School Psychology Seminar by PRC.BD

School Psychology Seminar by PRC.BD
Ashraf Al Deen

It was a two day long Seminar on “School Psychology for Quality Citizen”, jointly organised by Policy Research Center.bd (PRCbd) and Bangladesh School Psychology Society (BSPS) on 30th and 31st January 2020. The destination was the Royal Resort, Dhanbari, Tangail, Bangladesh. The target groups were the Students, Teachers and Guardians of ‘Asiya Hasan Ali Girls Degree College’, ‘Nawab Institution’ and ‘Sakina Memorial Girls’ High School’ of Dhanbari. All these three institutions were established under the auspices of Dhanbari Nawab and his descendants. We are proud to hold the first program of our ‘School Psychology Project’ remaining connected with the legacy of the highly regarded Educationist of that time, Nawab Syed Nawab Ali Chaudhary of Dhanbari, who was one of the two founders of the Dhaka University (DU).

Journey
On 29th January 2020, we, a team of 47 members from PRC.bd and Department of Psychology of Dhaka University (DU), started in the morning from Dhaka for Dhanbari, Tangail. The communication was good and we enjoyed the journey. We were accommodated in the Royal Resort of Dhanbari by the kind courtesy of the Chairman, PRC.bd Prof. Dr. Akbaruddin Ahmed, who is also the Chairman of the Royal Resort. We had free-time after the welcome lunch. The evening was spent in sightseeing, going around and wonderful Kawali songs after the dinner. During our entire period of stay we cherished the food of sumptuous menu offered by the Royal Resort. It may be mentioned here that, a special kind of local product named as ‘Tangail Saree’ attracts the female visitors the most.

Thursday, The 30th January
It was a day long program with breaks for Tea and Luncheon, starting at 9:00 a.m. in the morning and finishing at 4:30 p.m. in the evening. The opening session, chaired by Professor Dr. Mahfuza Khanam, Chairperson, Department of Psychology, DU, started after some delay at the specious auditorium of Asiya Hasan Ali Girls’ Degree College. Welcome address was delivered by the Principle/Headmaster of the 3 host institutions. The session was addressed by the Education Officer of the Dhanbari Upazila, Professor Dr. Md. Kamal Uddin, Department of Psychology, DU and President, Bangladesh School Psychology Society, Dr. Mahfuzul Haque, CEO,PRC.bd, Dr. Nilufer Karim, Senior Research Fellow, PRC.bd, Colonel Ashraf Al Deen, Ex. Principal and Advisor, PRC.bd and Nur Mohammad Khan, Assistant Professor, Primeasia University and finally the Chief Guest Professor Dr. Akbaruddin Ahmed, Vice-chancellor (retd), Darul Ihsan University. Ms. Jakia Rahman, Lecturer, Department of Psychology, DU was the moderator.

After the Tea Break a combined session started with Dr. Mahfuzul Haque as the Session Chair. The paper presenters were Colonel Ashraf Al Deen on “Education in Bangladesh”, Nur Muhammad Khan on “Psychological Aspects of Second Language Learners”, Dr. Md. Kamal Uddin on “School Psychology for Quality Citizen” and Ms. Jakia Rahman on “Non-violent Communication”. The session ended with an interesting interaction and question-answer time.

After the Lunch Break the program resumed at 2:00 p.m. There were three parallel sessions in three different venues. A session for the Students at Nawab Institution. The presenter was Aminul Islam, MS in School Psychology (SP). Subject: “Effective Strategies for Learning”. The session chair was Dr. Mahfuza Khanam. A session for the Teachers at Sakina Memorial Girls’ High School. The presenter was Mahin Sultana, MS in SP. Subject: “Art and Science of Teaching”. The session chair was Ms. Ishrat Shahnaz, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, DU. The session for the Parents was in the auditorium of Asiya Hasan Ali Girls Degree College. The presenters were Principal Ashraf Al Deen and Abu Bakar Siddique, MS in SP. Subject: “Effective Parenting”. The session chair was Dr. Nilufer Karim.
Again, at 2:50 p.m. a combined session started at the auditorium, chaired by Dr. Akbaruddin Ahmed. The presenters were Farjana Khanam, MS on SP, on “Raising a Resilient Child: The Role of Teachers and Community”; Jarin Tasnim Diba & Jannatul Adon, MS on SP, on “Bullying: It’s Prevention and Intervention”. Tazbina Zaman & Jannatul Adon, MS on SP, on “Psychological First Aid”. The response was very good during questions and answers time. Some of the ordinances were very enthusiastic and forthcoming.
Friday, The 31st January
It was half day program and closing ceremony. A combined session started at 9:00 a.m. in the auditorium of Degree College. Session Chair was Dr. Md. Kamal Uddin. Sanjida Kabir Jui, MS on SP, presented on “Coping with Stress”. Parallel Sessions started at 10:00 a.m. Session for the Students at Nawab Institution, where Adnin Jabin Eme, MS in SP, DU, presented on “Overcoming Exam Anxiety”. The session chair was Nur Mohammad Khan. Session for the Teachers was at Sakina Memorial Girls’ High School, where Toslim Uddin, MS in SP, presented on “Classroom Management”. The session chair was Colonel Ashraf Al Deen. The session for the Parents was in the auditorium of Asiya Hasan Ali Girls Degree College, where Mahin Sultana, MS in SP, presented on “Social Emotional Learning”. The session chair was Dr. Nilufer Karim.
After the Tea Break the Concluding Session started at 11:00 a.m. at the auditorium. On both days two separate teams were working on Assessment and Rapporteuring. A summary of those was presented by Ms. Jakia Rahman. Then there was interactive period for the audience composed of Teachers, Students and Parents. Their reactions, remarks, comments and suggestions were received with appropriate response. It was found that, as a positive result of this 2-day program the participants have developed enough interest and respect for various aspects of School Psychology. We had to promise them to come back again to include a larger audience and spare more time. On the other hand, the Assessment Report shows that there are alarming number of cases in respect of the mental health and other Psychological issues of the students. This demands that enough time should be given to take care of them, before they are into greater harms.

Finally, certificates were distributed among the participants, paper presenters & session chairs and crests were presented to the host institutions and organizers.