A headmistress of a government primary school has been arrested on charges of selling new books meant for distribution for free among students. Ayesha Akter, the accused headmistress at Kadamtali Government Primary School in Shayestaganj  upazila of the district, was sent to jail in a case over the recovery of the books on Wednesday. Murshed Alam, inspector (investigation) of Shayestaganj police station, said a total of 394 books of several classes were recovered from a three-wheeler van in front of a fuel station in the upazila on Tuesday afternoon. Read more: NCTB chair, member again summoned over distortion of history in textbooks During the interrogation, the van driver Chhaid Hossain said that the headmistress gave him the books for selling, he said. Later, a team of police led by Sub-Inspector Saidul Islam conducted a drive in the headmistress’s house and found 94 more books wrapped in a plastic sack. During the primary questioning, the accused headmistress said she collected 752 books from a reserved godown of Railway Colony Government Primary School to distribute among students on December 27 last year. After distributing some books, she hoarded the rest of the books on her own to sell on the market, the inspector said. Upazila Education Officer Mohammad Ali filed a case accusing the headmistress in this connection. Read more: NCTB gives corrections for 9 mistakes in 3 textbooks of new curriculum

All primary schools in the country will be operated under a uniform shift from January next year, Senior Secretary to Bangladesh Primary and Mass Education Ministry Aminul Islam Khan said today (October 30, 2022). The secretary said this during a discussion with the media, on the occasion of his last working day at the ministry. “Ninety percent work towards introducing one shift in all primary schools has been completed. We’ll also extend the duration of classes gradually,” Aminul said. Also read: Mustafa Jabbar wants cyber security in primary school curriculum He added that the government has taken the decision due to its inability to construct new school buildings. “We’ve taken the decision considering the growing number of students and teachers. Once the single shift starts, no school will be closed and no teacher will lose job. We’ll initiate pre-primary and primary education at the schools which have dual rooms, and we’ll construct new buildings where possible,” Aminul added. Asked about the timing of classes, Aminul said that class hours will be extended to 4-5 hours from the current three hours. Also read: 342 primary schools in Dhaka will get aesthetic reconstruction: State Minister “There is a difference between class hours in Dhaka city and the rural areas. In Dhaka, classes start early, while in the villages, classes start late. Our aim is to ensure the presence of teachers in classrooms. We want teachers to give lessons regularly and for a longer period of time. That’s why we’ll increase the class hours,” Aminul said. Replying to a question, Aminul added that his Ministry will complete the process of transferring and recruiting primary school teachers before the coming Victory Day. “We could’ve published the results of the Bangladesh primary teacher recruitment exam earlier. We didn’t do it as some teachers had requested the ministry for transfer, which was pending due to the Covid-19 pandemic. We’re trying so that teachers who have been with a school for 10-12 years can be transferred after every three years,” Aminul said. Read More: Online transfer system of govt primary teachers resumes.

Minister for Posts and Telecommunications Mustafa Jabbar wants inclusion of ‘Cyber Security’ in primary school curriculum of Bangladesh. Jabbar came up with the remarks while addressing, as chief guest, a discussion on ‘Youth workshop for safe internet-2022’ organised to create awareness on cyber security at the Conference Centre of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) on Thursday (October 13, 2022). BTRC Chairman Shyam Sunder Sikdar presided over the programme where Cyber Crime Awareness Foundation President Kazi Mustafiz delivered welcome speech, Director General of BTRC’s System and Services Division Brigadier General Md Nasim Parvez presented the keynote speech.   Read: Workshop on digital literacy for cyber security held Urging the Home Ministry to underscore digital crimes, Jabbar said every police station should have a cyber or digital crime unit with trained officials. The BTRC chairman said they took an initiative to set up a cyber-observation lab to ensure security. He said the Education Ministry should take steps to initiate class on cyber security, one day a week, to generate awareness among students. Read Specific policy needed to ensure cyber security of power sector: Nasrul Hamid “Though none should refrain from using technology, we should be more careful and protect our families and society from digital crime,” the BTRC chairman observed. He said BTRC has already submitted an outline to bring owners of social media platforms under law to the ministry. Daffodil International University’s Computer Science and Engineering department Head Prof Dr Touhid Bhuiyan, Digital Security Agency Director Tarique M Barkatullah and Additional Commissioner of Cyber Security department of police Nazmul Islam, among others spoke at the discussion on ‘Youth workshop for safe internet-2022’.    Read Cybersecurity Career Guide: How to Become a Cybersecurity Expert?

The first phase of examination for the recruitment of 45,000 assistant teachers in government primary schools will begin on Friday. In the first phase, the test will be held in 22 districts, said State Minister for Primary and Mass Education Zakir Hossain at a press conference at the ministry. The second phase exam will be held on May 20 in 30 districts and the third phase one in 31 districts on June 3.    Also read:Decision on PEC exams to be taken 3 months before schedule: State Minister The exam will be held in the respective districts of the applicants from 11am to 12 pm, said the state minister. The number of candidates in this year's recruitment test for assistant teachers is 13,09,461. The total number of examination centers in three phases is 1,811 and written examination has been arranged in 61 districts. “This time, we have decided to prepare the question paper centrally,” said Zakir Hossain.            All the work including seating arrangement, sending and printing of question papers, evaluation of answer sheets, and preparation of results will be done automatically through software. “So, there is no scope for any kind of illegal intervention,” he said. Also read: Govt primary schools: Exam begins Apr 22 to recruit 45,000 assistant teachers                                                                                                            “If anyone offers to give a job in exchange of money, I request all to hand them over to the nearest police station or inform the police station or the intelligence agency.” “We want to complete the recruitment process of qualified candidates through publishing written test results and taking oral test as soon as possible,” he added. At present, there are 65,566 govt primary schools in the country with 4,28,701 vacant  teachers’ post.

Returning after 18 months, the students of Ramnagar Paschimpara Primary School in Mirpur upazila of Kushtia district have been deprived of utilising their beloved school playground for any recreation, as the authorities concerned turned the playground into a paddy field during the pandemic-induced closure of schools. After the reopening on September 12, students all over the country returned to their classrooms with much enthusiasm after a long closure due to the Covid-19 pandemic. But the students of Ramnagar Paschimpara Primary joined classes with a heavy sigh as they returned to see what had been their playground, had now turned into a paddy field. This was not a case of neglect - a deliberate decision was taken to cultivate paddy on the children's playground, and implemented.  Read: School Closure: 50,000 students may have dropped out in Kurigram The paddy cultivated belongs to Ruhul Azam Keru, president of the school managing committee,  who  took advantage of the school closure. The students and guardians demanded justice and immediate steps in this regard. According to the school sources, the school stands on government-owned land, and the process is on to place it under government control. The officials of Upazila Primary Education Office also visited the school. Read High school students to be vaccinated soon: DSHE chief Talking to the reporters, the students of the school claimed that they used to have joyous times in the school playground by playing soccer and other games, but since returning they have had none of that.

The Executive Committee of National Economic Council (Ecnec) on Tuesday turned down a Tk 17,290.23-crore project designed to provide ‘Khichuri’ or other food items as midday meals to primary school students. “The project hasn’t been approved as the Prime Minister is concerned about its structure (modus operandi). She said cooking Khichuri in schools might hamper the study of students,” said Planning Minister MA Mannan. The minister was briefing reporters after an Ecnec meeting held at the NEC conference room in the city. Ecnec Chairperson and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina chaired the meeting, joining it virtually from her official residence Ganobhaban. Also read: All above 14 to get smart NIDs; Ecnec clears project The meeting, however, cleared nine other projects involving an estimated total cost of Tk 5,239.62 crore, the minister added. Of the cost, he said, some Tk 250 crore will come as loan from foreign sources. Among the nine projects, six are fresh and three others revised ones. About the midday meal project, Mannan said the project will not be placed for approval anymore, but new projects over the midday meal may come in different formats.

Around 6 million primary and secondary students are at risk of learning loss due to the extended closure of the educational institutions in the country amid the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a study report revealed Monday. Since the closure of schools in March 2020, there have been severe disruptions in the education of children, especially those from low-income groups. The extended closure has led to far-reaching consequences including an increased risk of learning losses, dropouts, and psychological and economic costs, says the survey "Covid-19 Impact on Education Life of Children." Also read: Schools for over 168mn children globally shut for almost a full year: UNICEF Some 3.42 million are primary school students and 2.50 million secondary school students are now at risk of learning loss. Power and Participation Research Center (PPRC) and Brac Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD) jointly conducted the rapid telephonic survey between April 2020 and March 2021 to assess the impact of Covid-19 on poverty. It used samples from 6,099 households with around 4,940 consisting of school-going-age children. Between June 2020 and March 2021, the out-of-pocket expenditure for education increased 11 times. The crisis has increased the opportunity cost of investing in education. Some 8% of school-going boys and 3% of school-going girls are in some form of income-earning activity. Read No assignments for secondary school students Without targeted remedial measures, the situation will lead to reduced learning capacity or risk of dropouts in future, says the study. The survey also revealed that only around 10% of students had access to or used distance learning opportunities to compensate for school closure; public TV classes were viewed by only around 2%. Some 51% in primary and 61% secondary students went to coaching or private tuition. However, it was lower in urban compared to rural primarily due to higher costs. Read UN alarm at education crisis: 258 million kids not in school Even in pre-pandemic times, a greater proportion of secondary school-going-age children were out of school (21%) than primary (14%). More children were out of school in urban slums than rural areas at both primary and secondary levels. "A significant portion of school-going children are at risk of learning loss. So, school reopening must be coupled with a set of remedial measures to cover the learning loss and help children to cope up," said BIGD Executive Director Dr Imran Matin. PPRC Chair Dr Hossain Zillur Rahman focused on three main consequences of school closures – learning loss, education cost burdens, and multidimensional social alienation. Also read: 60.5 percent people in favour of reopening schools: Survey He said outside class hours, additional programmes are required as a learning loss recovery strategy to mitigate the loss as part of a post-Covid human capital agenda. "Otherwise, a large part of our population will not only be far removed from education but also become deskilled," he added. Dr Zillur recommended that existing primary and secondary stipend programmes be used to redress the out-of-pocket education cost burdens. "Using the established database, the government can quickly provide a cash boost by allocating Tk2,960 crore in the 2021-22 budget," he said. Read 86,452 primary students get stipend, allowance through Nagad in phase 1

The government on Monday disbursed stipends and allowances among 86,452 primary school students through Nagad.

Narayankhola Dakshin Primary School, an old school in Nakla upazila of sherpur, is being gobbled up by Mrigi River.