Standard of edn continues to fall in institutions due to party politics

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Eminent jurist Dr Kamal Hossain speaking at a roundtable on 'Education-Examinees and Expectation' organised by the SHEBA Bangladesh Foundation at the Press Institute of Bangladesh auditorium in the city Friday. — FocusBangla Photo

The standard of education in the country's educational institutions continues to fall due to politics both by teachers and students.
Noted academics said this at a roundtable on 'Education-Examinees and Expectation' organised by the SHEBA Bangladesh Foundation at the Press Institute of Bangladesh in the city Friday, reports UNB.
Chaired by former adviser and ex-Jahangirnagar University Vice Chancellor Zillur Rahman Siddiqui, the roundtable was attended, among others, by Eminent jurist Kamal Hossain, Mohammad Kaikobad of BUET, economist and Dhaka University (DU) teacher Atiur Rahman, SHEBA Bangladesh Foundation Chairman Shawkat Ara Hossain, Hunger Project Country Director Badiul Alam Majumder, Abdur Rahim of BUET, Country Representative of Inters Human Right Organisation of Sudan Sakhwat Khan and ALRD Executive Director Shamsul Huda.
Siddiqui said, "Educational institutions have become battlefields these days as students are provided with firearms".
Kamal said both teachers and students should have better moral integrity, values and the spirit of nationalism, and these qualities fully depend on the standard of education. "Universities as well as the Secretariat are now flooded with PhD degree holders as if there is a PhD epidemic", he said.
About social responsibility of students, the jurist said once DU students had played a very glorious role in various movements like the language movement in 1952 and during the 1960s, and those movements were led by meritorious student leaders.
"Even in the 1960s, the university had been able to maintain the international standard of education because the politics at that time used to promote moral values among the students", he said.
Appointment of adequate teachers based on merit is very essential to ensure the quality of education in the country, he added.
Emphasising the importance of improving the quality of education at the primary level, Siddiqui said, "Our standard of education is poor because our schools remained neglected". "We only concentrate on universities as we don't understand the importance of schools", he said.
He suggested the university authorities to reintroduce tutorial system as it helps the students interact with their teachers at a close atmosphere.
"Small group teaching is no longer found in universities."
Hunger Project Country Director Majumder said the teachers of primary and secondary schools have become 'bureaucrats' due to party politics.
Kaikobad laid emphasis on transparency in the educational sector to raise the standard of universities of the country. "When it comes to socio-political index, our institutions fall to the bottom and this happens for lack of transparency", he said.
Economist Atiur Rahman said the education sector is passing through a great disaster as the country has failed to produce quality teachers.
Shawkat Ara Hossain said Bangladesh would lag behind if the standard of education is not maintained properly. "Everything is competitive in today's world."
The speakers stressed the need for ensuring quality education for the students from primary to university levels to help them survive in this competitive world.