The British Council and the Directorate of Madrasa Education (DME) under the Ministry of Education (MoE) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on February 27 at DME, Dhaka.
This MoU signifies a pivotal agreement for a capacity-building program targeting teachers and educators in the Bangladesh Madrasa Teachers' Training Institute (BMTTI) and English teachers in Madrasas across the nation.
The Madrasa system stands as the second-largest education stream in Bangladesh, overseen by the Directorate of Madrasa Education (DME) within the Technical and Madrasa Education Division (TMED) of the Ministry of Education (MoE) of the Government of Bangladesh (GoB).
With over 13,000 institutions under DME spanning primary (Ebtidayee), secondary (Dakhil), higher secondary (Alim), and tertiary (Fazil and Kamil) levels, along with nearly 45,000 students in pre-primary to grade five and approximately 2.7 million students in post-primary education, the Madrasa system plays a crucial role in the educational landscape.
Furthermore, with about 130,000 teachers, the Madrasa system teaches different subjects, mainly focusing on Islamic religious studies.
The Bangladesh Madrasa Teacher Training Institute (BMTTI) is the sole training institution under DME, entrusted with the professional development of all 130,000 teachers within the system. BMTTI operates an in-service training program, offering intensive subject-based training, including English, across different educational levels. Furthermore, an online 72-hour English language course is provided to enhance the English proficiency of teachers instructing in the language. These courses are facilitated by English specialist members of the BMTTI faculty and a pool of freelance trainers.
The collaborative initiative between the British Council and DME aims to develop the capacity of English language teacher educators and teachers, upgrade the Bangladesh Madrasa Teachers' Training Institute (BMTTI) training curriculum and provide professional development opportunities to the teachers.
Helen Silvester, regional director, South Asia, British Council, said in her remarks: "This collaboration is very prestigious for us. More than 50% of the information on the internet is written in English, and every child should have access to this information. Therefore, learning English is the key to success, and the British Council has expertise. It has been working for a long time to develop English language teaching and learning capacity worldwide."
Habibur Rahman, director general, Directorate of Madrasa Education, said: "We have 9,000 madrasas, over 30,000 teaching staff, but only one Teacher Training Institute to train them. The capacity development of teachers is the key to preparing students for the future. DME and the British Council will work hand in hand to encourage teachers' professional development and achieve the Smart Bangladesh target by 2041.”
Among the other guests, Habibur Rahman, director general, Directorate of Madrasa Education; Helen Silvester, regional director South Asia, British Council; Tom Miscioscia, director Bangladesh, British Council and Prof Mahmudul Haque, Principal, BMTTI; members and senior officials from both DME and British Council graced the event with their presence.