On-line admission setback

Nilratan Halder | Published: July 25, 2015 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2024 06:01:00

In Bangla there is an adage, "Bansher cheye kanchi dar" (branch of a bamboo is stronger than its stem). A defiant secretary under a ministry reminds one of this maxim. When the secretary bypassed the education minister to introduce online college admission for the country's secondary school-passed students this year, little did he have the idea of the nightmare the young learners were subjected to. Yet he felt no regret.
Now that things have fallen apart and the intending candidates have been forced to undergo an outsize ordeal, several remedial measures had to be taken to salvage the situation. Whether those will be able to put things straight is not clear yet. But to his credit, the education minister has expressed his sorrow for the admission fracas and owned the responsibility unreservedly. He did not try to shift the blame on to anyone else. This was nice of him.
However the man under him still remains defiant. As if to rub salt to the wound, he even comes up with a metaphorical comparison of a T20 cricket match. He says he was playing T20. How outrageous! When he should be sorry for what has been done, he is making a mockery of the entire painful episode. It is play to him but excruciating pain to his victims.
Then the allegory too is misplaced. If he really played a T20 match, he should have a team and an opposition as well. Who are/is his opponents or the rival team? In fact, he could better say that he was prompted by a strong will to use this batch of SSC-passed students as guinea pigs he could not resist. Or, else no one would have imposed this kind of eccentricity on them when the country lacks the basic infrastructure or networks of e-communication. Had he been pragmatic, he would have tried this in the capital or any other area boasting digital capability.
In fact, he has played a T20 shot without knowing the detailed rules of the game. The education secretary however is not alone to opt for such a rash stroke. Others have done the same in the past and none had to pay a heavy price for their indiscretion. Education in this country has been a subject of endless experiments. All who have done so carried out the exercise from a safe distance because their sons and daughters have not gone through the process. In most cases, their next generation have studied either in a foreign land or at least in a different stream where no such intervention is welcome.
Repeated experiments have been done with an eye on political dividends as well. In the process, the main purpose of giving education a solid foundation in order to equip with necessary arms to compete with the rest of the world has gone amiss. Any system proving convenient is welcome. But there is a need for preparation. Anomalies caused and troubles faced as a result by students could be avoided if the education minister's note of caution was heeded to.
Men in high places are known for their hubris. But when public interests or the fate of a large number of people hangs in the balance because of a rash decision, it is better not to make the matter even worse for the intended beneficiaries. This unwise decision should be a lesson for others in the future. But there is no guarantee it will happen. After all, bureaucrats love to experiment at the expense of others. It is because of this government-to-government deal between Bangladesh and Malaysia fails to realise its full potential, it is because of this implementation of annual development programmes (ADP) remains unrealised or last three moths experience the execution of the major portion and so on and so forth.