Live Correspondent: Graduation ceremony of the 4th cohort of primary teachers under the ‘Training of Master Trainers in English’ project – a collaboration between the British Council and Directorate of Primary Education – was held recently at 10 Primary Teacher’s Training Institutes across Bangladesh, said a press release.

The ceremony at the Dhaka PTI was graced by the presence of Directorate of Primary Education Training Division deputy director Mahbubur Rahman Billah, British Council Bangladesh director David Maynard, Primary Education’s Dhaka divisional deputy director Mirza Md Hasan Khasru.

Besides Dhaka, the ceremony was also held at the Gazipur, Sherpur, Jashore, Barishal, Gopalganj, Rangpur, Rajshahi, Dinajpur and Moulvibazar PTIs.

Activities under this latest cohort of TMTE had been designed by the British Council for 429 primary teachers, who received exclusive guidance on reciprocal learning and better ideas on how to make English language learning more interesting and effective for primary school students. It was a 14-week programme, the release added.

Md Mahbubur Rahman Billah said, ‘We want to build a knowledge-based society, so we shall all play our desired role in supporting this journey. I am sure you will all be able to effectively apply the pedagogical approaches that you have learnt from this training in your respective schools through your teaching methods and classroom management skills and eventually our students will benefit from it. So, we hope we will all leave the PTI today with a very positive and hopeful attitude.’

David Maynard said, ‘One of the things we want you to recognize out of this training is that English is very important, and it is great that you have learnt English. It is also about the way in which you teach, the methodology, and how you engage children.’

‘Before 15-20 years ago, in the schools it was very teacher centered and the children sat passively and listened and wrote down. Hopefully, now you have learned new methodologies, new techniques, and new ways of engaging the children, so they are actively involved and actively engaged in the learning process,’ he added.

He also added that if only they are actively involved, they will remember it, they will start to think about it and internalize it and really learn.

Mirza Hasan Khasru said, ‘If our children in the schools can learn better English, only then we will achieve success for this training programme. So, you shall all go back to your schools and disseminate the knowledge you have gathered to your colleagues as much as possible for better results.’

As a part of the government’s 2018 ‘Primary Education Development Programme 4’, The British Council had been awarded the large training programme initiative ‘English for Primary Teachers’.

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina approved the project with utmost priority on developing children’s English learning proficiency. The project aligned with the 2030 SDG 4, where The British Council was recognized as the best partner.

In the following year, the government approved TMTE – the Tk 47 Crore project – pivoting the national education reformation plans. After some delay due to pandemic, TMTE project was officially launched in January, 2021, by education minister Dipu Moni, MP.

Cohort 5 to starts on Sunday September 25, 2022 in PTIs across the country, including Chattogram, Cumilla and Joypurhat.

TMTE stands out as a dedicated training project, where the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education engages with Primary Training Institutes across the country.

Dhaka, 22 September (campuslive24.com)//Bic