1. STATUS & CHALLENGES of MULTIGRADE TEACHING in bangladesh
Regional research workshop on promoting quality learning through enhanced multigrade teaching in the asia-pacific region
21-23 April 2014, holiday inn Bangkok sukhumvit 22, thailand

2. Government’s initiative for education
Government want to bring all children to school
But facing challenges with various ability groupings
No accurate statistics available with such problem
No study about the real magnitude of the problem
Various formal and nonformal approaches have been tried for their education
Multigrade Teaching is one of the efforts

3. Multigrade schools run by DAM
Common features
Situated in remote and slum areas
All five grade students are taught in one class by one teacher
Advance and backward learners go by their own pace
There is no traditional final examination
Key challenges
Teacher quality is not up to the mark
They have limited training

4. Small schools
Definition: There is no specific definition but school with fewer students are small schools. In nonformal sector 1:30 may be considered as small school
No. of small schools : No specific statistics are available
No. of students in small schools: There is no fixed number but in NFE program the ratio is 1 : 30
No. of teachers in small schools: only one teacher is available. It is 1:30
Key challenges: (1) Standard size school is not available everywhere in Bangladesh. (2) Lack of well trained teacher in these schools. (3) Schools are not accessible in many places

5. History of MT in Bangladesh
Multigrade teaching school was started by Dhaka Ahsania Mission with UE’s fund
The project started in 2007 for 5 years (UNIC – Phase -I ) and now Phase II is running
Under Phase I 2,380 Children Learning Centers (CLC) were established
After completion of Phase I the second phase started for six years in 2011
Under the second phase 1,850 CLC were established
The centers are established in 6 Regions and 44 areas
On an average each CLC contain 30 students (max.) with various abilities

6. History of MT in Bangladesh (cont.)
Out of 44 areas 25 run by DAM themselves
Other 19 areas are conducted by 6 partner organizations
Each center run for three hours for six days by one teacher only
Students of 6 – 12 years of different abilities are enrolled in the MT class
Several NGOs under DAM are involved in the project: ASOD, CCDB, DORP, PMUK, SURAVI, VARD & YPSA

7. Teacher challenges
Overall teachers background is not up to the mark, they are SSC (min.)
They receive 12 days basic training and a day-long refresher per month
This refresher is vicarious to their performance skill and follows as it is
Availability of teachers in the remote rural area is difficult
Generally one teacher is assigned per class
Whenever necessary parents are invited to assist

8. Teaching learning scenario
Students are separated into four blocks like, Basic (Gr. I), Advance (Gr. II), Skilled (Gr. III) and Independent (Gr. IV) learners group
Entry ranges between 6 – 12 years and with any ability or background
A placement test determines the student’s grade levels for different subjects
Any student simultaneously may lie in different blocks like for Bangla in advance level but for Math in basic level etc.
Three subjects are taught per day and at a time all the grades remain in the same subject like Bangla, Math, English etc.
General subject like drawing, music etc. are taught in one big group

9. Country’s support For multigrade teaching
There is no separate policy for multigrade teaching
However, multigrade school receive support from external donors
Teachers adapt some parts of the curriculum in the school
Textbook are provided to children by Government free of cost
Physical environment of the class is poor but looks stimulating
Teaching materials for multigrade classes are similar to regular class

10. Existing research on multigrade teaching
No research on multigrate teaching is yet done
Only official reporting documents are available with the project

11. Thank you all