The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has expressed interest in continuing its support for improving the quality of primary education and ongoing reforms in Bangladesh, while expanding its cooperation to include non-formal education and skills development.
ADB Country Director for Bangladesh Zhang Qingfeng expressed the interest during a courtesy meeting with State Minister for Primary and Mass Education Bobby Hajjaj at the Secretariat on Thursday.
The meeting discussed various issues, including improving the quality of primary education, enhancing the effectiveness of classroom-based learning, the Fifth Primary Education Development Programme (PEDP-5), and future development cooperation.
During the meeting, State Minister Bobby Hajjaj said the government had been investing for years in several areas to improve primary education, including infrastructure development, teacher training, curriculum and teacher guideline preparation, the supply of educational materials, and school improvement grants.
However, he said, ensuring that these initiatives deliver meaningful results requires direct monitoring of classroom teaching effectiveness and whether students are acquiring the expected skills.
For this reason, the government is now placing particular emphasis on the actual classroom situation, teachers’ teaching methods and students’ learning progress, he added.
Regarding PEDP-5, the state minister said a decision had been made to divide the programme into several separate projects to make its activities and financing more specific, feasible and results-oriented.
He said six separate projects were initially planned to implement various activities, including infrastructure development and teacher training.
This approach would make it easier to identify development partners’ financing, project activities and expected outcomes more clearly, he said, assuring that activities undertaken under existing development cooperation arrangements and previously pledged assistance would continue.
Calling for greater involvement of development partners in non-formal education and skills development alongside primary education, Hajjaj said long-term investment from development partners was essential, alongside government initiatives, to bring the country’s large population under skills development and lifelong learning programmes.
He said there were opportunities to undertake large-scale projects in these sectors with the participation of international development partners, including the ADB.
ADB Country Director Zhang Qingfeng praised the ongoing reform initiatives led by Bobby Hajjaj in the primary education sector, particularly his visits to schools at the grassroots level and direct exchanges with teachers.
He said the state minister’s hands-on efforts to ensure effective classroom teaching and improved student learning outcomes were consistent with the ADB’s approach.
Zhang also reiterated the bank’s interest in continuing its support for primary education while expanding cooperation in non-formal education and skills development.
Secretary of the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education Md Daud Mia, ADB Director for Human and Social Development Gi Sun Song, Project Officer Faiza Ahmed and Programmes Officer Farin Islam, among other members of the ADB delegation, were present at the meeting.
