Budget and teaching third language

With a view to providing students with additional language skills so that they can enhance their employability and global outlook, a special plan has been proposed by the government which has been revealed in the budget 2026-27.

According to the proposed plan, a major transformation will be brought to the existing curriculum. Special emphasis will be given to developing ethics, social responsibility, leadership qualities and human values among students. Technical and vocational education, technology-based curricula, and sports and cultural activities will also be made part of mainstream education.

There is also a proposal to make technical education compulsory from Class VI onwards. Alongside Bangla and English, multiple third languages including Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Arabic, French and German are proposed to be included in the curriculum. Additionally, loan facilities of up to Tk 10 lakh will be provided for students wishing to pursue higher education in these countries. The main goal of this initiative is to develop skilled manpower for the global labour market.

Education based news portal ‘Dainikshiksha’ conducted a survey on the issue of teaching a third language to the students, that has been supported by 72 percent people who think it necessary for the students to manage job easily and enrich our foreign exchange reserve.

This plan evokes appreciation initially and then constructive feedback because of our existing dismal situation of teaching just one foreign language.

We have taught English as a foreign language for 55 years in Bangladesh and another 24 years during Pakistan time. During this long period, we could not have employed real language teachers who can teach English effectively.

As a result, it has assumed a business shape without giving our students a strong basis on this language and this business continues from KG to higher education, from the remotest parts of the country to the lanes and bi-lanes of big cities and obviously in posh areas in the form of coaching, teaching spoken English etc. and this business is run by social welfare teachers, religious teachers, history teachers, agricultural teachers to English teachers, from student to professors, from novice teachers to experts but for which English is taught as a compulsory subject remains still elusive.

All try to teach English just as a subject not to develop skills of the learners to accrue direct benefit from acquiring it. That means, the purpose remains far away from its real objective. Additionally, there is a plan to introduce the concept of ‘Learning with Happiness’ in the education system, aimed at ensuring a stress-free and joyful learning environment for students.

To expand women’s education, plans are in place to extend free education up to the bachelor’s level. The budget also includes plans to provide school uniforms, shoes and bags for poor students, and to further strengthen inclusive education for students with disabilities and special needs.

A proposal has been made to gradually introduce mid-day meals across the country to protect students’ nutrition and health. Initiatives are also being taken to strengthen healthy sanitation and hygiene facilities for female students and teachers.

With a focus on technology and AI-based education, plans have been made to set up multimedia classrooms, provide free Wi-Fi connectivity and implement a ‘One Teacher, One Tab’ program. The ministry expects this will increase the digital skills of both teachers and students.

Additionally, the budget will include plans to make co-curricular activities such as debates, science fairs, cultural events and literary pursuits more active at the school and college levels. All these plans deserve appreciation if they can be implemented as per the discussion. Our experiences say that in translating these ideas into reality appear as a grim and fruitless reality.

Only plans and talking about them always stand far away from the real implementation stage that calls for careful attention and devising practical strategies to give benefit to the learners considering the reality of our current education setup.

However, government cannot make it successful as it has failed to teach English to our students making it a compulsory subject and employing several lac teachers who actually don’t get the point of teaching it. Our assessment system also does never talk about developing the practical skills of our students in this subject.

When this is the case, can we expect anything fruitful from the government effort to teach another third language? How teachers will be managed if another third language is introduced? If it is really introduced in the schools and colleges, it will be just a white elephant.