Textbooks and rural schools

Since the establishment of the Bangladesh School Textbook Board, it has become the sole authority on commissioning authors to write the textbooks, edit them, print them and distribute them throughout the country. Originally, the rationale for establishing the Textbook Board was to ensure the quality of textbooks which was supposed to be of good quality and reflect the educational objectives as laid down in the syllabus. It was argued that the textbooks published by the private publishers are generally of poor quality. This argument appeared plausible and the monolithic Textbook Board was established with the total primary responsibility for the primary as well as secondary levels.

But has the textbook board been able to live up to the professed ideals? The current situation about the quality of the textbooks and their printing and distribution, etc prove it to the contrary. The textbooks in some subjects are so irrelevant and useless that they are doing more harm than good to the students.

It is common knowledge that in the rural schools, particularly in the primary schools, the teaching is of a very poor quality. The main reason for this is the poor quality of teachers who lack the basic academic background as well as the professional training for ensuring the desired learning outcomes. In this situation, it was natural to expect that the textbooks will assist the students to gain the minimum of knowledge in spite of the poor teaching by the teachers. But the experience tells us that in the rural schools the textbooks hinder the learning process rather than augmenting it.

In this respect, it would be very pertinent to mention the case of the primary level. It has been alleged that the arithmetic textbooks contain ideas and concepts which are very complex to teachers of even urban schools and it is very difficult on the part of the students to comprehend those concepts without special assistance from private tutors in most cases. One can easily surmise the condition of the rural pupils who are not likely to get academic assistance from any source. Most of the parents are illiterate and they cannot help. The school teachers are not competent as they were not trained to handle these new concepts and explain them understandably to their pupils. So the ultimate result is that in the rural schools, this arithmetic textbooks work as an stumbling block rather than an aid to learning.

Now the big question arises to whose benefit these textbooks have been introduced? Is it for the benefit of the urban schools where better teachers are available in addition to private tutoring for those who can afford? Was it justified to safeguard the interest of a small minority of urban pupils to the sheer neglect of the great majority of pupils who study in the rural schools? I am sure an impartial investigation will reveal an alarming difference in the level of achievement in the urban and the rural schools. Although this is a matter of vital importance, no study has been undertaken by the authorities concerned to know the actual situation in this respect.

It will not be a travesty of truth to say that this is another way of cheating people in the name of education. While we speak loudly about equalising educational opportunity for all, in practice we create conditions so that inequality persists and thus we make a poor deal for the unsuspecting rural people who are at a disadvantage.

As getting work done through tender is endemic in this country in all spheres of activity, textbooks are also assigned to writers through calling tenders. One can easily guess the outcome of such a process in writing textbooks. Whatever goes on in securing tenders for construction work, also goes on in getting one's book approved by the board. When a textbook on a subject is approved it is also submitted to a board of editors for editing. It is not understandable how a group of learned editors approve books which do not reflect the educational needs of the learners as well as of the society. It is obvious that even these editors who are urban-based fail to see the difficulties of the rural schools and their pupils.

Perhaps a better practice would have been to invite the reputed subject specialists, who cannot be unknown to the Textbooks Board authorities, to write suitable textbooks strictly on the basis of the syllabus approved for the subject. A carefully selected editorial board who must have the dedication and a sense of purpose to assist the learning activities of the children of the country should have been invited to edit the books and make it functional not only for the urban pupils but also for the rural pupils who are deprived of the benefit of good teaching.

The present practice of printing textbooks on newsprint which is very fragile and do not last the full academic year is wasteful. This is an indication how we neglect our children whom we like to call the future hope of the country. Elsewhere the books for the children are not only made attractive, but they are made durable also. Considering the wastage of money in other sectors, it is really a shame to print the children's books on newsprint and try to save money on that account.

The practice of changing textbooks every year again is another wasteful exercise. It is not known for whose benefit this is done. In other countries children's books are prepared in such a way that it is not necessary to change them every year. Perhaps it is enough to change them every three to five years.

Needless to mention that it is high time to pay greater attention to the effectiveness of textbooks for the primary schools as it is considered a basic learning aid in the absence of other audio-visual aids and libraries in our rural schools.

Dr Ashraf Ali is Professor and Director, IER, Dhaka University.