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The Teachers’ Portal as a tool for teachers’ professional development in Bangladesh: Facilitating nationwide networking and digital multimedia content for 40,000 schools
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Henrik Hansson, Stockholm University, Sweden
Sabiha Sultana, Government Teachers’ Training College, Mymensingh, Bangladesh
Afzal Hossain Sarwar, a2i Programme, Prime Minister’s Office, Bangladesh
Faruque Ahmed, a2i Programme, Prime Minister’s Office, Bangladesh
Ramiz Uddin, a2i Programme, Prime Minister’s Office, Bangladesh
Pushpita Saha, Oxfam, Bangladesh
G M Rakibul Islam, Ministry of Education, Bangladesh
Mohammad Rafiqul Islam, a2i Programme, Prime Minister’s Office, Bangladesh
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Abstract
The Teachers’ Portal (teachers.gov.bd) is an online platform for Bangladeshi teachers designed to store and retrieve digital educational contents of different subjects useful for classroom teaching and students’ learning. The portal also facilitates professional networking among teachers across the country. This study aims to find out the benefits of using this Portal and associated challenges from teachers’ perspective. Following a mixed methods research approach Teachers, head teachers, teacher educators from primary, secondary, madrasa and vocational educational institutions and specialists on teachers’ Portal (N=410) were interviewed and consulted for the study. Telephone interviews, online surveys, Key Informant Interviews (KII), Focused Group Discussions (FGD), Face-to-Face interviews, and large consultative workshops were used to collect data. The results suggest that teachers are motivated to use the Portal as its contents stimulate students’ creativity and encourage students’ active participation in classrooms learning. Besides, it empowers teachers in a number of ways. However, internet connectivity, slow Internet speed, power failure, technical issues, high cost of Internet and unavailability of equipment are found as major challenges. In short, the Teachers’ Portal is a key driver for changing Bangladeshi education and by so doing preparing the young generation with quality education.
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