A day-long Workshop regarding Training of Trainers –ToT was organized today with the aim of making the girl students of the coastal areas of Bangladesh interested in acquiring information technology based skills. 26 teachers from 10 schools of Khulna, Bagerhat and Satkhira Upazilas; 21 local mentors and volunteers and Upazila Secondary Education Officers participated in the workshop organized by Bangladesh Open Source Network (BDOSN) under the project titled STEM & ICT Skills for Girls of Coastal Areas [SISGCA].
Funded by an international organization Malala Fund, BDOSN is providing skill enhancement training on science, mathematics, programming and robotics to the girl students studying from class 6 to class 8 of 6 secondary schools in three coastal Upazilas of Khulna, Rampal of Bagerhat and Tala Upazila of Satkhira under the overall supervision of Bangladesh Freedom Foundation.
At the Upazila level, various activities including Mathematics Olympiad, Robotics Olympiad, Science Olympiad and Programming Competition too will be conducted in these Upazilas.
This teacher training workshop has been organized to bring the students as well as the school teachers under these activities for the sustainable implementation of the project. Orientation of teacher training curriculum was provided in the workshop throughout the day.
Secondary Education Officer of Tala Upazila Sheikh Firoz Ahmed, Secondary Education Officer of Rampal Upazila SA Anwar Ul Quddus, General Secretary of Bangladesh Open Source Network (BDOSN) Munir Hasan and Managing Director of Computer Services Limited Mamluk Sabir Ahmed were present as special guests in the concluding phase of the event.
After various sessions throughout the day, the teachers expressed their feelings in the exchange of ideas, saying that the mutual cooperation through this arrangement will encourage the girls of coastal areas to think differently. ‘Girls will study not only for achieving GPA 5, but to become a problem solver to lead the creation of Smart Bangladesh’, said Munir Hasan while sharing his views. Mamluk Sabir Ahmed congratulated the teachers who came to the event and said that a student is guided in the right direction by his teacher. By proving your sincerity, it is not too late for these three upazilas to become a role model for our backward girls. Rampal secondary education officer SA Anwar ul Quddus said, this project will help us a lot in implementing the main objective of the new curriculum.
Earlier, several science, programming, Robotics and Mathematics training workshops were organized where around 300 girl students have been trained so far. The 6 schools identified by the project are: Shaheed Ali Ahmed Government Girls’ High School Satkhira; Shaheed Kamel Model High School; Comrade Ratan Sen Collegiate Girls’ High School, Satkhira; Naihati Secondary Girls’ High School, Khulna; Perikhali Model High School, Bagerhat and Barakatali Multipurpose High School Bagerhat.
It is worth noting that, BDOSN is conducting various activities with the aim of providing information technology-based skill enhancement training to about 800 girls in coastal areas from April this year under the auspices of Malala Fund.