Bangladesh period

The Bangladesh Period

This period has started since 1971 when the people fought a glorious war to win Independence. The Constitution of the independent of the independent Bangladesh states that Primary Education shall be the responsibility of the State. The provisions are:
“The State shall adopt effective measures for the purpose of (a) establishing a uniform, mass-oriented and universal system of education and extending free and compulsory education to all children to such stage as may be determined by law; (b) relating education to the needs of the society and producing properly trained and motivated citizens to serve those needs; and (c) removing illiteracy within such time as may be determined by law”.
Acknowledging primary education as a national responsibility of the Government, and recognizing the fundamental rights of the people to education ushered in a new era in Bangladesh. The dawn of independence also saw a reawakening in the realm of primary education. In the light of this, steps to upgrade the education system were taken right after independence. In 1972, the Kudrate-e-khuda Education Commission was formed to recommend objectives, strategies and action plans for creating a modern education system suited to the needs of an independent nation and compatible with the systems of the neighbouring countries.

Bangladesh Education Commission

The report of this Commission in 1974 outlined the following objectives for primary education:

1. To develop and nurture the child's morals, mental and social personality;
2. To bring up the child as a patriotic, responsible, inquiring and law-abiding citizen, and develop in him/her love for justice, dignity, labour, proper conduct and uprightness;
3. To learn to read and write in the mother tongue, and to be able to count and calculate.
4. To be able to acquire the fundamental knowledge and skills needed for a future citizen;
5. To prepare for next stage of higher education.

Education is vital for the purpose of satisfying the aspirations of a new nation. In view of the objectives, the Commission placed before the Government the following recommendations for the development of primary education.

• Introduction of universal Primary Education up to Class- VIII;
• To attract a greater number of female students, appoint female teachers the primary level; if needed build girl's schools;
• Implementation of Compulsory Primary Education by 1980 and extension of primary education up to Class-VIII by 1983;
• Adoption of effective measures for prevention of dropouts. Introduction of an attractive curriculum, development of appropriate textbooks and creation of proper environment in schools;
• Introduction of a uniform system of education that must be scientific, realistic, and compatible with social conditions and environmental needs;
• Introduction of pre-primary education;
• Expansion of teacher-training system, development of appropriate textbooks;
• Setting up Primary Education Academy and a National Primary Education Board.

It may be mentioned here that not all of the commission's recommendations were implemented. But the Government nationalized 36,165 primary schools in 1973 under an Act named Primary Education Taking Over Act and declared 1,57,724 teachers of those schools as government employees. From then on, strengthening and improving primary education management became a part of the state's responsibilities, and planned steps were gradually taken for the development of primary education.