Officials blame lack of coordination among authorities
Revision of the curriculum for the technical and vocational version of education for the next year is yet to start because of a lack of coordination among the authorities concerned.
The Bangladesh Technical Education Board prepares curriculum for the specialised courses run under it at certain intervals.
Officials of the technical board said that they were yet to get any information from the National Curriculum and Textbook Board about the proposed revised curriculum.
NCTB chairman AKM Reazul Hassan said that they were yet to give any instructions to the technical board regarding the proposed curriculum for 2026.
鈥榃e will meet education ministry officials,鈥� he said, adding, 鈥榓fter distributing free textbooks for this year, we will start work for the revision of the curriculum.鈥�
After the ouster of the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League regime in August 2024, the succeeding interim government in September announced the implementation of an entirely refined curriculum from 2026.
For the current year, the government has returned to the 2012 curriculum by revising textbooks, reintroducing the three-division-based system in classes IX and X and the examination-based assessment method.
The situation has led to mounting pressure on the board officials, as they have to work at the highest speed for revising the curriculum for 2026, while at the same time they are scrambling to distribute free textbooks for this year.
Bangladesh Technical Education Board chairman Md Rakib Ullah told 抖阴精品 on Monday that the NCTB prepared the curriculum for nine general boards.
鈥榃e prepare different curricula for our different specialised subjects except SSC vocational, HSC vocational and Dakhil vocational,鈥� he mentioned.
Rakib Ullah said that they revised their curriculum at certain intervals 鈥� usually every five years.
鈥極n special occasions, we also revise our curriculum,鈥� he said, adding, 鈥榦ur latest revised curriculum for diploma was done in 2022,聽 which is at the implementation phase now.鈥�
He mentioned that before that the board prepared curriculum in 2016, in 2010, in 2005 and in 2000.
The board chairman said that till now no NCTB officials communicated with them about the new refined curriculum for the next year.
Some senior officials of the board鈥檚 curriculum department also said that the NCTB usually did not communicate with them before revising any curriculum.
The Bangladesh Technical Education Board prepares curriculum for diploma in engineering, textile engineering, engineering (army), engineering (naval), agriculture, fisheries, forestry, livestock, animal health and production, medical technology, medical ultrasound, tourism and hospitality, technical education and commerce, certificate in marine trade, health technology, poultry farming, and national competency standards 鈥� II and III, HSC (BMT), pre-vocational, national competency standards basic, and advanced certificate courses.
Rakib Ullah further said that their curricula for diploma courses were totally up-to-date.
鈥榃e face problems in the implementation stage due to a shortage of teachers,鈥� he alleged.
He also said that in 2021 the board started a pre-vocational curriculum for the secondary level starting from Class VI.
鈥榃e are now running the pre-vocational curriculum in 149 government technical schools and colleges and 86 Alia madrasshas,鈥� he mentioned.
He said that they were also trying to implement it in non-government educational institutions.
Rakib Ullah said that as per their observation in the cases of pre-vocational studies, students tended to go more for technical education in the later stage of their education.
The past government had aimed to increase the rate of enrolment of students in technical and vocational education to 25 per cent by 2025 and 30 per cent by 2030.
The enrolment rate is now about 18 per cent, Rakib Ullah added.
