Education Minister
AL to resist anything nefarious on behalf of nation: Dipu Moni
The Awami League will resist any nefarious move with the help of the people of Bangladesh, said Education Minister Dipu Moni on Saturday.
“An identified evil force wants to destabilize the country ahead of the national election. They want to wreak havoc once more, as they did in 2013 and 2014. However, Bangladesh Awami League will strongly oppose any vicious move with the people of the country,” she said.
The education minister, also the Awami League Joint General Secretary, said this while talking to the reporters at the diamond jubilee ceremony of Chandpur Govt College.
Also Read: BNP conspiring to regain power illegally: Dipu Moni
“The Awami League's peace rally today is part of the effort to move Bangladesh forward,” she said, adding: “This program is to ensure that we can continue our development work and build Smart Bangladesh.”
Our programs are not counter to any party’s programs, she explained and said, “We have always been in the field and will always be. We are in the government, we are also with the people of the country in the field. We have always been present to safeguard peace, order, and people's lives, and we will remain so in the future."
Md Hasanuzzaman Kollol, secretary to the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs, Md Anisur Rahman, election commissioner, Faruk Hossain, former secretary and author, and Kamrul Hasan, DC of Chandpur, were among those present at the ceremony.
2023 SSC, equivalent exams from April 30
The Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and equivalent examinations for 2023 will begin on April 30.
Professor Tapan Kumar Sarkar, chairman of Dhaka Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board, revealed the schedule to UNB today (January 30, 2023).
Read more: SSC results 2022: Average pass rate 87.44%
Last year, Education Minister Dipu Moni said SSC and HSC exams in 2023 will be held in April and June, respectively, based on shortened syllabus, just like the previous academic session.
SSC exams for 2022 began on September 15 last year considering the flood situation in the country.
According to the government's academic calendar, SSC exams are held from February 1 and HSC from April 1 every year. However, these exams were not held on time in the past two years due to Covid-19.
Read More SSC Results 2022: Girls slightly ahead of boys with 87.71% pass rate
DC Conference: Suggestions for education sector well-received by Dipu Moni
The Deputy Commissioners have proposed to the Education Minister to draft a code of conduct for private educational institutions under the monthly pay order (MPO).
Education Minister Dipu Moni revealed this at a press briefing for the Deputy Commissioners Conference 2023, organised by the Cabinet division at the Osmani Memorial Auditorium in the capital on Tuesday.
Read more: 2 probe committees to be formed over errors in textbooks: Dipu Moni
“We have educational institutions under MPO, for which a code of conduct has been proposed. We think this is a good proposal. We will work on it,” she said.
The DCs also talked about separating secondary and higher education, she said. “We feel that if we separate it, the synergies will reduce. So we have to think more about this issue.”
They (DCs) also recommended changing the vacation time in the educational institutions of Haor region through creating a flexible calendar, as different regions of the country get flooded at different times.
“We are already working on creating a separate calendar with everything in mind,” said the education minister.
Besides, the DCs suggested a full-time television channel on education, she added.
Read more: New curriculum books may contain mistakes: Dipu Moni
Another proposal made by the DCs is to change the designation of education officers after specifying as District Education Officer, Upazila Education Officer, District Primary Education Officer, Upazila Secondary Education Officer, District Secondary Education Officer, Upazila Secondary Education Officer.
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina opened the three-day conference of deputy commissioners (DCs) at Shapla Hall of her office here in the city.
2 probe committees to be formed over errors in textbooks: Dipu Moni
Two high-level probe committees will be formed to identify those responsible for mistakes and distortions in the textbooks distributed this year, said Education Minister Dipu Moni on Tuesday.
“I see identifying errors in the textbooks very positively,” she told the reporters at a press briefing on the corrections of mistakes in the textbooks of the new academic year at the International Mother Language Institute of the capital.
Read more: If there are errors in textbooks, they will be corrected: Dipu Moni
The outline of these two committees will be presented by next Sunday (January 29, 2023), she said, adding that officials from the Prime Minister's Office, Education, Primary and Mass Education ministries and related ministries will be involved in the committee.
A committee will consist of experts for each subject and the ministry will provide an online form for revision of textbooks, she said.
In this form, people from the country and abroad will have an opportunity to inform the ministry about errors or inconsistencies in textbooks, said Dipu Moni.
Experts will review all the textbooks again and will take note of the mistakes identified in the textbooks and fix them and those corrections will be sent to the educational institutions, she added.
Read more: NCTB gives corrections for 9 mistakes in 3 textbooks of new curriculum
The other committee will be formed with the representatives from the Prime Minister's Office, representatives from two ministries, representatives from National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) and officials of the ministries concerned, the education minister said.
“It will be investigated whether the mistakes and controversial topics in the textbook were intentionally added or not.”
Earlier, NCTB provided corrections for nine mistakes they found in three textbooks of classes 9 and 10 this year.
NCTB issued a notification in this regard on January 15, 2023 and posted the corrections on their website.
Read more: Zafar Iqbal admits plagiarism charge in new textbook, expresses disappointment
Besides, eminent writer and academician Dr Muhammed Zafar Iqbal and Professor Hasina Khan expressed regret over the plagiarised content found in the class 7 science textbook that they had edited. They also took responsibility in a statement.
As part of the new curriculum from this year, science textbooks for classes 6 and 7 were printed and distributed to students as ‘Anusandhani Path’. In an article published in a daily, a complaint was raised over copying some sections of this book from the National Geographic educational site.
Paper, printing quality of free textbooks good: Education Minister
Education Minister Dipu Moni on Wednesday said that the paper and printing quality of the free textbooks distributed among students of pre-primary, primary and secondary levels is good.
“The paper quality of the textbook is not bad, the brightness is a bit low. But the quality is good,” she told the reporters after distributing calves among the fishermen registered in the hilsa resource development and management project at Chandpur Sadar Upazila Parishad premises.
Read more: Students of four classes to receive new curriculum books on trial basis: Dipu Moni
Although the color of the paper is slightly different, it is not newsprint, she added.
“If the printed paper is too white it is not good for eyes, it can cause harm to eye sights.”
After the pandemic and the global recession, the textbooks have been handed over to the students at the beginning of the year after overcoming various hurdles, said Dipu Moni.
The remaining books will be distributed among students within the next two weeks, assured the minister.
Read more: New curriculum to be introduced in 2023: Education Minister
The Textbook Festival, marking the distribution of free textbooks among students was held on Sunday (January 1).
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina opened the textbooks distribution programme at a ceremony at her office through handing over books to students of primary and secondary levels on December 31.
Nearly 33.91 crore new textbooks will be distributed among 4.09 crore students this year.
SSC Results 2022: Jashore Board’s pass rate 95.17%, highest in country
Jashore Education Board recorded 95.17 percent pass rate on average, while Cumilla Education Board saw 91.28 percent pass rate in Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and its equivalent examinations for 2022.
Education Minister Dipu Moni shared the information on this year’s SSC results during a press conference at International Mother Language Institute in Dhaka this noon (November 28, 2022).
Sylhet Board recorded the lowest pass rate at 78.82%.
Read more: SSC Results 2022: 2.69 lakh students score GPA-5
Pass rate in Dhaka Board is 90.03%, in Rajshahi Board 85.88%, in Chattogram Board 87.53%, in Barishal Board 89.61%, in Mymensingh Board 89.02%, and in Dinajpur Board 81.16%.
This year, more than 20 lakh students took part in SSC and equivalent examinations under 11 boards, including madrasa (Dakhil) and Technical Education.
Of them, 15.99 lakh were from nine general education boards, 2.68 under the Madrasa Education Board, and 1.53 lakh under the Technical Education Board. 2022 SSC and equivalent examinations began across the country on September 15.
Read more: SSC results 2022: Average pass rate 87.44%
Action if any attempt is made to leak questions: Education Minister
Education Minister Dr Dipu Moni has said that measures will be taken if anyone tries to leak questions of the ongoing Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) exams of 2022.
The Minister said this while talking to reporters after visiting Begum Badrunnesa Government Women’s College exam center in the capital on Sunday.
“We’ve taken action against some people who had tried to leak questions of this year’s Secondary School Certificate (SSC) exams in Kurigram’s Bhurungamari upazila. We’ll collectively prevent such attempts this time too by punishing those who’ll commit such offence,” Dipu said.
The Minister also urged the parents not to stay outside the exam centers as this makes entrance of the examinees difficult.
Replying to a question about coaching centers, she said Coaching centers are needed as it’s impossible for teachers to pay attention to each and every student in the classrooms.
Read: June 25 SSC exam rescheduled to June 24: Education Minister
“We hope that the need for coaching centers will decrease once the new curriculum is introduced. However, we’ve given directives to shut coaching centers during public exams. To implement this directive, we need help from the local administrations,” Dipu added.
It was planned to hold this year’s HSC exams in July-August period but couldn’t do so due to flooding in the country’s northeast, she said adding, “If natural disasters hit any part of the country in the future, we’ll postpone exams in that area and hold exams in other areas as per schedule. Later, we’ll hold exams in the disaster-hit area within the quickest possible time.”
May take 10 years to see major benefits of new curriculum: Edu Minister
Education Minister Dipu Moni yesterday said it may take up to ten years to see real benefits of the new curriculum.
“If we can implement the new curriculum properly, we will start to see little changes over the next five years. After ten years, we will see big changes,” she added.
Read:No SSC question paper leaked, Dinajpur incident regrettable: Dipu Moni
The education minister was speaking at a Dhaka event on a study entitled ‘Exploring Attitude towards Gender Norms among the Youth Population in Bangladesh’, organised by Brac on the occasion of Girl Child Day.
From next year, students will get a new curriculum, she said. “Through it, we can expect a big shift in the education system.”
Read:UGC set to formulate policy for new public universities
Regarding the rights of the girl children, Dipu Moni urged everyone to work together.
Dipu Moni for participation of all parties in elections
Minister for Education Dr Dipu Moni said on Wednesday that they want the participation of all political parties in the upcoming zilla parishad and national elections.
She also said there is no scope for bringing in any political party if they have the intention to make the elections questionable.
Minister Moni, also joint general secretary of the ruling Awami League (AL), said this while responding to queries from journalists at a function at Chandpur Circuit House in the evening.
Asked about the use of the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) in the elections, she said the use of the EVMs depends on the election commission (EC), and the AL will assist them in holding a fair election.
“I don’t know whether all parties will reach a point regarding the use of the EVM, however, we will have to march forward for the sake of development with technology unless all are agreed,” Dipu said.
Read: AL wants competitive elections: Obaidul Quader
The minister reiterated that the national elections will be held on time and won’t wait for anyone. Some political parties oppose opposition without reasonable grounds.
Expressing her optimism of participation of all competent parties in the upcoming election, she said it is their political right if they don’t compete in the election despite having all arrangements.
Chandpur Deputy Commissioner Kamrul Hasan, Superintendent of Police Milon Mahmud and the party’s leaders and activists were present there.
Momen not accompanying PM in India: Dipu Moni questions media’s use of “dropped”
Education Minister Dipu Moni today (September 5, 2022) said that anyone can be dropped from PM’s entourage due to Covid-19 precautions.
Talking to reporters, she said that before meetings with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina or attending Parliament sessions, they are always anxious over Covid-19 tests – wondering whether they will test positive.
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen did not accompany Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during her India visit citing “illness”.
“He (Momen) is feeling unwell. He didn’t go with the PM,” an official told UNB earlier today.
Read:Momen not in PM’s entourage in India, cited “illness” as reason: Official
When asked for comments over it, the education minister said, “Choice of words is a dangerous thing. You said (Momen has been) ‘dropped’. If you know the reason, you can say whether he was ‘dropped’ (from PM’s entourage) or he couldn’t go due to a certain reason.”
At the invitation of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bangladesh PM Hasina is on a state visit to New Delhi from today to September 8.
Foreign Minister Momen briefed the media yesterday afternoon at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in detail about PM’s India visit and was scheduled to accompany her.
Hasina, now in New Delhi, is visiting India after three years.