$ 5 lakh deal with ADB to improve teaching

24 June 2010, 18:00 PM

UNB, Dhaka

A technical assistance (TA) grant agreement for 500,000 US dollar was signed yesterday between the government and ADB to lay the groundwork for a project to further improve teaching quality in secondary education. The agreement was signed at the Economic Relations Division, Ministry of Finance, Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, says a press release. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Japanese government are assisting Bangladesh for the project. The Japan Special Fund will provide the grants for the TA to be administered by ADB. The assistance will pave the way for the Second Teaching Quality Improvement (TQI) in Secondary Education Project, which is in ADB's pipeline for 2012. The first phase of the project, being carried out with ADB assistance since 2004, helped improve teacher training system, national policy, strengthen the capacity of teacher training agencies, and establish an effective teacher management system. The TA will further improve quality of teaching and learning in secondary schools and facilitate improved learning outcomes with special focus on disadvantaged students. Aligning with the Bangladesh National Education Policy, the TA aims to further improve the overall teacher development framework, teacher training curricula, teacher recruitment and deployment practices, teaching and learning in the classroom, and student performance particularly in science, mathematics and English language subjects in line with government priorities. The TA will also review the secondary education teacher training system, building on the experience and lessons learned from the ongoing TQI Project and the Secondary Education Sector Development Programme, another ADB financed project.