Ethics classes for students from this year

Education Minister Dipu Moni has said ethics classes will be introduced for students from the pre-primary to higher secondary level this year.

"We are trying to make a good combination of skills and mentality so that the students develop the right mindset from their childhood," the minister told a seminar at the Jatiya Press Club, Monday.

She said the classes on critical thinking and moral reasoning will be held every week. The classes will not follow any separate book, but a manual for the teachers has been prepared.

Dipu Moni said topics are being included in the curriculum so that students can learn about moral values. "We are rearranging the curriculum in such a way that we can create a science-oriented nation based on the spirit of the Liberation War. We want our students to be at the forefront of moral values, science and technology," she added.

In a bid to support each child to develop morality, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has already set up at least 500 Satata Stores (Integrity Stores) at secondary schools across the country.  

The stores have no cashier and students must drop the price of books, pencils, pens, etc. into a box themselves. This is to help them learn and practice the principle of integrity from an early age.

Citing that example, Dipu Moni said the entire curriculum from the pre-primary to the higher secondary level is being changed to help the students develop moral values.

In November last year, the education minister told the parliament that the government had decided to make significant changes to the curriculum.      

'I faced questions about whether I was qualified'

At the seminar marking International Women's Day, Dipu Moni said she had to face questions about whether she was qualified to be the foreign minister.

Dipu Moni was picked as the foreign minister by the ruling government in its 2009-2013 stint. She was the first female to be at the post in Bangladesh's history.    

"Yes, it was quite unfamiliar as journalists had seen old men in the post. But suddenly, a woman came who was not very old then, and I understand it must have been shocking to them," she said.

"But the media did not raise any question over the qualifications of my predecessors or successors," she commented.   

She said, "After 50 years of independence, Bangladesh has been recognised as a developing country under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, which is the best gift for us. After Sheikh Hasina came to power, she made a series of development policies for women."

At the seminar, Dipu Moni highlighted the sacrifices Bangamata Sheikh Fojilatunnesa Mujib made.

Jatiya Press Club President Farida Yasmin presided over the programme. She called upon the education minister to include stories of the women freedom fighters in the curricula and make films and documentaries on biographies of women freedom fighters.

Underscoring women's contributions to the Liberation War, Rita Bhowmik presented the keynote paper at the seminar.

Jatiya Press Club General Secretary Ilias Khan, poet Hasan Hafiz and Nasimun Ara Haque Minu were also present.