that regulations and directives have been issued by education authorities regarding bullying. The question is if and how the new directive can make a difference.

Both countries have had a single-minded focus on GDP growth, with not enough attention to jobs, climate, the distribution effects and the destructive impact of crony capitalism.

Cultivating research mindset and critical thinking among students is important, but does this require foregoing the necessary academic routine of “teaching a course, administering tests, and grading students”?

Two recent studies under government auspices have confirmed the warnings given by Education Watch.

Curriculum and textbook renewal is not and should not be something that has to start from scratch.