by Nafiz Uddin Khan

The National Conference of the Bangladesh Reading Association (BRA) was held in Dhaka October 5-6 with the theme of “Problems and Practices of Teaching in Bangladesh.” The conference was jointly organized by the Bangladesh Reading Association and Dhaka Ahsania Mission (DAM), in cooperation with the International Reading Association (IRA) and Campaign for Popular Education (CAMPE).

Mr. Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury, PhD, Secretary, Ministry of Education, Government of Bangladesh, was the Chief Guest in the inaugural ceremony of the conference. Carrice C. Cummins, President of IRA, was the Special Guest for the occasion. Prof. M. Eltasuddin, Vice Chairman of BRA, welcomed the participants. Mr. Kzai Rafi qul Alam, Chairman of the Bangladesh Reading Association, chaired the inaugural ceremony.

Around 500 teachers from primary, secondary, and other educational institutions participated in the conference. There were three plenary and ten parallel sessions in the conference with a variety of topics relevant to the theme of the conference.

Since its inception, BRA has been organizing activities to improve the capacity of teachers in different areas of professional development. BRA targeted October 5, World Teachers Day, to hold this national conference. The main objectives of the conference were:
• To bring quality in educational delivery to primary and secondary schools;
• To explore the current problems and good practices of teaching and learning processes in primary and secondary schools in Bangladesh;
• To encourage teachers and educators to document and research good practices in teaching-related topics;
• To develop an action plan for conducting, publishing, and disseminating research on teaching and learning processes, curriculum, creative learning materials, etc;
• To encourage teachers and educators to become pro-active for their professional development.

Prof. Dr. M.M.Safiullah, Vice Chancellor, Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology, Dhaka, presented the keynote paper on Education and Problems of Education Practice in Bangladesh. This keynote focused on the overall problems and practices of teaching in the primary and secondary level in Bangladesh. It showed the education system, policy of primary and secondary education, and teachers’ motivation and practices in the classroom.

At the closing session of the conference the participants opined that this was a successful event that should be organized every year. They also suggested the idea of publishing a teachers’ journal to share their problems, practices, and experiences with teaching.

Nafiz Uddin Khan is the Project Manager at Bangladesh Reading Association, Nafiz1966@gmail.com.

The Chief Guest Mr. Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury, PhD, Secretary, Ministry of Education speaks

International Reading Association President (2012-2013) Carrice Cummins speaks

Attendees at the conference

This article was originally published in the December 2012/January 2013 issue of Reading Today. IRA members can read the interactive digital version of the magazine here. Nonmembers: join today!

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