Dhaka: The Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE) has directed regional and district officials to integrate sports, co-curricular, and cultural programs with the educational curriculum. This initiative aims to enhance students' overall skills and improve their physical and mental health.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, the directive was communicated through an official order issued by DSHE's Deputy Director, Professor M Shahidul Islam. The order, dated September 10, has been distributed to regional directors, deputy directors (secondary), and district education officials. It emphasizes the need for year-round sports and cultural activities alongside academic programs.
The DSHE order outlines a total of 35 activities, with 15 sports programs including Football, Volleyball, Chess, Cricket, Table Tennis, Kabaddi, Badminton, Handball, Basketball, Hockey, traditional rural games, swimming, athletics, Taekwondo, and martial arts. Additionally, it lists 13 co-curricular activities such as Hamd and Naat, speeches and debates in Bangla and English, extempore speaking, wall magazine creation, book reading, newspaper reading, creative writing, environmental protection, digital content creation, mental health awareness, a mathematics olympiad, and the "one child, one tree" initiative.
Cultural programs outlined in the order include music, recitation, solo acting, quizzes, dance, graffiti drawing, festivals, cultural heritage events, and drawing. These activities are to be organized at convenient times throughout the year in coordination with the academic schedule, requiring regular student participation.
The DSHE also highlighted the importance of operating various organizations and clubs, such as boy scouts, rover scouts, girl guides, science clubs, debate clubs, and health and physical education clubs. These extracurricular activities are expected to foster creativity, leadership, socio-cultural skills, and confidence among students.