New primary curriculum to prioritise listening, speaking skills: State Minister

New primary education curriculum will place greater emphasis on students’ listening and speaking skills alongside reading and writing, State Minister for Primary and Mass Education Bobby Hajjaj said.

Speaking at the Bangladesh Training of Master Trainers in English (TMTE) Members’ Conference 2026 at the Dhaka Primary Teachers Training Institute on Wednesday (September 9), Hajjaj said the new curriculum would focus equally on the four core language skills—listening, speaking, reading and writing.

He said particular importance would be given to listening and speaking at the primary level, with classroom activities designed to help children understand spoken language, communicate clearly and express their ideas effectively.

“Listening and practice are the key to mastering any language,” Hajjaj said, stressing that developing listening comprehension at an early stage was especially important.

He said stronger language skills were also essential for ensuring students’ access to global scientific and technological knowledge.

Hajjaj said increasing literacy rates alone would not be enough to build a genuinely educated society. Education must be treated as a basic right and made accessible to all while becoming more skills-based, career-oriented and grounded in strong ethical values, he said.

He also urged teachers to propose innovative ways of making lessons more engaging through modern teaching tools, including videos, workbooks, digital content and educational games.

The government is committed to introducing practical, results-oriented policy changes in primary education, he said.

The event was chaired by TMTE Bangladesh chief coordinator Riaz Parvez. Farid Ahmed, director general of the National Academy for Primary Education; Abdur Rahim, additional director general of the Directorate of Primary Education; and Maria Rehman, deputy director of the British Council Bangladesh, also spoke at the event.