Schoolchildren need to develop reading skill

Children's basic educational skills, particularly reading, have to be improved for the country's overall development of primary education, said speakers at a conference yesterday.

Although the numbers of schoolchildren and their pass rate increased, their reading skill is found poor, they said.

Bangladesh Forum for Educational Development (BAFED) in association with Save the Children and USAID Bangladesh held the daylong conference titled “Primary Education Quality and Outcome” at The Daily Star Centre in Dhaka.

Prof Emeritus Manzoor Ahmed of BRAC University, also an adviser to BAFED, said if the primary school children are not provided with adequate assistance to achieve their foundational educational skills, they will be handicapped.

Liana J Gertsch of Save the Children said reading is an important aspect that children need to learn at community level to build up their educational skills.

Improving children's reading skill is not only the responsibility of schools but also of families and communities, she said.

Nurul Amin Chowdhury, deputy director (Planning and Development) of the Directorate General of Primary Education, said they took various initiatives to improve primary education.

Mohammad Shahidul Islam, senior education adviser to USAID Bangladesh; Shadhan Kumar Das of ISB, Dhaka; Prof Abu Hamid Latif, chairman of BAFED; Prof M Sekendar Hayat Khan, and Prof M Nazmul Haq of DU, among others, spoke.