According to UNICEF, the official starting age for primary school in Bangladesh is 6 years old. Over the years, Bangladesh has restructured its education system to ensure that more students attend school.
Today, nine out of ten children attend some form of school across Bangladesh. While conventional schooling has always been the norm in South Asia, the scholastic landscape has changed drastically in recent years.
Following the pandemic, online schooling has become immensely popular across Bangladesh. While the online learning model is suitable for students of all ages, it’s especially popular among younger children who attend primary prep school (ages 7 to 10).
This blog will take a closer look at online education for primary prep students in Bangladesh. How does this novel system work? Is it effective? How does it compare to conventional schooling? Should you consider making the switch for your children? Our education specialists are answering all your questions. Keep reading!
1. How Does Online Schooling Work in Bangladesh?
If you’re new to the online schooling model, you may have doubts about its functioning and efficacy. It’s important to put your misconceptions aside and develop an objective view of the online learning system.
Compared to conventional schooling, online schooling entails online classes. Students use a computer, laptop, or tablet to attend formal, structured, scheduled live classes. Initially, the online learning wave spread across Dhaka and Chattogram. Today, it has also reached Khulna, Sylhet, Rajshahi, Rangpur, Mymensingh, Barishal, and other smaller cities across Bangladesh.
As the country embraces technology, online schooling has become much more accessible to students. While older students can set up and attend their own classes, primary prep students require help from their parents.
As a parent, you will be required to set up a study station for your children. Ideally, this should be in a separate room. If you set up a desk and table in your child’s bedroom, they may get distracted as their classes continue. If you want to retain high levels of focus and attentiveness, turn your guest room or library into a study room.
Primary prep students respond particularly well to online learning. This is primarily because the online schooling system offers greater flexibility to students. Children are not required to commute to and from school. They can attend classes from home, which helps them free up a lot of extra time.
Students don’t return home feeling exhausted and overwhelmed. Instead, they preserve their energy throughout the day and utilise it for personal, social, and extracurricular activities like sports, socialising with friends, exploring new interests and hobbies, developing new skills, and so on.
The online schooling model helps create a healthy balance that steer students in the right direction from a very young age. The culture of overworking students and pushing them to unhealthy limits is expertly tackled. A lot more flexible and balanced, online schooling allows young students to develop a genuine interest in their lessons and thrive.
2. What Do Primary Prep Children Study?
The Cambridge curriculum, albeit with some changes. At Cambridge Home School Online, we believe that the national curriculum is robust and balanced. However, it has some shortcomings. It’s a tad too prescriptive in nature and subject to political turbulence. In addition, it lacks comprehensiveness.
As an institution, we’ve retained the best aspects of the national curriculum and added our own touch to it. Our independent, interdisciplinary, and well-rounded primary prep curriculum covers greater academic breadth and depth. It also focuses on skill-building and practical learning.
Our students get a chance to learn different topics, subtopics, and concepts dualistically: theoretically and practically. As a result, they develop a nuanced, polished understanding of their subjects.
Our students perform much better than their counterparts from other schools. This is thanks to our MA/MSc/PhD qualified faculty. Our teachers go above and beyond to deliver engaging, entertaining, retentive, and focused lessons that yield impressive results. As a result, students pay close attention to their lessons, actively participate in class, ask questions, indulge in healthy class discussions, and sustain the learning process.
Our classes are never dull. By combining knowledge with fun, we ensure that 7-to-10-year-olds are fascinated by every lesson, so much so that they don’t want to break concentration.
3. Can My Children Attend Classes From Anywhere?
Yes! This is the beauty of online schooling. Since the classes are held online, your children can attend them from anywhere in the world. If you’re planning a work trip, you can take your children along without worrying about disrupting their education.
At CHS Online, many families go on vacation. However, as a parent, you will be required to plan everything in advance. Select a location with a similar time zone. Additionally, ensure you can set up a quiet, distraction-free room for your child. Whether you’re staying at a hotel or a family vacation home, your child should be able to attend distraction-free online classes. Once these boxes are checked off, you’re good to go.
This little slice of flexibility goes a long way in helping young students have varied new experiences. As children explore different places, they learn about new cultures and traditions, meet new people, enjoy international cuisine, and explore the local history, art, and architecture. This plays a big role in shaping their life.
4. Is Primary Prep Online Schooling Safe?
Absolutely. At CHS Online, our primary prep students attend online classes from the safety and comfort of their homes. For starters, the risk of virus contraction is eliminated. Students don’t directly interact with other students. As a result, you don’t have to worry about your child falling sick by catching a cold, virus, or bacterial infection from another student.
Additionally, primary prep online schooling helps tackle the pressing issue of school bullying, harassment, and abuse in Bangladesh. The conventional schooling model leaves students vulnerable to being attacked by their peers: verbally, physically, and emotionally. Students are taunted, ostracised, peer pressured, and ridiculed. If these instances continue, young students can become withdrawn and develop a strong dislike for school.
The online learning system directly tackles these problems. Students attend expertly moderated classes. Our online teachers maintain a safe, healthy, happy, and wholesome online learning atmosphere. If any student misbehaves, they are warned and then promptly removed from the online session.
We believe that good student mental health is paramount. Young students are prone to developing self-doubt. Their confidence is affected when their interests, passions, and dreams are thwarted instead of applauded. Over time, students begin to doubt themselves when they think of new activities/interests/hobbies to pursue. Their academic growth also declines.
Our MA/MSc/PhD qualified teachers work closely with each student to help them feel confident in their skills and excited about their aspirations. No dream is too far-fetched. Children have a vibrant imagination that must be fuelled, not dampened. We encourage students to keep pushing and achieve any dream they have. Their peers also motivate and inspire them. By creating a strong network, we help students succeed and thrive.
Our student-teacher ratio also helps us reduce the risk of school bullying. In most conventional schools, a minimum of 15–20 students are crammed into a single classroom. This number often exceeds to 35 and even 40.
When a classroom comprises such a high number of students, the risk of bullying increases. Why? The teachers are unable to track each student’s activity. Think about it. It’s impossible for one teacher to keep track of what 30 students are doing at any given time.
At CHS Online, we maintain a low student-teacher ratio of 8:1. This helps us ensure that every student receives ample one-on-one attention from their teachers. Our teachers closely track each student’s performance, activity, and involvement. If there is any misconduct, they promptly identify it and take remedial measures accordingly. Nothing is swept under the rug. Our proactive approach helps ensure a safe, quality online learning experience for every pupil.
Recommended Read: How to Help Your Child Transition to Online School Smoothly
5. Why Should I Choose Cambridge Home School Online for My Children?
Presently, you can choose between dozens of online schools in Bangladesh. However, most of these institutions were set up during the pandemic. As a result, they lack the experience and expertise required for quality online schooling.
At CHS Online, we have over 20 years of experience in providing a quality British online education to primary prep students. Our experience has helped us make a lot of relevant changes over the years. In 2022, we have a good grasp of how to deliver engaging, effective, and retentive lessons that keep students on track. Our primary prep students secure top grades and enjoy a healthy personal, social, and extracurricular life.
CHS Online equips students with the tools and expertise they need to succeed. For starters, we follow an independent curriculum, as highlighted above. Additionally, we have a team of qualified, experienced, extensively trained, and skilled MA/MSc/PhD teachers. They work tirelessly to help each student reach their full potential.
We also provide each student with access to a vast online library of educational resources. We call this our eLibrary. Students can access hundreds of valuable resources: books, previous catch-up lessons, PowerPoint presentations, videos, and so much more. These tools come in handy for all students, but they’re particularly useful for young students who are in the process of building a strong academic foundation. Once their classes end for the day, students can continue the learning process by using our resources.
This helps sustain the learning process. We teach primary prep students how to use our eLibrary independently. However, parents should ideally help them out until they get a hang of it. You can watch the resources with your child. This is a great way to help your child out with homework/revision and have a good bonding experience.
CHS Online also prides itself on providing one-on-one success coaching and pastoral support to every student. We believe that every student should enjoy good mental health. While older students are more susceptible to facing problems like stress and burnout, younger students can also face similar pressures.
As the academic bar is raised to new levels, primary prep children have also started succumbing to the pressure. Children are pushed to unhealthy extremes by unrelenting teachers. This approach often triggers anxiety in children.
For starters, we avoid this approach and use an empathy-centric teaching model. That’s not all. We also check in with students to ensure they’re content with their classes, teachers, peers, and overall learning experience. As we provide guidance and support based on each child’s unique response, we help them enjoy a healthy, happy, and enriching online schooling experience.
At Cambridge Home School Online, we proudly teach the Cambridge homeschool curriculum to students across Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. As one of the most prestigious, trusted, and experienced online British private schools in South Asia, we’re the first choice for thousands of parents.
Explore our four competitive homeschooling programs: Primary Prep/Key Stage 2 (ages 7 to 10), Lower School/Key Stage 3 (ages 11 to 13), Upper School/IGCSEs (ages 14 to 16), and Sixth Form/AS & A-Levels (ages 17 to 19).If you’re ready to take the first few steps towards online schooling, use the following resources:
- Admissions Process
- Term Dates
- Application Form
- Open Morning
- Scholarships & Bursaries
- Grades & Fees
- Online Reviews
Whether you’re interested in high school online learning, school options for working parents, secondary schools, or primary school programs, CHS Online should be your first consideration. As the pioneers of online schooling in South Asia, we’re committed to helping students succeed. We also provide scholarships and bursaries to students who require financial assistance in Bangladesh. Thank you for trusting our institution. Thank you for trusting us.
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FAQ
What is the official starting age for primary school in Bangladesh?
The official starting age for primary school in Bangladesh is 6 years old.
How has online schooling become popular among primary prep students in Bangladesh?
Online schooling has gained immense popularity in Bangladesh, especially after the pandemic, due to its flexibility and the convenience of attending structured live classes from home, making it highly suitable for young learners.
What advantages does online schooling offer to primary prep students?
Online schooling provides primary prep students with more time for personal growth, flexibility to travel with parents without disrupting education, and protection from the risks of conventional schooling environments like bullying.
What is the learning approach at Cambridge Home School Online for primary prep students?
Cambridge Home School Online offers an independent, interdisciplinary curriculum that goes beyond the national curriculum, ensuring a comprehensive education that fosters academic excellence and skill development.
Can students from Bangladesh access Cambridge Home School Online from any location?
Yes, students can attend Cambridge Home School Online from anywhere, provided they have a stable internet connection and a quiet space to attend their online classes, making education accessible across the country.
