The Directorate of Primary Education, under the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education, and the British Council have formalised a partnership set to shape the future of primary education across Bangladesh.
Through a newly signed memorandum of understanding, this collaboration will launch a crucial initiative to support the government鈥檚 upcoming Primary Education Development Plan, said a press release on Thursday.
During the signing ceremony, Abu Noor Md. Shamsuzzaman, director general of the DPE, said, 鈥楾his collaboration is a timely and important step forward. This needs analysis conducted by the British Council will be incredibly helpful for the strategic planning of PEDP5. We look forward to more collaboration in the future.鈥�
David Knox, director, Programmes Bangladesh at the British Council, noted that the partnership build on a long and rich history of cooperation between the British Council and the government of Bangladesh, spanning more than 70 years.
He stated, 鈥極ur goal is to capture data from both rural and urban settings, recognising that the vast majority of our primary teachers are based in rural areas.鈥�
Shamresh Saha, senior programme manager, British Council, shared a detailed plan on how the initiative will be implemented based on guidance from the DPE.
The signing ceremony, facilitated by Mohammad Atiqur Rahman, additional director general, PEDP4, was underscored by the presence of high-level officials from both organisations.
One of the main goals of this partnership is to identify the initiatives, which are needed to improve the professional skills of English teachers in primary schools.
Another key aspect of this initiative is to collect data through a needs analysis, as their role is often overlooked in professional development planning.
The initiative will also assess the needs of middle-tier education officials, who provide direct support to teachers but are often overlooked in professional development planning.
The findings from this analysis will provide the DPE with vital data to make evidence-based decisions for designing the PEDP5 framework.
