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BLP : Above and Beyond the Call of Duty

by A M Emdadul Huque
Bangladesh Literacy Project is a recent success story made possible under Special Grant 1966 of The Rotary Foundation (TRF) of Rotary International.
What Is the Bangladesh Literacy Project? How did It all come about? To begin with, a focus on the essential need for literacy is necessary. The Government of Bangladesh, recognizing the Importance of literacy, has made primary education compulsory by law This is a good start, but effectively implementing this process is a tremendous challenge.
As fate would have It, an article published In the July 1988 Issue of The Rotarian" (a monthly magazine of Rotary International) describing Rotary Literacy work underway In Thailand, eaught my sight and 1 wrote an Inquisitive letter lo PDG Dr Richard F Walker of Australia on 24 Sept 88 to obtain details of the programme and the CLE system. described below. A drcam was formulated that a similar programme could be pioneered 1n Bangladesh and. through subsequent correspondence, an avenue was developed for implementing a pilot programme in Bangladesh similar to the Thal s.
On 23 January, 1989 TRF approved my volunteership offer to visit Thailand to study and understand the practical side of the programme to aid In It's implementation In Bangladesh. During my 6 week visit I met the Thal organizers and PDG Prof Dick Walker of Australia, one of the key per sonncl of the programme, and developed proposal for
The project applied for Special Matching Grant (SMG) to TRF of Rotary International on 12 Feb 89 to sponsor a Pilot Literacy Project in Bangladesh. Rotary club of Footscray, Australia came forward to fl-nance the project at the special request of PDG Jack Nankervls. RI Dlst 9800. The flrat major milestone was ichlcvcd when SMG No 1766 vas approved on O1 Mar 90.
A project committee with me as Chairman and with veteran Rotarians of District 3280 was set up which consisted of the following members ; PDG Iftckharul Alam, PDG M A Wahab. DC M Z Abbasi. DON Prof Jalal U Ahmed. Pres Md SaHmuliah
Subsequent committee meetings were held on a regular basis to monitor progress. As a vote of confide nee for the project. PDG Jack Nankervls of RI Dlst 9800 of Australia, visited Bangladesh for 2 weeks in January 89. He met the Education Minister and Education Secretary to outline the programme of Rotary lnternaUdn.1 and requested
them to nominate a coordinator. The Education Ministry then nominated Mr Shahidul Mam. Asstt Secretary of Pathkali Trust on 18 Mar 90 to act as coordinator of the programme.
What exactly does the programme Involve? It s an innovative technique for teaching children called "Concentrated Language Encounter" of CLE for short which has been under development for nearly 10 years by various linguists. It is now a teaching model for reading and writing throughout Australia. USA and Canada. The CLE approach is completely opposite to the traditional teaching methodology in that the progression Is from the largest to the smallest bits of language.
The four fundamental principles that explains the CLE approach arc:
— Children learn to read and write through being involved in reading and writing for recognised purposes.
— Learners need to start whole texts and then move to progressively smaller units of language.
— The teaching context should be one tn which the learners arc encouraged to take "risks" as language users:
— Pupils should be given every encouragement to become independent learners — self checking and self correcting.
It can also be stated that CLE is first used as a means of building meaning. The second phase is the cooperative writing and editing of text which is the reconstruction of that meaning. The third and final phase Is the use of the text as a resource for further closer exploration of written and spoken language. The CLE teaching methods can also help teachers learn better teaching procedures and techniques.
A contact was made to the Thai Literacy Committee for providing training to the new coordinator and. with this. Mr Shahidul Islam visited Bangkok shortly afterwards for one month of training. A request was also made to the Education Ministry to no mi nate 3 schools and the concerned teachers for implementation of the programme. On 23 Apr 91. the Education Ministry gave final approval for adopting the proposed technique. the "CLE" system, in the curriculum of the schools. Primary Education approved training of the teachers on 09 March 91 and nominated the following schools and teachers:
BKSP Primary School. Savar with teachers Md All Hossain
A Md Rafiqul Islam; Palhkali Child Primary School. Jatrabart with teachers Sabtha Begum and Wahtda Begum, and Nishong Primary School. Bandar, N Ganj with teachers Syed Maqbul Ahmed and Mrs Ambia Khatun.
Monitoring progress of the project was a major consideration and I had to apply In that special management tech nique. Generally, regular information was sent to PDG Jack Nankervls. Also, Information was sent on a casual basis lo PDG Dick Walker and RC Footscray. Reports were also filed with Dhaka Rotary News bulletin on 14 Mar 89 and 2 Oct 90.
Four artists were selected from the Dhaka Art College on 6 May 91 for preparation of the Big books to be used in the programme. Four sets of these book* were made ready on 7 July 91 — commemorating a major mile* lone toward the substantial completion of the project.
Therefore, an inaugural ceremony is arranged to be held on 22 July 91 at Hotel Sheraton with Prof Dr AQM Badruddoza Chowdhury, Minister for Education and Cultural Affairs as Chief Guest, to formally start the training programme of the teachers followed by the official implementation of pilot programme in the three schools.
Training of teachers is scheduled to ~cgln 27 July 91 for one week at the Conference Room of Pathkali Trust, conducted by Mr Shahidul Islam, the coordinator. Teaching of the primary students at 6 class rooms is expected to start from 10 Aug 91 at these three selected schools.
The Ministry of Education will have close supervision to evaluate the effectiveness and acceptance of the student and If satisfied may consider to recommend an extension of this Pilot Program to other primary schools countrywide. The Literacy Committee will then apply to RI with the assistance of PDG Jack Nankervls for approving a 3 H grant for implementation of this literacy project tn a larger area for five years with the active support of the Education Ministry.
Through effective management and strict monetary control, 1 could complete the task ahead of schedule and also under budget, having over 40% of the initial money still unused. I feel happy to see It as an example of now dedicated efforts could provide a ray of light for so many hopeful children of Bangladesh.
The author (s a Rotarian.