Language bankruptcy
Sunday, 2 August 2009
Mahmudur Rahman
There are times when emotion does indeed rob the individual of the ability to express one's self. But even this can hardly be accepted as an excuse for the downward slide of language skills in the country.
Highly gifted and skilled individuals, especially from the new generation appear to fall apart when required to write or speak either of the two languages that we as a nation generally uphold. Bangla and English continue to be cornerstones of the education syllabus but any human resource recruiter will bemoan the lack of language skills of prospective new-joiners.
English newspapers fret over the inadequacy of language skills that otherwise tenacious would-be journalists bring with them. So much so that at least one daily actually has to employ re-write persons to tidy up the English content of reports before publication. Television talk shows often present highly qualified persons who find it difficult to run conversation in Bangla without having to lapse into what is jokingly termed as Banglish.
Even GPA 5 achievers interviewed by TV channels failed to make the mark in this matter.
The recent Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) and Secondary School Certificate (SSC) results revealed that the majority of students failed because of two major subjects -- Math and English. More and more students, whether in government or private schools and colleges fall back on coaching centres to get what they don't in class-proper tuition and guidance. Given the number of coaching centres that, through their wall-sign advertisements promise GPA 5 success in English, it does appear strange that the language should be such a stumbling block for the future citizens of our country.
What is worse is in the case of those who do pass the hurdle; the numbers with enough working knowledge of the language is very, very poor and does merit the question as to how they passed in the first instance. They obviously brandish a certificate and it is the authority giving it to them that is at fault.
As many parents will have figured out, it is the teaching of the language and the quality of the teachers that raise the biggest question. A few initiatives have emerged in recent years seeking at bringing a change in teaching methodology and one would hope that the next obvious steps would be for teacher education as well. This is not to suggest that there aren't good teachers. The suggestion is that there aren't enough of them.
The equation becomes more complicated when schools and colleges fear for their registration if a certain percentage of their students do not pass. Similar is the case of the education boards where top position holders obviously worry about their jobs. Too often, script examiners have been advised to be "lenient" when it comes to marking scripts without considering the impact of such leniency.
The teacher-student ratio is an important aspect as is the need for special coaching for the ones who cannot keep pace with their classmates. This is where able, qualified and dedicated teachers who have gone into retirement can make a difference. Knowledge exists and can be utilised. Rules are made for the present, not the future and they have to change to enable change itself. (The writer is a former head of corporate and regulatory affairs of British-American Tobacco Bangladesh and former CEO of Bangladesh Cricket Board. He can be reached at mahmudrahman@gmail.com)
There are times when emotion does indeed rob the individual of the ability to express one's self. But even this can hardly be accepted as an excuse for the downward slide of language skills in the country.
Highly gifted and skilled individuals, especially from the new generation appear to fall apart when required to write or speak either of the two languages that we as a nation generally uphold. Bangla and English continue to be cornerstones of the education syllabus but any human resource recruiter will bemoan the lack of language skills of prospective new-joiners.
English newspapers fret over the inadequacy of language skills that otherwise tenacious would-be journalists bring with them. So much so that at least one daily actually has to employ re-write persons to tidy up the English content of reports before publication. Television talk shows often present highly qualified persons who find it difficult to run conversation in Bangla without having to lapse into what is jokingly termed as Banglish.
Even GPA 5 achievers interviewed by TV channels failed to make the mark in this matter.
The recent Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) and Secondary School Certificate (SSC) results revealed that the majority of students failed because of two major subjects -- Math and English. More and more students, whether in government or private schools and colleges fall back on coaching centres to get what they don't in class-proper tuition and guidance. Given the number of coaching centres that, through their wall-sign advertisements promise GPA 5 success in English, it does appear strange that the language should be such a stumbling block for the future citizens of our country.
What is worse is in the case of those who do pass the hurdle; the numbers with enough working knowledge of the language is very, very poor and does merit the question as to how they passed in the first instance. They obviously brandish a certificate and it is the authority giving it to them that is at fault.
As many parents will have figured out, it is the teaching of the language and the quality of the teachers that raise the biggest question. A few initiatives have emerged in recent years seeking at bringing a change in teaching methodology and one would hope that the next obvious steps would be for teacher education as well. This is not to suggest that there aren't good teachers. The suggestion is that there aren't enough of them.
The equation becomes more complicated when schools and colleges fear for their registration if a certain percentage of their students do not pass. Similar is the case of the education boards where top position holders obviously worry about their jobs. Too often, script examiners have been advised to be "lenient" when it comes to marking scripts without considering the impact of such leniency.
The teacher-student ratio is an important aspect as is the need for special coaching for the ones who cannot keep pace with their classmates. This is where able, qualified and dedicated teachers who have gone into retirement can make a difference. Knowledge exists and can be utilised. Rules are made for the present, not the future and they have to change to enable change itself. (The writer is a former head of corporate and regulatory affairs of British-American Tobacco Bangladesh and former CEO of Bangladesh Cricket Board. He can be reached at mahmudrahman@gmail.com)