Can We Comment on Quality

This paper analyses the existing literatures about the Quality Assurance process of primary education in three different countries within the south Asia subcontinent namely, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. It argues that the definition of Quality education is still ambiguous in among the systems. However, this article categories the aspects of quality education from existing literatures and examines the quality assurance systems in the mentioned three countries. Having done so, it shows that the quality assurance systems in all three countries focus differently in various aspects of quality education among which the physical aspects are predominant

English language and social and economic opportunity: Case studies of underprivileged school-leavers

Children’s attitudes towards learning process have impact on their attainment, consistency and quality of class-work as well as their later views of science and science education which is well documented in several recent corpus. Hence, it is vital to monitor children’s attitudes with respect to these changes. Contemporary education science suggests that for effective learning students need to be more engaged into the activities in a classroom whether in a science or language classroom. To make the pupils more engage in the activities, a teacher need to identify their interests. This book explores the ways of identifying students’ views and interests in a classroom specifically towards a specific teaching-learning method in science classes though, those could be used in other situations

Unexplored Areas of Teacher Collaboration: Evidence from a Bangladeshi Rural Primary school

This study investigated how teachers in a rural primary school in Bangladesh understood collaboration, how it was exercised in a daily routine context and the factors that influenced their collaborative activities in a school setting. Teachers’ collaboration in such a Low- and Middle-Income Country (LMIC) context is underexplored. Moreover, collaborative professional development is a policy imperative in this country, and it was assumed that findings of this study may inform teachers, policymakers and teacher educators when designing and implementing School-Based Teacher Development (SBTD) programmes. A Critical Realist (CR) philosophy was adopted which calls for an understanding of the deep social structure and human agency to understand a social event. It allowed an in-depth understanding of the social context of the school and the agency of the teachers. An ethnographic approach adopted in this study helped to obtain authentic data about teachers’ day-to-day collaborative practice in the school context. A range of data collection methods including the audio recording of staffroom conversations, participant observations and interviews was undertaken for two months. A thematic analysis of the data showed that teachers understood collaboration as a matter of their day-to-day activities, which are not restricted to formal professional works but also include a range of informal, professional, social and emotional activities. Teachers were involved in planned and unplanned collaboration with the majority of them being unplanned social conversations. Yet, the collaborative activities seemed to have little impact on teachers’ professional development. Teachers’ understanding of collaboration and the nature of their collaborative activities were very much shaped by the wider culture and organisational norms and regulations. This study concluded that teachers need to be supported to use the collaborative spaces for their professional development. Further research is needed to identify the way teachers can be supported to utilise their collaboration

English Proficiency Assessments of Primary and Secondary Teachers and Students Participating in English in Action: Third Cohort (2014)

The purpose of the study was to assess the student learning outcomes of English in Action’s (EIA’s) school-based teacher development programme, in terms of improved English language competence (ELC),1 against recognised international frameworks (specifically, the Graded Examinations in Spoken English2 [GESE)]; Trinity College London 2013), which map onto the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR)3. Measurably improved student learning outcomes are the ultimate test of success of a teacher development programme. English Proficiency Assessments 2014 is a repeat of the study on the pilot EIA programme (Cohort 14) (EIA 2012), but focusing only on student ELC. The teachers and hence the students of Cohort 3 are substantially greater in number than in the pilot phase (347,000 primary students and almost 1.7 million secondary students compared with around 700 teachers, 35,000 primary students and over 83,000 secondary students in 2011). To enable this increase in scale, the programme has been delivered through a more decentralised model, with much less direct contact with English language teaching (ELT) experts, a greater embedding of expertise within teacher development materials (especially video), and a greater dependence upon localised peer support. This report addresses the following research question: "To what extent do the students of Cohort 3 show improved post-intervention EL proficiencies, in speaking and listening, compared with the Cohort 1 2010 pre-intervention baseline?

Classroom Practices of Primary and Secondary Teachers Participating in English in Action: Third Cohort (2014)

This study reports on the third cohort of teachers and students to participate in EIA (2013–14). While the students and teachers in Cohort 3 underwent an essentially similar programme to those in Cohorts 1 and 2, they are much greater in number (there are over 8,000 teachers and 1.7 million students in Cohort 3, compared to 751 teachers and 118,000 students in Cohort 1). To enable ongoing increases in scale, the SBTD programme became increasingly decentralised, with less direct contact with English language teaching (ELT) experts, a greater embedding of expertise within teacher development materials (especially video) and a greater dependence upon localised peer support. The purpose of this study was to ascertain whether there had been changes in the classroom practice of teachers and students participating in EIA Cohort 3 (2013–14). Previous research in language teaching has established that when teachers take up most of the lesson time talking, this can severely limit students’ opportunities to develop proficiency in the target language (Cook 2008); a general goal of English language (EL) teachers is to motivate their students to speak – and to practise using the target language (Nunan 1991). This study therefore focuses upon the extent of teacher and student talk, the use of the target language by both, and the forms of classroom organisation (individual, pair, group or choral work) in which student talk is situated. The study addresses two research questions: 1. To what extent do the teachers of Cohort 3 show classroom practice comparable to the teachers of Cohort 1, particularly in relation to the amount of student talk and the use of the target language by teachers and students, post-intervention? 2. In what ways do the teachers of Cohort 3 show improved classroom practice (particularly in relation to the amount of student talk and use of the target language by teachers and students) in contrast to the pre-intervention baseline? This study is a repeat of studies on Cohorts 1 & 2 (EIA 2011a, 2012a & 2014)

English Proficiency Assessments of Primary and Secondary Students Participating in English in Action: Third Cohort (2014) Large-Scale Quantitative Study

The purpose of the study was to assess the student learning outcomes of English in Action’s (EIA’s) school-based teacher development programme, in terms of improved English language competence (ELC), against recognised international frameworks (specifically, the Graded Examinations in Spoken English [GESE)]; Trinity College London 2013), which map onto the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). Measurably improved student learning outcomes are the ultimate test of success of a teacher development programme. English Proficiency Assessments 2014 is a repeat of the study on the pilot EIA programme (Cohort 14) (EIA 2012), but focusing only on student ELC. The teachers and hence the students of Cohort 3 are substantially greater in number than in the pilot phase (347,000 primary students and almost 1.7 million secondary students compared with around 700 teachers, 35,000 primary students and over 83,000 secondary students in 2011). To enable this increase in scale, the programme has been delivered through a more decentralised model, with much less direct contact with English language teaching (ELT) experts, a greater embedding of expertise within teacher development materials (especially video), and a greater dependence upon localised peer support. This report addresses the following research question: To what extent do the students of Cohort 3 show improved post-intervention EL proficiencies, in speaking and listening, compared with the Cohort 1 2010 preintervention baseline

Education policy and ‘free speech’ on race and faith equality at school

Right-wing populists have recurrently created moral panics inter-nationally about the supposed need to ‘protect free speech’ in higher education (HE), and ‘protect children’ from progressive speech in schools. This paper presents the first systematic analysis of how such dynamics function with respect to race and faith equality in a national school policy context. Drawing on a critical post-structural framework, we conceptualise the policy problematisation of speech as situated in a wider set of coercion-consent governing strategies used to manage contemporary authoritarian neoliberal contradictions, and to narrow the speakability of anti- racist and faith equality concerns. We present a two-stage thematic and discursive analysis of a corpus of primarily school-focused English policy texts from successive Conservative-led governments (2010–2022). The analysis outlines three main policy strategies which narrow speakability: the defining of ‘good’ schools and citi-zens with limited/oppositional reference to race equality, the pro-blematising of ‘dangerous’ speech, and the indexing of school/HE subjects who are truly vulnerable to political speech. The paper offers an urgent case study of how possibilities for progressive race and faith-based expression are shaped beyond explicitly speech-focused policies, and argues that engagement of the com-plex governance of speakability offers nuanced possibilities for analysing bans on progressive education internationally

Domestic accidents in a rural community of Bangladesh: A cross-sectional study on their incidence and characteristics.

In a developing country like Bangladesh knowledge about domestic accidents is sparse. But accident is one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality in both developed and developing countries. [1] The relationship between domestic accidents and human health is direct and associated with a chain of socio-economic consequences. In this paper we try to bring out the patterns of domestic accidents and their characteristics in a rural community of Bangladesh. A questionnaire survey was conducted on 297 households of Shitpara village under Bormi union of Shreepur Upazilla constituting 1171 family members to determine the prevalence and characteristics of household accidents. The collected data were then analyzed by SPSS 16. (Statistical package for social science)A total of 171 domestic accidents had occurred during one year period with a prevalence of 146.02/1000 population. Majority of the victims are male (52.6%). Commonest household accident was fall (50.9%) followed by Cut injury (22.2%) and Burn (11.7%).Health education program aimed at prevention and first aid treatment of domestic accidents and proper use of personal protective measures are recommended. Keywords: Domestic accidents, Bangladesh, rural area, public health

Double burden of malnutrition in children aged 24 to 59 months by socioeconomic status in five South Asian countries: evidence from demographic and health surveys

Objectives We aimed to investigate the socioeconomic inequalities in the burden of underweight and overweight among children in South Asia. We also examined other factors that were associated with these outcomes independently of household’s socioeconomic status. Design Nationally-representative surveys. Settings Demographic and Health Surveys from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Maldives and Nepal, which were conducted between 2009 and 2016. Participants Children aged 24 to 59 months with valid measurement for height and weight (n=146 996). Primary exposure and outcome measures Primary exposures were household’s wealth index and level of education. Underweight and overweight were defined according to the WHO and International Obesity Task Force definitions, respectively. Results Underweight prevalence was 37% in Bangladesh, 38% in India, 19% in Maldives, 29% in Nepal and 28% in Pakistan. Bangladesh, India and Nepal had similar overweight prevalence (between 2% and 4%) whereas Pakistan (7%) and Maldives (9%) had higher prevalence. Households with higher wealth index or education had lower odds of having underweight children. Adjusted ORs of underweight for richest versus poorest households were 0.4 (95% CI: 0.3 to 0.5), 0.5 (95% CI: 0.5 to 0.6), 0.5 (95% CI: 0.2 to 1.4), 0.5 (95% CI: 0.3 to 0.8) and 0.7 (95% CI: 0.5 to 1.1) for Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal and Pakistan, respectively. Compared with poorest households, richest households were more likely to have overweight children in all countries except Pakistan, but such associations were not significant after adjustment for other factors. There were higher odds of having overweight children in households with higher education in Bangladesh (OR 2.1 (95% CI: 1.3 to 3.5)), India (OR 1.2 (95% CI: 1.2 to 1.3)) and Pakistan (OR 1.8 (95% CI: 1.1 to 2.9)) when compared with households with no education. Maternal nutritional status was consistently associated with children’s nutritional outcomes after adjustments for socioeconomic status. Conclusions Our study provides evidence for socioeconomic inequalities for childhood underweight and overweight in South Asian countries, although the directions of associations for underweight and overweight might be different

Mobile phone use for pregnancy-related healthcare utilization and its association with optimum antenatal care and hospital delivery in Bangladesh

Pregnancy-related healthcare utilization is inadequate in Bangladesh, where more than half of pregnant women do not receive optimum number of antenatal care (ANC) visits or do not deliver child in hospitals. Mobile phone use could improve such healthcare utilization; however, limited evidence exists in Bangladesh. We investigated the pattern, trends, and factors associated with mobile phone use for pregnancy-related healthcare and how this can impact at least 4 ANC visits and hospital delivery in the country. We analyzed cross-sectional data from Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS) 2014 (n = 4,465) and 2017-18 (n = 4,903). Only 28.5% and 26.6% women reported using mobile phones for pregnancy-related causes in 2014 and 2017-18, respectively. Majority of the time, women used mobile phones to seek information or to contact service providers. In both survey periods, women with a higher education level, more educated husbands, a higher household wealth index, and residence in certain administrative divisions had greater likelihoods of using mobile phones for pregnancy-related causes. In BDHS 2014, proportions of at least 4 ANC and hospital delivery were, respectively, 43.3% and 57.0% among users, and 26.4% and 31.2% among non-users. In adjusted analysis, the odds of utilizing at least 4 ANC were 1.6 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.4-1.9) in BDHS 2014 and 1.4 (95% CI: 1.3-1.7) in BDHS 2017-18 among users. Similarly, in BDHS 2017-18, proportions of at least 4 ANC and hospital delivery were, respectively, 59.1% and 63.8% among users, and 42.8% and 45.1% among non-users. The adjusted odds of hospital delivery were also high, 2.0 (95% CI: 1.7-2.4) in BDHS 2014 and 1.5 (95% CI: 1.3-1.8) in BDHS 2017-18. Women with history of using mobile phones for pregnancy-related causes were more likely to utilize at least 4 ANC visits and deliver in health facilities, however, most women were not using mobile phones for that