Policy needed for primary education in private sector: Adviser Bidhan

City Desk:

Primary and Mass Education Adviser Dr Bidhan Ranjan Roy Podder has said policy formulation for primary education in the private sector has become an urgent need so that the non-government institutions cannot realize extra fees.

“There is no legal bar to operate kindergarten and non-government educational institutions, but they have no right to charge fees according to their will and wish,” he said while talking to the journalists after holding a meeting on Thursday as the chief guest.

He also noted that the course and curriculum of non-government primary institutions should be brought under government control.

District Primary Education Office organized the view-sharing meeting with all stakeholders titled “Improvement of Primary Education” at the conference hall of Primary Teachers Institute (PTI).
Primary Education Adviser Dr Bidhan Ranjan said the teachers should follow the teacher’s guide to ensure quality teaching.

Ensuring quality teaching in primary education can be the crucial means of grooming and flourishing latent talents of the students as they are the future driving force of the nation.
Adviser Dr Bidhan Ranjan said that the teachers and others concerned should discharge their duties with utmost sincerity and honesty for quality development of primary education as it’s the gateway of all higher education.

The adviser stated that primary education is extremely important for everyone and is indispensable for a country’s long-term development. He said that if there is any deficiency in one’s primary education, no matter how much they age or continue studying, that gap can never truly be filled.

In his keynote speech at the discussion, Dr Poddar said: “There’s a general perception among the public that students do not receive proper education in primary schools and that officers here are engaged in tasks unrelated to education. It is your responsibility to prove this perception wrong, because as teachers and government employees, this is your duty.”

He further explained, “Education is the process of shaping a child to become suitable for life. We do not teach children everything; rather, primary schools have a specific responsibility. A child, after birth, first learns language within the family and then in different layers of society, and only then enters primary school. The primary school becomes a medium of structured learning.”
Dr Bidhan Ranjan Roy Poddar also highlighted, “Learning the mother tongue is not just about language; it is a medium for acquiring other knowledge. When a child has already learned to speak in their mother tongue, our role is to introduce them to the script and written form.”
Stating that primary schools teach children how to read, the adviser remarked: “In the stages of education that follow primary school, students learn by reading repeatedly. This makes primary schools unique in terms of quality and responsibility. A child acquires foundational education in primary school.”

He added: “We are educating children in two languages-one is the mother tongue and the other is the language of mathematics. Beyond this, we teach them principles and ethics. A child is not born with a language but with the ability to learn one. When they master a language, they begin to become social from within. Humans are social beings, and the core of society is ethics.”

At this time, he expressed his conviction that prioritising primary education and the cumulative contributions of all stakeholders would play a vital role in national progress.