English medium school is one of the education systems in

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

that follows mostly the curriculum of

Edexcel Edexcel (also known since 2013 as Pearson Edexcel) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational education and examination body formed in 1996 and wholly owned by Pearson plc since 2005. It is the only privately owned examination board ...

and

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

of UK and other curriculums of other countries also, such as IB curriculum. All the textbooks of every subject are taught in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

except for

Music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

, Bangla and religious subjects which is taught in

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

in some schools. English-medium schools are growing in popularity among the middle class, upper-middle-class and rich families. The English-medium schools not only teach the students about their own countries but also about the European History and Literature. The exams of the O-level and A-level students of Edexcel and Cambridge are conducted through

British Council Bangladesh British Council Bangladesh is the Bangladeshi branch of the British Council that provides English and British Education and takes part in cultural exchanges. The main office is located in Dhaka and branches are located in Chittagong, Sylhet. Tom ...

. The Daily Star Award is the most prestigious award provided to O-Level and A-Level examinees of Bangladesh, for their extraordinary academic performance. The criteria for an award are: 6 'A's in O-Levels, 3 'A's in A-Levels, and highest marks in O-Levels and A-Levels.

Language

The English-medium schools teach most of the subjects in English. Bengali is also taught. French and Spanish is taught in

International School Dhaka International School Dhaka (ISD) is an International Baccalaureate (IB) World School in Dhaka, Bangladesh that was established in 1999. The school enrolls students in the age range of 2–18, from Playgroup through to Grade 12, providing an inter ...

. The

St Francis Xavier's Green Herald International School SFX Greenherald International School is a private, elite, English-Medium school in Bangladesh. Located in Mohammadpur, Dhaka, beside St. Joseph Higher Secondary School, the school is administered by the Catholic Relegious Sisters widely known as ...

also teaches French to its students from grade 6 onwards. These language skills help the students later in life when they go abroad for higher studies.

Criticisms

Critics of English medium curriculum point out that the students of English-medium are weak in their mother-tongue (Bengali). They say that in English-medium schools, English is the first priority. They also argue that English-medium students are less patriotic. These criticisms are similar to those that can be found in

English-medium education An English-medium education system is one that uses English as the primary medium of instruction—particularly where English is not the mother tongue of the students. Initially this is associated with the expansion of English from its homeland i ...

. This is not always true, however. These days, schools try their best to educate their students about their own culture. Also, the students are not taught the social studies courses which sometimes discusses about the social problems the government is dealing with.

History

is the first English medium school in Bangladesh which was established in 1912.

References

{{Reflist Education in Bangladesh