Education system in Bangladesh and role of teachers

The lamentable condition of primary, secondary and higher education in the country is widely known. In the existing education system, ill-structured syllabus, lack of standard classroom, orthodox examination system, weak education administration, and political instability are the main reasons why our children are deprived of standard education. To put it, more precisely, the teachers' low-standard classroom teaching and weak assessment system are the main causes of lower standard of education. Being a teacher, I admit that teachers themselves are responsible for the deplorable situation in the education sector. At secondary level, the teachers' inclination to private coaching; and at higher level, the political affiliation of teachers, personal business and other factors are responsible for the educational institutions' present alarming condition.
In our country, maximum school and college teachers deliver very low-standard education in the classrooms and afterwards resort to private-coaching business. The humble and sacred profession has been degraded and changed into a profitable business by these self-centered, undeserving, half-educated and ill-natured teachers. Schools and colleges have become marketplaces for them to sell teaching. These teachers are greedy, and are either incapable of teaching anything to the students in the classroom or they have such ill intentions that they consciously do not teach in the classes and consequently the students turn to private tuition.
Whatever may the reasons; be, these types of teachers do not have the right to teach students.  These incapable and selfish teachers are obstructing the students' right to good education by imparting half, twisted, or wrong education and also habituating the students to narrow syllabus and rote learning.
These criminals in the name of teacher have been destroying our educational institutions and in turn our nation through their ill-teaching performance. There is no guarantee that a student will always come out well-educated after completion of his/her studies. Because the way education is imparted in our educational institutions, it is not easy to get good education for various reasons. The syllabus, environment, assessment system, and other things are not adequately modernised. Additionally, the exams are taken following old syllabus, outdated examination system, and the students are studying in unsuitable environment to which is added the negligence and disinterestedness of teachers in giving education. Students are getting degrees but they are not getting standard education. It is worth mentioning here that only passing out of schools, colleges or universities do not ensure knowledge.
One example may be given to clarify this fact. Many people say that books are the source of knowledge. But not all the books are source of knowledge, only good books are. There are many books which are filled with false/ wrong, and distorted facts which will not result in knowledge.   Rather, the mind will be full of false, untrue, and malicious thoughts. Likewise, in an educational institution, teachers teaching under any kind of environment will not guarantee educated pupil. To impart education, good teacher, good environment, good syllabus, and proper assessment system are needed. Unfortunately, in most of the situations, these essential elements are missing.
In our country, there is a dire need of teachers and researchers.  This crisis was created with the partition  in India in 1947 and no initiative has been taken so far to resolve it.  Rather the partition of 1947 has taken away whatever number of good teachers was here as well as educated society to India, especially to West Bengal. It continued during the Pakistan era also. But no step was taken even in the Pakistan era to overcome this crisis.
The small number of teacher-researchers that remained behind were not properly acknowledged, rather were forced to leave the country falling victim to the schemes of Pakistani military regime as majority of these intellectuals belonged to the Hindu community. Nevertheless, the Hindus for the sake of ensuring education built up institutions like Brojomohon College (Barisal), Brojolal College (Khulna), Rajendra College (Faridpur), Murari Chand College (Sylhet), Jagannath College (Dhaka), Carmichael College (Rangpur). It is regretful that we have failed to detain these patrons of educational outreach and their descendents in this country. Hence, the crisis of education still persists.
Teaching, learning and research practice as well as organising seminar, symposium, and education fair are important activities of an educational institution. Unfortunately, not all institutions practice this. It is also true that some educational institutions have turned into information-memorisation centres instead of centres of knowledge gathering. Here, teachers, instead of emphasising learning and research, keep the students more engaged in memorising information.
Furthermore, our shortcoming is not limited only to case of classroom teaching, but also in the existing evaluation system. The low standard of question papers is also keeping the students away from learning and thinking. Our question papers are such that it does not require any reflections or critical thinking, rather memorisation helps them to secure good score. In fact, many of our teachers do not know how to set examination paper or how to teach. The fact that learning, thinking and information acquisition are not the same is not understood by most of our teachers. The problem lies in here.
Being a teacher in Bangladesh for fourteen years has made me realise that the questions paper set by our teachers are not scientifically done to motivate the students for thinking. These question papers are rather pushing the students away from real learning and attracting them more towards memorisation. This practice is popular from primary to higher levels of studies. Commonly, students know that in school or college memorising essays about the cow, jute, memorable event, journey by boat and similar topical essays will ensure them good score. As a result, students do memorise the information about these topics as they know very well that  they will always find these essay topics  in the question papers year after year.. But if it were that even in ten or fifteen years the essay topics will not be repeated, then students instead of memorising would at least be intellectually challenged in their exams. This would have surely increased the thinking and creativity level of the students.
In Bangladesh, there is a popular belief that teaching is a very relaxing profession with less office time, fewer responsibilities, and flexible classes. I feel saddened by this idea. A lot of teachers do not understand the meaning of teaching profession.  Contrary to popular thinking, more time needs to be given to this career. Compared to other professions, it demands harder labour. A teacher in his/her profession has to work hard and give a lot of time. Like a part-time teacher, only taking classes and leaving afterwards does not mean giving standard education. Teachers must understand it.
In teaching profession, freedom of time does not mean staying for few hours like a part-timer. Rather, a full-time teacher has to be prepared to give time and labour to students as required which might mean counselling them for their personal crisis in addition to academic one. There is no limit to a teacher's working time-table.
A teacher must be a competent master, good counsellor, and a right guardian for their students. Because when a teacher mentors his/her pupil with standard knowledge and thus enlighten them, and instantly give solution to any complex situation arising in the class and guide them into the right path, and prove himself/herself as a guardian, only then s/he is proven as a true teacher.
The writer is Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of Liberal Arts of
Bangladesh (ULAB).