Teacher’s preparation: Bangladesh Experiences

1. South Asian Regional Conference on Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Policies and Practices: Towards 2015 And Beyond”. 27 - 29 August 2012 Delhi, India Teacher’s preparation: Bangladesh Experiences Mohammad Mohsin, ECD Specialist, UNICEF Bangladesh Iqbal Hossain, Advisor , Education, Plan Bangladesh

2. Some facts • 3600000 children • 120,000 teachers • 120,000 pre-schools • 55 Primary Teachers Training Institutes • 500 URCs • 40 private training centers

3. Background ECCD initiatives got momentum in Bangladesh in early nineties lead by some I/NGOs with focus to develop a model of services so the coverage was very limited. Different organizations tried differently with their expertise and experiences, with hardly any interaction and coordination. However, because of the lack of experience and knowledge, program designs mostly were dominant by research and interventions of the developed countries All organization’s focused on the marginalized groups and in geographically disadvantage areas without a minimum basic structure for primary education and an overall awareness on ECCD. These limitations pushed the organizations to start work with community people and community resources.

4. Background- cont. The front line service providers (caregivers & teachers) were also from community with very minimum educational background and understanding on ECCD. Minimum child friendly physical structure and space, materials, monitoring, supervision, training and continuous capacity development support were huge challenges for successful program implementation Ultimately, it’s the caregivers or teachers who performed the major responsibilities to make the initiative successful despite all these limitations.

5. Teacher development for ECCE in Bangladesh All organization’s focus was to develop the group of caregivers and teachers professionally so that they could smoothly run the services with quality. Different organizations developed their own teacher’s development strategy and package considering their curriculum, intervention and background of teachers and relevant staffs.

6. Teacher’s educational background From grade VIII to higher secondary (XII years education) Training structure The generic structure of the teacher’s development initiative Orientation on program: Duration 1-3 days Basic Training: Duration 7-15 days (Residential) once at the beginning Refresher’s training: Duration Monthly 1 day or quarterly 2-3 days

7. Major topics and content of the orientation/training • Orientation: Mostly on overall program especially on operational issues with rationale • Basic training: Three parts • 1. Basic concept and theories on ECCD (15-20% of total • training time) • 2. Program delivery ( 65-75% of total training time) • 3. Community awareness, involvement and management • (10- 15 % of total training time)

8. Major topics and content – cont. Refreshers training: Hands on support to run the next month/quarter’s center activities and support to overcome the challenges that teachers face Regular Monitoring and supervision: On the spot support to overcome the challenges that teachers face in the class room and use of materials (both learning and administrative).

9. Some issues that make the journey difficult • The traditional and cultural believes in addressing children did not properly matched with the program approach. • ECCD as concept , philosophy and interactive teaching learning methodologies contradicted with traditional practice of one way teaching process in the primary schools • As the caregivers/teachers represent the same society and hold similar understanding, it was found difficult also to change their own mindset, internalize the concept and act accordingly- • Curriculum and design of the program was not properly at the implementation level • Maximum use of materials, flexibility in curriculum and dissemination were not ensured • Need based and individualized learning opportunity was not properly utilized.

10. Steps to overcome the barriers-early 2000 onwards • Based on findings from local researches, engagement with international technical institutes, professionals and networks, • curriculum and materials including teacher training strategy and modules had been revised by organizations. • Investment on teacher training and professional development increased. • Trainers pool developed with trained and high profiled professionals • Advanced training courses developed , organized and imparted for trainers to improve the teacher’s understanding and skills • Interaction between different organizations on teacher’s professional development started.

11. Steps to overcome the barriers-2 • Institutional preparedness • Short courses on ECCD for manager, supervisor and teachers developed and organized by • Institute of Education and Research , Dhaka University, • Institute of Educational Development, BRAC University; and • some private organization like Teacher Development Initiative (TDI), Inner force, etc • ECD Resource Centre at IED, BRAC University established with the support of Plan International Bangladesh • Professional and academic courses (Certificate, Diploma & Masters course) began on ECCD, at ECDRC in BRAC University

12. Government’s involvement and initiative From 2001, government directly involve in the ECCD sector with a project called ECD. Meaningful partnership developed between government and NGOs from the very beginning based on NGO’s experiences in ECCD. This is the first time that government and NGO both realizes the challenge of developing teachers and professionals as the coverage of government project was comparatively big. This creates a platform to establish a network and start work in a coordinated way to maximize the coverage and results.

13. Government’s involvement and initiative • Continuous advocacy, successful interventions form NGOs and lessons learned form the lead project of the government form the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs (MoWCA), supported by UNICEF made the dream into a reality in 2008 to have an operational guideline especially for pre-primary. Approved by the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education • first gave preschool a formal shape • it provides an outline of preprimary curriculum, materials, operational modalities, teacher’s quality, capacity building etc • this is the first government document that gives a clear direction of teacher training and professional development of different level of staffs • Taken into consideration of the NGO initiatives as well as government’s primary education structure of teacher’s professional development.

14. Government’s involvement and initiative-cont. • The context of PEDP3 (Third Primary Education development Program) • Based on the Preschool framework, with political commitment under New National Education Policy 2010, The PEDP3 decided for PPE in all primary schools • national preprimary curriculum developed and approved in June 2011 • materials and teacher training package including monitoring supervision and assessment mechanism are under development process by the National Curriculum and Textbook Board , a specialized government technical agency. • incorporated basic child development and learning issues including pre-primary operation in Diploma in Education Course (18 months course)- a compulsory course for all primary school teachers under PEDP3

15. Achievement so far within an interim phase Government (NCTB) with support form UNICEF, in collaboration with experienced NGOs, developed interim pre-primary package based on what around 40000 government teachers received 6 day basic training on pre-primary (under PEDP2 with TA from UNICEF). The primary teacher’s training structure was used following cascade method to train all the teachers Selected PTI instructors, experienced and interested DPE officials have been trained as Master trainers for PPE. A training strategy for pre-primary has been developed to train pre-primary teachers using government primary teacher training facilities Based on the approved curriculum, development of competency based teachers’ training package is under process, which will be the mandatory training course for all pre-primary teachers

16. Way Forward • Government is under process of introducing pre-primary education (PPE) through its 63000 primary schools. • New teachers for pre-primary will be recruited and put in the system shortly. • Interested and preferably existing young women teachers will also be used to run pre-primary. • To make PPE universal, GO-NGO collaboration a must and guidelines in this respect have been approved • both will work together for professional development of teacher and other relevant staffs • PPP for teachers training and capacity development to be encouraged • National coordination and Technical committee on pre-primary to develop a professional development strategy involving all stakeholders and using all types of existing facilities.

17. Again the number facts 3600000 : Total number of eligible children for pre-school in a year 120000 : Minimum number of pre-school required to cover all children 120000 : Minimum number of teacher required to run pre-school 55 : Specialized teacher training centre for primary education 500 : Sub-district level resource centre for primary education 40 : Non-government facilities

18. Yes, the challenge is big but there is a good start. Collaboration and cooperation between government, non government international organizations, development partners, donors , academic organizations and private sectors is the major strength to overcome the challenge

19. THANKS