Sheikh Iraj

Nowadays, throughout the world teaching methods of different languages are being modernised. And Bangladesh is no exception, from introducing digital and Braille books to textbooks in ethnic minority languages to make learning more interesting and effective. As we celebrate International Mother Language Day on February 21, Y&I takes a look at recent efforts to upgrade language teaching in Bangladesh.
Every year, the government distributes free textbooks under the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) among school students.  At the start of this year, the government had something special to offer to students from ethnic minority communities. For the first time,  pre-primary level textbooks were introduced in Chakma, Marma, Tripura, Sadri and Garo languages.
This is indeed positive news for many ethnic minority students who find it hard to study in Bangla or English at an early age. Every language has its own distinguishing features. If not properly exercised, languages disappear. By introducing textbooks in minority languages, we allow them to stay alive and thrive among native speakers. Language plays a vital part in conserving a community’s culture and heritage. If a language perishes, then foreign tongues and culture replace it.
The idea behind introducing a pre-primary textbook package for ethnic minority students first came in 2012. There was massive effort on the part of NCTB, teachers and experts in ethnic languages to make it happen for real. The teachers and experts are the heroes behind this project, as besides compiling the actual texts, they even drew illustrations in the books.
The pre-primary textbook package in ethnic languages is getting very good response, Mohammad Abdul Mannan, member (primary curriculum) at NCTB, said while talking to this correspondent at his office.
“There is a plan to prepare textbooks in ethnic languages up to class 3 by 2020, because by the time students complete that level, they already have a strong hold over their own language,” Mannan added.
At least 35 local languages (other than the national language Bangla, and English) are spoken by different ethnic minority groups of the country including Khasi, Manipuri, Mahutta, Hajan, Mro, Barman and Shantali.
Educationists believe that children learn faster with much enthusiasm when taught in their own mother tongues at the start of their schooling, and primary dropout rate is also greatly reduced.
Besides the government, development agencies like BRAC are also teaching in minority languages in informal schools. BRAC established Education for Ethnic Children (EEC) unit in 2001 as part of its education programme to adapt its non-formal teaching model to meet the needs of ethnic children, who do not speak Bengali, according to its website.
In EEC schools, teachers explain lessons orally in the local language, alongside Bangla, using educational materials based on local culture and heritage. In the Chittagong Hill Tracts, BRAC Education Programme has introduced full-fledged multilingual education to suit the learning needs of the ethnic communities using their own scripts as the medium of teaching. The aim is to help the ethnic minority children bridge the linguistic gap and become proficient in Bangla and English. Texts and supplementary reading materials have been developed up to class 5 in Chakma and Marma languages. At present, there are 45 schools _ Chakma 40, Marma 5 _ in Rangamati and Khagrachari, covering 939 students, the website says.
Also this year, the government distributed Braille textbooks for classes 1 to 10 among visually impaired school students.
“This year, 10,000 Braille textbooks were distributed in a number of schools that teach visually impaired students,” said Mohammad Saidul Huq, executive director of Blind Education and Rehabilitation Development Organisation (BERDO). “I, myself, am visually impaired, I didn’t get to read or see any alphabets when I was in school. The visually impaired students who are reading these new Braille textbooks are thrilled. For many, they are able to read and visualise alphabets for the first time. The quality and standard of the Braille books are impressive. These textbooks are for classes 1 to10.We hope every year the government will distribute more Braille textbooks among visually impaired students,” Huq added.
Interactive digital textbooks are another wonderful addition to learning. Recently, the government published 22 interactive e-books, which have become quite popular among children. The number of downloads is overwhelming as many students have access to smartphones nowadays. Even many parents download the e-books themselves to teach their children. Through such interactive digital textbooks, children can easily understand and relate to the subject matter, education experts say.
BRAC Education Programme started its Computer Aided Learning (CAL) programme in 2005 using computers as the medium of teaching. According to its website, the CAL programme aims to make the contents of textbooks easier, interactive and more stimulating. Impressed with this innovative initiative, the education ministry partnered with BRAC to pilot CAL contents in 22 secondary schools in 2009. Later, they introduced multimedia classrooms in all the secondary schools of the country. Understanding the importance of CAL, the government’s ICT division also joined hands with BRAC to develop interactive multimedia contents for primary schools in 2014. The project was completed in 2016 and it is now being piloted in 30 government-funded primary schools. All the contents have been uploaded on the internet and about 1.5 million users have visited the websites and downloaded contents so far.  Primary and secondary contents are also available in DVD format. Some 15,000 DVDs with primary level contents were distributed in government schools for use in the classroom. Besides, 27,000 DVDs with secondary level contents were sold to high school students and teachers.
On the other hand, online dictionaries can be a useful tool for modernising the teaching system. However, we do not have any official Bangla online dictionary in our country.
“At the moment, we do not have any online dictionary. We have printed dictionaries and they have a good demand. Many of the world famous dictionaries can be found online and I feel we, too, should have a user-friendly online Bangla dictionary. There are some Bangla online dictionaries that can be found on the internet, but they are not reliable,” Ony Hossain, deputy director of Bangla Academy told Y&I.
Meanwhile, there are many government and private schools that offer the national curriculum in English. Students of the English version get to study all subjects in English from class 1 to 12, besides the compulsory subject, Bangla. The National Curriculum and Textbook Board prints and distributes textbooks for the English version as well.
Khaleda Islam, a teacher at Bangladesh International School, said: “We also have curriculum in the English version for our students. Many believe that if they study in English, then they will have better opportunities to study abroad. In the English version, all the textbooks are basically translated from Bangla into English. We don’t have any statistics to show students from which version do better or get more GPA (grade point average) 5.”
Many teachers, parents, and students believe the standard of English version textbooks could be better. Some complained that they don’t always get all the books on time.
Nusrat Karim, a parent, told this correspondent: “My daughter is studying in class 7 at Viqarunnisa Noon School and College. We have admitted her in the English version because we want her to have good proficiency in English.  Personally, I do not find the standard of the translated English textbooks up to the mark. A number of them have misinformation or grammatical mistakes. For example, the books for subjects like physical education, and Bangladesh and global studies, are translated in complicated English. Sometimes, we have to read the Bangla version first to understand the English version!”
Meanwhile, Jamilu Hasan, who has a seven-year-old daughter in class 1, prefers to educate her in Bangla medium. “Our daughter attends the Bangla version at Shaheed Bir Uttam Lt Anwar Girls College. We want her to have proper knowledge of her mother language. That is why we have not put her in the English version. Once she passes class 3 or 4, then we might think about moving her to the other version.”