A study of present practices and challenges of fine arts and crafts education in primary schools of Dhaka city

Abstract

This study is about finding out the present practices and challenges of Fine Arts and Crafts education in the primary schools of Dhaka city. The main problem that it addresses is about some gaps in the system. Our education policy mentions about taking different steps to address fine arts and crafts subjects. However, there are some differences in implementing and practicing what it has been said in the policy. This is where the gap lies in and this study intends to know more about that. Hence, this study aims to find out present practices and the challenges associated with fine arts and crafts, so that it can come up with a holistic overview of the education system in terms of these subjects and pave the way for further research in this regard. For understanding the present practices and challenges, this study collected data through two different methodologies which are interview and observation. The research participants included the arts and crafts teachers and the primary school students especially from grade 3 to grade 4. The study found that the schools have different strategies to implement these subjects. Another finding of the study is that some schools try to follow the curriculum in case of teaching these subjects, while most of the schools do not use the curriculum. Besides, the study also found that there are several challenges including shortage of trained teachers and other relevant resources and so on. The recommendations that this study came up with includes, making the use of curriculum mandatory for arts and crafts subjects, should keeping a fixed budget for supporting the practices of these subjects from both the government and the school authority in case of private schools, and doing further intensive quantitative and qualitative researches on these subjects to find out more details about the practices of these subjects in a broader perspective.