Bangladesh will keep all educational institutions closed for two days every week starting in 2023.
Education Minister Dipu Moni announced the decision during the distribution of textbooks among students of class six at 62 schools selected for a pilot programme on new curricula.
“All educational institutions, from primary to every other level, will have two-day weekends from 2023,” she said at the event at the National Textbook and Curriculum Board in Dhaka’s Motijheel on Saturday, reports bdnews24.com.
The institutions where the new curricula are being followed in 2022 will have two-day weekends from now on, according to her.
The old curricula do not have specific objectives while the new ones will help the students build skills and gain knowledge, she said.
“We’ll monitor whether the students are really building skills with the new curricula and becoming human beings in line with Bangabandhu’s ideals.
“This is a matter to watch out for now. We’ll consider it a success when we get feedback from the students on our efforts to implement the Fourth Industrial Revolution.”
If the pilot programme yields good results, it will be replicated in classes six and seven in 2023 and classes eight and nine in 2024.
The government said the rollout of the new curricula would begin in 2022 and by 2025, students would experience a new world of schooling without exams up to class three.
In the new curricula, the government has added more classwork assessments with no distinctions in the streams of science, arts and business studies in classes 9 and 10. Students will be assessed in classes and have a comprehensive evaluation.
Dipu Moni called for everyone’s support to successfully implement the new curricula.