Over Tk 1000 cr spent on new course training

Mahfuja Mukul: Implementation of new curriculum in the country started last year. For this, primary and secondary level teachers and staff have to spend more than thousands of taka for training. But after the change of power, the interim government said that the new curriculum was not feasible. The Ministry of Education has also announced to withdraw from it. Educationists say that the training given to implement the new curriculum can’t be applied to any other curriculum. As a result, the training provided for the new curriculum will be useless. All the money spent in this sector will go to waste.
The biggest savings will be money spent on training. If you want to know, the professor of Education and Research Institute of Dhaka University SM Hafizur Rahman told that the interim government has delayed the implementation of the new curriculum. So, the training given in the new curriculum will not have much effect. And the new curriculum and its training programs have failed for various reasons. There was no evidence that it was effective. So, it can be said that the whole money of this training was wasted. For this, it is necessary to formulate and implement the curriculum with far-reaching thinking.
Professor Sheikh Ikramul Kabir, member secretary of National Education Policy-2010 Formulation Committee spoke in the same tone. He said that the interim government has moved away from the implementation of the new curriculum and announced the evaluation according to the old curriculum (National Curriculum-2012). The reality is that the new curriculum has nothing in common with the old curriculum.
As a result, the entire money spent in this sector will be lost as the new curriculum is not implemented. And the biggest savings will be the money spent on training.
It is known from the Ministry of Education that for the implementation of the new curriculum, training is provided under the ‘Dissemination of New Curriculum Scheme’ project conducted under the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (MAUSI). Under this project, online and direct training has been given to secondary level class teachers, head teachers, trainers, education officers across the country. And the Department of Primary Education (DPE) trains class teachers, head teachers, trainers, education officers under the ‘Fourth Primary Education Development Programme’ scheme.
According to Maushi sources, under the Dissemination of New Curriculum Scheme project, more than 5 lakh teachers have been trained directly and online at the secondary level. It has cost more than Tk 829 crore. Out of this, Tk 254 crore 24 lakh was spent in the financial year 2022-23 and Tk 573 crore 77 lakh in the financial year 2023-24. However, in the current financial year (2024-25) no training has been organized yet, so no money has been spent.
When asked, Professor Syed Mahfuz Ali, Director of Dissemination of New Curriculum Scheme, told that training for the new curriculum has been stopped for the time being. Further action will be taken as directed by higher authorities.
Meanwhile, Department of Primary Education (DPE) sources say that 3 lakh 92 thousand teachers of public and private primary schools across the country were trained online to implement the new curriculum under the Fourth Primary Education Development Program project.
And physical training was given to 350,000 teachers of government primary schools. It costs Tk 199 crore 89 lakh in the financial year 2023-24. No training was conducted for the new curriculum in the current financial year (2024-25). There is no possibility of organizing any more training for now. However, DPE director general Abdus Samaddid not agree to give any statement on this matter.
In 2023, the new curriculum was implemented in classes I, VI and VII. And this year it was implemented in the second, third, eighth and ninth classes. Textbooks have been formulated experimentally in these classes. According to the preliminary plan, it was supposed to be introduced in all classes up to secondary level starting with the new curriculum in classes IV, V and 10 next year. Then in 2026 and 12th class in 2026 and 12th class, the new curriculum was supposed to be introduced.
However, there were differences of opinion among the parents, educators and teachers regarding this curriculum. Most of the criticism was about its valuation method. Because, there was no traditional examination system in this course. In this situation, the interim government said that the new curriculum is not feasible citing various problems. In the circular issued by the Ministry of Education on September 1, it is said, “According to the field experience and the opinion of the participants regarding the National Curriculum-2022, according to the information obtained from the research and survey, the lack of necessary preparation of the teachers in the implementation of this curriculum, ambiguity about the content and evaluation method, negative perception, institutional It appears that this curriculum is not feasible due to the obvious lack of capacity and various practical problems.’
If attention is drawn to the overall issue, the chairman of the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) in charge of curriculum formulation. AKM Riazul Hasan told on September 4, “The training of the new curriculum has also been done according to the new rules. Now if we go back to the previous (National Curriculum-2012) curriculum, then the training of that curriculum will be applicable. New curriculum training will not be effective in this case. He further said that no training is completely useless. But to see, why has been trained? What is the current requirement?