Every school to be fully functional

State Minister for Primary and Mass Education Bobby Hajjaj on Sunday said the government’s top priority was to transform every school in the country into a fully functional educational institution.
He made the remarks while addressing a day-long training workshop at Sylhet Primary Teachers’ Training Institute.

The District Primary Education Office organised the workshop titled “Conducting Classroom Activities, Monitoring, Accountability and the Evolving Expectations of Local Administration Regarding Primary Education in Bangladesh.”
“More important than school infrastructure or project implementation is how much students are actually learning when they attend school,” Bobby said.

During the workshop, the state minister conducted three training sessions lasting around six hours. He provided field-level education officials with guidelines on the future of primary education, administrative reforms, effective monitoring and improving learning quality.

He said officials must collect accurate information to identify why a school is underperforming, including whether it faces teacher shortages, infrastructure problems, inadequate training or other challenges.
Bobby stressed that problems should not be concealed and that prompt action should be taken based on reliable field data.

“Student learning will remain at the centre of all government investment,” he said.

He added that school inspections should go beyond routine administrative supervision and include direct “learning audits” to assess students’ progress in classrooms.

The government is also working to improve the status, capacity and facilities of administrative officials involved in primary education, Bobby said.

At the same time, their professional competence, transparency and accountability would be evaluated more rigorously, he added.

The state minister also announced plans to recruit cleaners and night guards for all government primary schools by next year.