Modernising primary education
The primary teacher
training curriculum has not emphasised on the importance of training the teachers to teach computer skills in schools. It has been alleged that some primary school teachers are actually computer illiterate
According to an exclusive report published in this newspaper on Tuesday laptops distributed this year by the Directorate of Primary Education (DPE) for multimedia classrooms with a view to modernising primary education are facing problems related to software and hardware. It is alleged that pirated software coupled with low-quality hardware is responsible for these problems. This is not just unfortunate but an abysmal failure on part of those entrusted with the duty to distribute the laptops to the primary schools.
The authorities must make sure that those responsible for the fiasco are found out and taken to task as early as possible. Education is one sector where there simply is no scope for such a lackadaisical attitude. Important government functionaries have repeatedly said that this government will not allow any compromise regarding the quality of education. We hope that these statements do not end up being inane platitudes which in actuality mean little.
One of the much touted goals of this government is boosting the Information and Communications Technology in order to build Digital Bangladesh. The use of laptops will enhance the pupils learning experience and help them join the global digital age. Research has shown that connected laptops transform the lives of children and their families in the most remote areas. If every child in the Bangladesh has access to a computer, great potentials can be unlocked.
By giving children their very own connected laptop, we are giving them a window to the outside world, access to vast amounts of information, a way to connect with each other, and a springboard into their future. And this will also help the country to develop an essential resourceeducated, empowered children. So it is expected that the concerned departments would show the required enthusiasm to spread IT education from the primary level. And for that to happen, developing multimedia content for the classrooms is essential. Obviously if the very machines are faulty this will not ever happen.
Also, we believe that teachers to handle the laptops must first be trained to operate them properly. The primary teacher training curriculum has not emphasised on the importance of training the teachers to teach computer skills in schools. It has been alleged that some primary school teachers are actually computer illiterate.
Once restricted to upper secondary schools as computer studies, computer is now taught even to children in reception classes in many developing countries not to speak of the developed world. The policymakers here must plan to use the computers as an integral part of the class work at the primary level, and not an added activity that bears no relation to the rest of the curriculum.
