An important policy seminar entitled ‘English Language Skills Assessment in the Primary and Secondary Education Sectors in Bangladesh’ was organized by the English in Action programme, and co-hosted by the Directorate of Primary Education and the National Curriculum and Textbook Board on March 16th at the Directorate of Primary Education, Mirpur, Dhaka.
The purpose of this seminar was to understand the current Assessment principles, policies and practices with a view to exploring the challenges and benefits of adopting a more comprehensive approach to assessment reform initiatives and its potential to create wider impact in the classrooms in Bangladesh. The seminar involved a series of speeches from important stakeholders, followed by presentations from leading academics and practitioners in the area, and discussion groups on important themes.
The seminar provided a platform to initiate a dialogue amongst the government officials, education policy makers, educationist and practitioners in the field of education assessment. Throughout the daylong seminar, participants identified and debated on the best practices of English language assessment scenarios in both primary and secondary education sectors in Bangladesh. A number of policy recommendations were recorded in the proceedings.
Mr. S.M. Ashraful Islam, Additional Secretary of Ministry of Primary and Mass Education, Ms. Sarah Cooke, Country Representative, DFID, Mr. Shyamal Kanti Ghosh, Director General, Directorate of Primary Education, Dr. Johan Bentinck, Team Leader, English in Action,
Md. Siddiqur Rahman, Project Director, Project Management Unit, EIA and Prof. Md. Shafiqur Rahman, Chairman, NCTB were present at the seminar amongst others.
International experts from Delhi University, India, the Open University, UK shared their experiences of the wider region and international contexts along with presenters from the National Academy for Primary Education, National Curriculum and Textbook Board, UNICEF, British Council and the Directorate of Primary Education.
