The lost art of creative expression
Thursday, 17 June 2010
Mahmudur Rahman
Employers browsing through job websites are often piqued by the absence of creative expression in the CVs posted there by potential job seekers. Courtesy the internet they prefer the cut and paste variety of CVs rather than think through writing them. And if that is an indicator worse follows when they do sit for tests on writing skills.
They can't be absolved from the blame but it is true that the opportunity for free thinking and creative expression is by and large absent in the long curriculum they go through. Following the debate over subjective and objective methods of examinations the country landed up with a system that does allow for the magical GPA 5 score at secondary and higher secondary levels. Unfortunately the quality of such scoring leaves more than just a little to be desired. It is almost as if language skills are no longer required. And because those skills are not honed, the thought process of these young people becomes stymied.
Interviews reveal overall the woeful lack of interest and depth of knowledge of the subjects they have studied. The minuscule percentage of students who succeed in going abroad to study realise very quickly the importance of broadening their horizons so to say. Those who stay back often proffer the excuse of a lack of properly equipped libraries and sources-unfortunately one that doesn't hold water. Their illustrious predecessors with far more limited resources got by well enough.
The arguments over the efficacy or not of the new education policy has been focused so much on the religion angle that the main purpose of education appears to be lost: that of creating well-rounded individuals who are equipped to pursue specialised careers and then take on management responsibility. The normal day to day chit-chat discussions among the young generation exposes much more than short focus on obtaining degrees, passing out, entering jobs and moving quickly up the ladder. It would appear that the process of learning and readying one's self for the next responsibility has fallen by the wayside.
Teachers of private universities shrug their shoulders when asked how obviously unqualified students are passing out the way they do and simply forward the reasoning that they go for 'relative marking'. In short this means different standards of marking for the better students and the others. Therefore, the A+ would mean a pretty good student while a B+ or B- would mean akin to 'not suitable'. The degree nonetheless is offered. This was what President Zillur Rahman was probably politely hinting at during his discourses of late at convocation ceremonies.
The new initiative by the Education Minister to re-introduce the concept of subjective but creative writing is one that couldn't have come sooner. One only hopes that the process would also look at the ability of teachers, many of whom have come in through the previous system, to absorb such creativity.
(The writer is a former Head of Corporate & Regulatory Affairs of British American Tobacco Bangladesh, former Chief Executive Officer of Bangladesh Cricket Board and specialises in corporate affairs, communications and corporate social responsibility. He can be reached at e-mail: mahmudrahman@gmail.com)
Employers browsing through job websites are often piqued by the absence of creative expression in the CVs posted there by potential job seekers. Courtesy the internet they prefer the cut and paste variety of CVs rather than think through writing them. And if that is an indicator worse follows when they do sit for tests on writing skills.
They can't be absolved from the blame but it is true that the opportunity for free thinking and creative expression is by and large absent in the long curriculum they go through. Following the debate over subjective and objective methods of examinations the country landed up with a system that does allow for the magical GPA 5 score at secondary and higher secondary levels. Unfortunately the quality of such scoring leaves more than just a little to be desired. It is almost as if language skills are no longer required. And because those skills are not honed, the thought process of these young people becomes stymied.
Interviews reveal overall the woeful lack of interest and depth of knowledge of the subjects they have studied. The minuscule percentage of students who succeed in going abroad to study realise very quickly the importance of broadening their horizons so to say. Those who stay back often proffer the excuse of a lack of properly equipped libraries and sources-unfortunately one that doesn't hold water. Their illustrious predecessors with far more limited resources got by well enough.
The arguments over the efficacy or not of the new education policy has been focused so much on the religion angle that the main purpose of education appears to be lost: that of creating well-rounded individuals who are equipped to pursue specialised careers and then take on management responsibility. The normal day to day chit-chat discussions among the young generation exposes much more than short focus on obtaining degrees, passing out, entering jobs and moving quickly up the ladder. It would appear that the process of learning and readying one's self for the next responsibility has fallen by the wayside.
Teachers of private universities shrug their shoulders when asked how obviously unqualified students are passing out the way they do and simply forward the reasoning that they go for 'relative marking'. In short this means different standards of marking for the better students and the others. Therefore, the A+ would mean a pretty good student while a B+ or B- would mean akin to 'not suitable'. The degree nonetheless is offered. This was what President Zillur Rahman was probably politely hinting at during his discourses of late at convocation ceremonies.
The new initiative by the Education Minister to re-introduce the concept of subjective but creative writing is one that couldn't have come sooner. One only hopes that the process would also look at the ability of teachers, many of whom have come in through the previous system, to absorb such creativity.
(The writer is a former Head of Corporate & Regulatory Affairs of British American Tobacco Bangladesh, former Chief Executive Officer of Bangladesh Cricket Board and specialises in corporate affairs, communications and corporate social responsibility. He can be reached at e-mail: mahmudrahman@gmail.com)