Separate boards recommended for pry edn

A parliamentary committee on Tuesday recommended a separate textbook board for primary education and an education board for the Primary Education Completion Examinations.
The parliamentary standing committee on the ministry of primary and mass education at a meeting said that the board for primary education would develop and revise curriculum and publish textbooks for primary students while the education board would conduct the level-final examinations.
Committee members AKM Zahangir Hossain and Ali Azam both after the 32nd meeting said that they had recommended separate textbook and education boards for primary education.
Currently, the textbook board under education ministry develops and revises national curriculum for pre-primary, primary, secondary and higher secondary level as well as develop and revise textbook and others teaching learning materials based on the national curriculum. 
The textbook board also prints and distributes pre-primary, primary, secondary, ibtedayi, dakhil and dakhil vocational level free of cost textbook for the students.
Directorate of Primary Education with the help of National Academy for Primary Education holds the Primary Education Completion Examinations. 
About 30 lakh students take part in the exam which is the first and largest public exam of the country. 
AKM Zahangir Hossain said that the number of students and coverage would increase significantly as the primary education would be extended to Class VIII, so ‘we recommended separate NCTB for primary level’.
He said that they made the recommendation for separate board or boards to hold the PECE exam in order to lessen the burden of the DPE and make the exam more transparent.
‘Acceptance of the exam will increase if it is held by the boards. Results and quality of marking system vary from district to district,’ AKM Zahangir Hossain said.
The meeting, presided over by the committee chairman Motahar Hossain, also asked the government to expedite the works of extending primary education up to Class VIII. 
Besides, the meeting asked the government to distribute textbooks among the primary students on time on January 1, to take steps to appoint teachers at the primary schools built under the project of Establishment of 1,500 New Primary School Building in Unschooled Area so that these schools could begin their schooling from 2017 academic session.
‘If needed, the government can send teachers on deputation,’ Zahangir added.
Primary and mass education minister Mostafizur Rahman, committee members Abdur Rahman and Ummey Razia Kamal, primary and mass education secretary Mohammad Asif-Uz-Zaman and NCTB chairman Narayan Chandra Saha and others attended the meeting.

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