News Flash
DHAKA, Sept 9, 2026 (BSS) - State Minister for Primary and Mass Education Bobby Hajjaj today said the new primary education curriculum will place equal emphasis on the four fundamental language skills, moving beyond the traditional focus on reading and writing.
"The new curriculum will give particular importance to listening and speaking skills. Not only reading and writing, but also the ability to understand through listening, speak correctly and express one's thoughts will be developed through necessary exercises and activities in the new curriculum," he said.
He was speaking as the chief guest at the 'Bangladesh TMTE (Training of Master Trainers in English) Members' Conference 2026' held at the Dhaka Primary Teachers Training Institute (PTI) auditorium in the capital today.
Bobby said the government is committed to introducing specific, practical and results-oriented policy changes.
The state minister stressed that acquiring language skills is essential to ensure students' access to global scientific and technological knowledge.
He said the four fundamental pillars of language learning are listening for understanding, speaking for expression, reading for comprehension and writing for expression.
"Among these, developing listening comprehension skills at the primary level is the most important, as listening and practice are the key to mastering any language," he said.
Stressing that merely increasing the literacy rate is not enough to build a truly educated society, Bobby said education, in line with Prime Minister Tarique Rahman's clear directive, would be treated as a fundamental right for all and brought to people's doorsteps.
At the same time, he said, education must be made skills-based, career-oriented and grounded in strong ethical values.
"To achieve this goal, language education must be adopted as one of the key components of the education system," he said.
Criticising teaching methods that rely solely on textbooks in classrooms, the state minister urged teachers to come up with new proposals for using modern teaching aids to make lessons more enjoyable through videos, workbooks, digital content and games.
The programme was chaired by TMTE Bangladesh Chief Coordinator Riaz Parvez.
Director General of the National Academy for Primary Education (NAPE) Farid Ahmed, Additional Director General of the Directorate of Primary Education Md Abdur Rahim, and Deputy Director of the British Council Bangladesh Maarya Rehman also spoke at the event as special guests.
Senior officials from the education sector, along with members of TMTE Bangladesh, attended the programme.
