The pandemic has affected all walks of life and its impact on the education system globally has been dramatic. However, it’s teachers who have come forward with the help of technology to impart teaching and help to continue education. Continuing education under the current situation has faced many challenges especially in the developing world where infrastructure is often weak. However, Bangladeshi teachers have been trying to continue their teaching with the active support of Ministries of Education.
The British Council in Bangladesh has played a vital role in the field of education in Bangladesh over many years, especially in teacher training. From the beginning of the pandemic, the British Council has initiated several activities to assist the government’s initiatives alongside other organisations to help continue the professional development of the teachers. Recently the British Council in collaboration with Bangladesh English Language Teachers Association (BELTA), started a training program on ICT in English Language Teaching.
The aim of this training is to use of ICT in English Language teaching. The British Council decided to provide this training to the teachers in 15 BELTA chapters as the teachers from semi-urban or rural areas don’t receive much training or not fully aware of the use of ICT in language teaching. To date, we have trained almost 150 teachers in the six BELTA regions/chapters namely Mymensingh, Sylhet, Cumilla, Pabna, Chattogram and Chattogram South and are yet to cover 9 more chapters where we are going to train more than 300 teachers.
"This ICT training conducted by the British Council will certainly enhance the confidence and skills of our teachers and enable them to deliver online classes in an informed manner. A very timely initiative indeed," said Dr Rubina Khan, President of Bangladesh English Language Teachers Association.
A participant stated, “Training on ICT in English Language Teaching is a praiseworthy initiative taken by the British Council. As a language teacher, I can tell that it opens new avenues for me to use ICT in my classes.”