English-medium schools in Bangladesh
English medium school is one of the education systems in Bangladesh that follows mostly the curriculum of Edexcel and Cambridge of UK and other curriculums of other countries also, such as IB curriculum.[1][2] The main medium of education is English with English oriented textbooks. English-medium schools have a primary learning goal and objective in classes 6-10 of improving their textual concepts and cognitive language, then a second goal of properly using the English language for their academic careers, and thirdly to improve their grammatical comprehension.[citation needed]
English-medium schools are growing in popularity among the middle class, upper-middle-class and rich families. The English-medium schools not only teach the students about their own country but also about the International History and English Literature.[3]
The exams of the O-level and A-level students of Edexcel and Cambridge are conducted through British Council Bangladesh.[4] The Daily Star Award is the most prestigious award provided to O-Level and A-Level examinees of Bangladesh, for their extraordinary academic performance. The criteria for an award are: 6 'A's in O-Levels, 3 'A's in A-Levels, and highest marks in O-Levels and A-Levels.[5]
Language
[edit]The English-medium schools teach most of the subjects in English.[6] Bengali is a respected subject taught in these schools. The St Francis Xavier's Green Herald International School also teaches French to its students from Class 5 onwards and International School Dhaka having Spanish and French taught.
Criticisms
[edit]Critics of English medium curriculum point out that the students of English-medium are weak in their mother-tongue (Bengali).[7] They say that in English-medium students are less patriotic.[7] These criticisms are similar to those that can be found in English-medium education. This is not always true, however. These days, schools try their best to educate their students about their own culture. Also, the students are not taught the social studies courses which sometimes discusses about the social problems the government is dealing with.[8] There are allegations that English medium schools charge extra money from students.[9][10]
History
[edit]St Francis Xavier's Green Herald International School is the first English medium school in Bangladesh which was established in 1912.[11] English-medium institutions in Bangladesh have been ascending due to the rise in globalization and the free market economy.[12] Bangladesh government released projects to increase the English language through the English Language Teaching Improvement Project in 1990 with the UK and the 'English in Action' project in 2009.[13]
References
[edit]- ^ "A History of English-Medium Education in Bangladesh". The Daily Campus. 26 June 2025. Archived from the original on 10 July 2025. Retrieved 10 July 2025.
- ^ "An analysis of English medium education system". Daily Sun. April 2019. Retrieved 10 July 2025.
- ^ "English medium education system in Bangladesh". The Daily Observer. Retrieved 10 July 2025.
- ^ "O, A-level exams on time: British Council". The Daily Star. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
- ^ "All the best, shining stars". The Daily Star. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
- ^ Zaman, Sharda (10 September 2023). "Education: Weighing the odds between English medium and English version". Prothom Alo. Retrieved 10 July 2025.
- ^ a b "ইংরেজি মাধ্যমের শিক্ষা: আমরা কি শিশু ও জাতির কোনো ক্ষতি করছি". Prothom Alo (in Bengali). 15 March 2023. Retrieved 10 July 2025.
- ^ Ahmed, Manzoor (27 August 2018). "An education system that divides the nation". The Daily Star. Retrieved 10 July 2025.
- ^ "The government must monitor". The Daily Star. 30 July 2022. Retrieved 10 July 2025.
- ^ চন্দন, মো শাহনেওয়াজ খান (4 August 2022). "ইংরেজি মাধ্যম স্কুল: টাকাই যেন শেষ কথা". The Daily Star Bangla (in Bengali). Retrieved 10 July 2025.
- ^ "St Francis Xavier's Green Herald International School". Banglapedia. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
- ^ Al-Quaderi, Golam Gaus; Al Mahmud, Abdullah (July 2010). "English literature at English-medium schools of Bangladesh: the question of culture". Pedagogy, Culture & Society. 18 (2): 211–226. doi:10.1080/14681366.2010.488046. ISSN 1468-1366.
- ^ Mousumi, Manjuma Akhtar; Kusakabe, Tatsuya (2017-10-20). "The dynamics of supply and demand chain of English-medium schools in Bangladesh". Globalisation, Societies and Education. 15 (5): 679–693. doi:10.1080/14767724.2016.1223537. ISSN 1476-7724.