A round table discussion on Education for a Changing World was held on 20 January 2018 at the British Council Dhaka University campus office organised by the British Council.
This event brought together more than 100 teachers, head teachers, policy makers and education experts. The discussion focused on adequately preparing all students with the essential 21st century knowledge and skills necessary to succeed in life, career and citizenship. Md. Sohorab Hossain, Secretary, Ministry of Education, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh was present as the chief guest.
The event started with a revitalizing performance by a group of students from Viqarunnisa School & College. Participation of 12 teachers from six different UK schools made the event more diverse and brought forward an opportunity of sharing and learning. This year, 28 schools from all over Bangladesh won the International School Award, which is a benchmarking scheme of Connecting Classrooms programmes and is co funded by the British Council and Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO). It accredits schools for having an outstanding level of support for nurturing global citizenship in young people and enriching teaching and learning.
There were also interactive panel discussions and participation from the audience. Discussions were on the fundamental principles and approaches to education, learning patterns subject to contextual changes, transformation of new technologies, globalisation, labour market shifts, and workplace composition. The dialogue also encouraged ways to contribute to form a more coherent framework for understanding education in the current context of complexity, change, and uncertainty.
The event ended with the distribution of crests and certificates among the winning schools.
The British Council, with the support of Ministry of Education, expressed its determination to contribute in improving the standard of education in Bangladesh. This round table discussion created a platform to bring together policy makers, experts on system-wide education quality reforms, schools leaders and teachers to generate ideas on how the education system of Bangladesh can be made responsive to changing demands, and come up with the best ways to equip children and youth for the future.