Foundation Training for University Teachers

Tanjil Ahmed*

                                                 

Ensuring high-quality education at the university level in Bangladesh is crucial to building a proficient and knowledgeable nation capable of driving the country's economic growth and promoting innovation. In addition, it promotes the ability to think critically, carry on investigative pursuits effectively, and focus on social responsibilities, enabling graduates to tackle complex societal problems and promote sustainable development.

From this perspective, public universities in Bangladesh encounter considerable obstacles when it comes to recruiting fresh graduates who lack formal training and experience as university teachers. With a few exceptions, most of the public universities in our country recruit fresh graduates as teacher (lecturers) based on their academic results (SSC, HSC, Honor’s, and Master’s) and recruitment exams’ performance. Undoubtedly, such initiatives are commendable because meritorious graduates from different public universities in various disciplines nationwide are getting opportunities to act as catalysts in higher education.

However, the main concern in this regard is related to the insufficient pedagogical competencies exhibited by newly recruited people, which impedes their capacity to effectively provide high-quality education. It is often seen that new teachers are not well-versed in teaching methodologies, student engagement techniques, or curriculum development. Furthermore, this issue is compounded by the lack of professional development initiatives, which fail to provide newly recruited teachers with the essential assistance required for seamless integration into their positions.

Even after joining, they struggle to adopt to the academic arena, including research and development activities. Moreover, administrative inefficiencies and a dearth of mentorship opportunities within universities exacerbate this dire situation. Consequently, this may impede the universities' capacity to produce graduates who are proficient and well-rounded, thereby potentially harming the atmosphere of higher education as a whole.

From this perspective, the foundation training programme designed for university teachers provides a complete overview of the diverse range of obligations and expectations that are inherent in the academic realm. The purpose of this training programme is to provide newly recruited teachers with the necessary pedagogical skills, instructional tactics, and institutional knowledge that are crucial for quality teaching in higher education environments.

Foundation training often consists of a sequence of workshops, seminars, and interactive sessions that cover a wide range of subjects, including curriculum design, assessment methodologies, classroom management approaches, and student engagement tactics. Newly recruited teachers can acquire a deeper understanding of the varied requirements of students, the views of inclusive instruction, and the potential of educational technology to augment the learning process by engaging with a blend of theoretical frameworks and practical implementations.

In addition, foundation training often includes ethical issues, and professional conduct requirements, ensuring that teachers possess a comprehensive understanding of the institutional environment in which they perform. Moreover, this training has the potential to enhance networking prospects, mentoring activities, and collaborative endeavours. Correspondingly, foundation training equips university teachers with a strong understanding of teaching, curriculum design, and academic professionalism. This enables them to create engaging learning environments, enhance student achievement, and make valuable contributions to the universities' intellectual objectives.

However, in Bangladesh, there is a well-established and renowned institution named ‘Graduate Training Institution (GTI)’, which provides foundation training. Despite the fact that it was establishment in 1976, this institute introduced foundation training for public university teachers in 2007 with the financial support from the University Grants Commission (UGC). Prior to that, Bangladesh Agriculture University (BAU), Mymensingh, established the Graduate Training Institution (GTI) as its first institute to train officers working in agriculture and rural development, with financial assistance from FAO/UNDP. The primary objective of establishing GTI on the BAU campus was to foster connections between teaching, research, and extension activities.

GTI offers BAU instructors the opportunity to interact with academics from various public universities and field-level officers across the nation. At Bangladesh Agriculture University (BAU), approximately 600 instructors serve as GTI trainers. In 1981, GTI received the President Gold Medal Award.

The role of GTI is very crucial, especially for newly recruited university teachers who have no previous experience of delivering lectures at the undergraduate and graduate levels. In particular, the foundation training offered by GTI for university teachers covers a wide range of programmes, sessions, and workshops such as the history of higher education, educational psychology, research methodology, statistical methods for research, scientific report writing, office management, global and national development issues, teaching quality and teacher ethics, learning assessment, IT skills, and co-curricular activities.

From this standpoint, it is important to note that these programmes are highly essential to enhancing the ability, expertise, and self-confidence of newly recruited faculty members at different public universities in Bangladesh. Although the contribution of GTI to providing foundation training for public university teachers is praiseworthy, it does have significant drawbacks in terms of fundraising, and it is unable to train more than 25-30 teachers at any given time.

On the other hand, the total number of public universities and universities’ teachers is gradually increasing. In this context, it is a matter of great regret that there is hardly any other organisation or institute like GTI in Bangladesh that provides foundation training for university teachers. Therefore, the University Grants Commission (UGC), the Ministry of Education, and the government of Bangladesh have to concentrate on this issue and implement certain concrete measures to ensure that every university teacher gets foundation training opportunities. Newspaper Link.

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The writer is an Assistant Professor, at the Department of Public Administration and Governance Studies, Jatiya Kabi Kazi Nazrul Islam University, Trishal, Mymensingh.
Email: tanjilahmedtaj@gmail.com