The government should rethink measures in the draft Education Act which will ban private tuition and coaching and punish head teachers if they use any books not included in the syllabus set by the National Curriculum and Textbook Board.
It is wrong in principle and unhelpful, if not unworkable, in practice.
The quality of education in schools will not be improved one iota by threatening private tutors with hefty fines of up to Tk2 lakh and six months jail.
While it is right for the government to require higher standards in schools, this will not be achieved by punishing private tutors. Private tuition is a symptom of weaknesses in the education system, not the cause.
No doubt there are many cases of unethical behaviour by some teachers at schools and colleges who misuse their position to force students to come to them for private tuition to get through exams. This is certainly a problem and one of the factors which have escalated the growth of commercial coaching centres.
It is better, however, to eliminate the problem at the source.
If teachers are getting away with misusing their position for personal profit, the first problem that needs to be addressed is bad and weak management in schools. Why are such teachers not being disciplined and held to account?
The second, bigger, challenge that the Education Ministry should be focusing on is the need to improve the classroom experience for all pupils. The government needs to invest more in improving school buildings and training better teachers so that fewer pupils and parents feel the need to pay for costly extra tuition in the first place.
Addressing the root problem is the only way to achieve the act’s aim of raising standards across the board. Punishing private tutors is a pointless diversion from the real issue.
Wednesday, March 19, 2025
