**5. The Bangladeshi context**

96 International Perspectives of Distance Learning in Higher Education

'open and distance learning has been widely used for initial teacher training, for students who enter the profession with a background in primary, secondary or tertiary education, but has often been organised on a one-off basis rather than as part of the established

For example, an early ODL programme in Kenya was given the highest priority to raise teachers' own educational background to a certain level. A much more recent programme in Chile was designed to support the increasing use of information technologies in schools. It was entirely concerned with reorienting teachers for the changed curriculum. The current trend is to strengthen teachers' practical classroom skills; however, it is administratively

Open and distance learning has gone through a rapid evolution and embraced a changing trend of mobile technologies. These have been used for two purposes: to distribute teaching material to learners, and to allow interaction between learners and facilitators or among learners. Open and distance learning has also been used to support changes in the curriculum for each subject. It has played an important role in making teachers familiar with information and communication technologies. It has also been used to support teachers' professional development through structured programmes designed for specific groups of teachers, as well as provide opportunities for teachers to upgrade their skills. However, open and distance learning solutions have the advantages of interactive and non-interactive technological application, and it is recognised that in-school learning rather than out of

In this era of technology, all forms of teacher education programmes are exploring the possibilities of using technology in context. By utilising new interactive forms of technology, open and distance learning has a great role to play in the process of teachers' professional development. New methodologies and technological tools are increasingly being integrated with new theoretical perceptions about the importance of combining the theoretical and

Open and distance learning for teachers' professional development needs an integrated

2. Support should build on existing frameworks as far as possible and be consonant with

3. Support should be developmental and exploratory providing experience of a wide

4. Support should recognise and build on the variety of professional experiences of its

5. Support should acknowledge both the private and professional aspects of learners' experiences and their interconnectedness in the development of learning; and 6. Support should have a firm base in schools and classrooms; it should be seen as an ongoing process across initial, induction and ongoing phases of teacher education. The school is increasingly seen as a place for learning within new models of teachers' professional development programmes. Therefore, the development of new models of teachers' professional development programmes incorporate school contexts within the model. Supported open and distance learning is a successful and well-established teaching

school is the key to improvement for teaching and learning in the classroom.

practical elements in teachers' professional development at all levels.

support system and according to Leach (1996) where:

the culture in which it is developed;

participants;

1. Support should provide model learning environments;

variety of teaching and learning opportunities;

structure of teacher education'.

difficult and likely to be costly to achieve (Perraton, 2010).

Since the passing of the Compulsory Primary Education Act in 1990, considerable changes have been made to the formal education system in Bangladesh. As a result of legislation and government efforts, the enrolment rate increased from 60% to almost 91% in 2008 (UNICEF, 2009). But universal primary education, the second MDG of the UN has still to be achieved. The increase in numbers of newly enrolled students has made necessary the construction of more primary schools and the employment of many additional teachers. According to the governement agency, between 1990 and 2008 the number of primary schools rose from 47,000 to over 82,000; primary teacher numbers increased from 189,500 to 366,000 (BANBEIS, 2010).

Despite the fact that secondary education is neither compulsory nor free, there was also significant growth in the secondary education sector over the period 1990 to 2008. Again the number of schools rose from almost 10,500 to 18,750 with student enrolments more than doubling from 3 million to 6.8 million in 2008. Similarly secondary teacher mumbers increased significantly from 123,000 to more than 219,500 (BANBEIS, 2009). With such a concentration of newly appointed teachers in both primary and secondary education sectors, the provision of adequate and appropriate training became a key issue for teachers' professional development in Bangladesh.

Poor qualifications and lack of teacher motivation are major challenges for Bangladesh to provide a well-equiped teaching workforce. However, there have been a series of government's and non-state providers' initiatives aimed at significantly improving the quality of teaching and learning through both curriculum and pedagogic reforms in all sectors. The traditional and dominant way of teaching and learning in most schools in Bangladesh tends to focus on memorising facts.

In the primary education sector, the Second Primary Education Development Programme (widely known as PEDP II) resulted in the availability of the training being revised and extended for newly appointed teachers to improve quality. Approximately 24% teachers of the government primary schools and registered non-government primary schools are untrained (UNICEF, 2009).

In the secondary education sector, there has been a recent shift in emphasis from increasing quantity to increasing quality. There have been a number of dvelopmental projects; and reforms have been made to improve educational quality with the help of international development partners of the country. Since 1999, the initiatives such as the Secondary Education Sector Improvement Plan (SESIP), the Secondary Education Sector Development Project (SESDP) and the Teaching Quality Improvement Secondary Education Project (TQI-SEP) have been implemented. Through these initiatives, changes have been made to both pre-service and in-service teacher training for the secondary education sector (UNESCO, 2007).

Open and Distance Learning for Teachers' Professional Development:

trades (see UCEP, 2008 for more detail about these trades).

**7.1 UCEP teacher training** 

8. Others:

Interactive Teaching Training Child Participation Training

Table 1. In-service trainings for the UCEP teachers

The English in Action (EIA) Model for the Global South 99

The Underprivileged Children's Educational Programs (UCEP) is a leading non-government organization (NGO) in Bangladesh which provides general education and vocational training for working children. Currently over 30 thousand poor working children who have generally missed out on their primary education are studying in UCEP schools. Students are accepted into the programme no younger than age 10 for girls and 11 for boys. UCEP schools operate 3 shifts per day, each of 3 hours duration. As the children continue to work and earn while they attend school, this allows a child to choose a shift of his/her convenience, in consultation with their parents, to minimise the economic loss to the family for the children attending school. Each 3 hour shift is focused on general education but where possible examples are drawn from a technical context. For example, the English alphabet is taught through naming of craft tools – D for dividers, H for hammer. Stories in Bangla are linked to the discovery of inventions and the use of agricultural and other devices. After grade 8 UCEP continues Technical Education training on 16 professional

Students basically follow the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) curriculum, both at primary and lower secondary level (grades 1 to 8). However, the curriculum has been abridged in a careful manner so that it remains comparable with that of national mainstream curriculum. The curriculum consists of Bangla (mother tongue), English, mathematics, vocational, social environment and hygiene. The students learn in a highly vocational and practical way using English where necessary as technical vocabulary (EIA, 2009). At the end of their training they are guaranteed a job. In contrast to the formal government system, these poor working children attend school regularly and complete their education. The attendance rate is over 94% and the drop-out rate is very low (UCEP 2008).

After recruitment UCEP arranges training for the teachers. Most of the training is led by resource personnel from outside as well as some of the trainers from the organisation (who are from the field, who are normally divisional coordinators and School Administrators).

*Training Duration*  1. Teachers' Basic Training 7-10 days 2. Effective Social Work Training 3-5 days 3. Teaching and Learning Methodology Training 3-5 days 4. Subject-based Training (Mathematics, English, Bangla and Science) 3-5 days 5. Teaching Aid Training 1-2 days 6. Children's Right and Child Psychology Training 3-5 days 7. Gender and Development 1-2 days

> 1 day 1 day

Table-1 shows the in-service training provided by UCEP and their duration.

**7. Underprivileged Children's Educational Programs (UCEP) Bangladesh** 
