What changes does CR Abrar want in education?

Chowdhury Rafiqul Abrar, popularly known as CR Abrar, has taken on his responsibilities as the education advisor to the interim government and says he hopes for a future where students from Bangladesh can “lead the world”.

After being sworn in on Wednesday, Abrar arrived at the Secretariat in the afternoon and assumed his responsibilities, the education ministry’s Senior Information Officer Siraj-ud-Doula Khan confirmed

Wahiduddin Mahmud, who had previously been in charge of the Ministry of Education, along Senior Secretary Siddique Zobair of the Secondary & Higher Education Division and Secretary KM Kabirul Islam of the Technical and Madrasah Education Division, welcomed Abrar at the Secretariat.

After taking on his new role, Abrar said: “Many have asked me what kind of education system I hope to see. I dream of a system where our students can envision their future in the country.

“The country is undergoing significant change. We never thought we’d be able to speak so freely in our lifetime. The responsibility given to me by the chief advisor is a huge challenge. The chief advisor also said the journey ahead won’t be easy."

He continued: “Education is a vast field. We’ve all benefitted from public money. So we’ve a lot of responsibility towards the people.”

“I think education is the most powerful medium to shape a society without any form of discrimination. I dream that our students will lead the world from our country. I know this won’t happen right away. But we want to lay the foundation for it.”

With his appointment, the number of advisors in Yunus's advisory council has now reached 22. Previously, Wahiduddin Mahmud had been overseeing both the ministries of education and planning. His focus will now be solely on the planning ministry.

Commenting on some of the challenges facing the education sector, Abrar's predecessor Wahiduddin said: “There’ve been five to six education commissions in the past. Have they solved the problems? Will simply appointing anyone in the commission solve anything? It'd take them a lot of time just to understand the issues. We should have a far-sighted commission.”

He also noted that many people were not aware that teachers in the private sector don’t have any provision for training. “NAEM [National Academy for Educational Management] and other such training centres only train government teachers,” he said.

"But there are more private education institutes than public ones. So the new commission will take such factors into account.”

Wahiduddin emphasised that properly implementing a solid curriculum would require trained teachers. “Our education system is very messy and disorganised."