After conducting a needs assessment consisting of questionnaires, lesson observations, teacher focus groups and consultation with leading Bangladesh academics, the ETTE project decided to focus on primary school teachers working pre-dominantly in the rural sector.

Client, stakeholders, partners
The Government of Bangladesh

Focus
To improve the classroom performance of teachers working in the state sector

The project
After conducting a needs assessment consisting of questionnaires, lesson observations, teacher focus groups and consultation with leading Bangladesh academics, the ETTE project decided to focus on primary school teachers working pre-dominantly in the rural sector. Poor teaching at this level was having a domino effect into the other sectors and the necessity of establishing a strong foundation for the overall system was imperative.

ETTE, with the support of the Government of Bangladesh, is centred on teacher training programmes which focus on improving teachers' language skills and the techniques they need for the effective delivery of materials to large classes. The creativity of the teachers has also been utilised: the teachers make resources for use in their own classrooms.

Post-course observations of classes indicate that the teachers are successfully bridging the gap between the training session and actual classroom practice. This is particularly pleasing because project work that features in training sessions can easily not be translated by the teachers into mainstream classroom practice.

In its first year ETTE is directly training 750 teachers in Bangladesh, and it is hoped that the impact of the project will become more widespread.

What the stakeholders say
"I am very pleased that British Council through the ETTE project is effectively addressing the needs of students and teachers who are working in very difficult circumstances. I myself was bought up in a rural village in Bangladesh and I know very well the grass roots situation and the importance of creating developmental opportunities for people working in these disadvantaged areas. The ETTE project is making a positive impact and a significant difference in areas which are extremely challenging to work in".
Nazrul Khan, Director General, Primary Sector, Ministry of Education.

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