What do we mean about true education that a general student is to receive from a public university in Bangladesh? Some say it is really easy just to "get" a Master's degree even from a public university in our country. We are talking about our public univeristies where thousands of students receive the highest level of education. But the question is whether all of these students are truly educated. We started our Bachelor's degree in Rajshahi University in two of the most distinguished departments. It was our privilege to get scholarship from the US Depaprtmemt of State to come to the USA to complete Bachelor's degree in a University famous for its liberal arts education. We studied about four years in Rajshahi University and based on our experince we can say it is indeed a piece of cake for everyone to receive a Bachelor's or Master's degree.
What can a student learn in those public universities? They can learn how to memorise the same traditional theories that iare already rejected in the West! They can learn how to answer five questions in four hours! When we came to the USA and started our study we experinced what a true education means. It will be an irony if I compare Bangladesh education with US education, but at least we can try to do something different with our limited resources.
The US education develops students'critical thinking and analytical ability regarding different topics. This education involves presentations of many real life projects and assignment, etcetera. In Bangladesh, we were given some assignments, but all of them about copying and pasting. Sometime even a group of students submit same assignment to their professors. If any student in the USA by any means do any copying without reference, the student does not only fail in that particular course, but (s)he might be kicked out from the school. In the highest level of education if a student get credit by doing this copying, how exactly (s)he would understand the subject matter. Students in Bangladesh face tremendous obstacles in getting into a public university, but after the admission it is very easy for them to walk away with a Master's degree. What does a student of such an instituion do with their study? They do something to get a certificate, they do not care of learning something different.
The very first exam we had in the USA was a take home exam where we got one week to complete our exam. It sounds very easy, but when we started we realized that we needed to answer very critically and our teachers wanted to see that do we understand about the topics. In Bangladesh we simply memorise the definition, we do not learn how we could incorporate these issues in practical scenario. Class participation is one of the most vital issues in the USA, whereas in Bangladesh the studnets are actually afraid to participate in class. Why will a university student feel uneasy to speak up in the class? A thorough participation in class can encourage students to learn more emphatically and critically.
We do not blame students for their reluctance in learning different topics critically. Our educational system do not permit us to learn they way we have to in the global village. From, our country only a certain number of English medium students go through the process we have described. Unfortunately, access to such institutions is not easy. Again our teachers mostly are also responsible for not having students involved in real study. From our experience we can express that our teachers also often do not care to educate their students. It mist be emphasised, however, that just as there are a few, but not all, English medium schools of high quality; there are great teachers all over Bangladesh, right from the primary level who inspire their students for their entire life. Unfortunately, their numbers are also limited.
We cannot blame the general run of teachers either because, one, most of them also received education in the same way and two, the rewards for genuine teaching are very limited. However, born teachers cannot be kept down. In our country what parameters do we use to recruit teachers in a public university, e.g., Rajshahi University? Obviously such motivated parameters are mostly to recruit teachers to bolster one's particular grouping. Do we get real teachers? A teacher should be recruited on basis of teaching and research ability. Yes, because it is very true that "Man proposes, God disposes. While we cannot always simply recruit a person who has just completed a Master's Degree, (There are always exceptions); adequate training and grounding can be, and sometimes is, provided. Again a university teacher is absolutely safe regarding his or her tenure, no matter whether (s) he teaches students in whatever way they want.
A teacher needs to be evaluated and provision be made for promotion based on the excellence of their performance. A public university is definitely a place for meritorious students. In the USA even the topmost senior teacher is evaluated after every semester. If there is no accountability combined with sufficient incentive, we cannot expect that our teachers will work hard for their students. Our public universities usually suffer from political instability and for other reasons. The teachers do not get to provide their valuable time for the general students, we think the scenario needs to be improved - and right away. Then are the students caught in session jam. These are the reasons why it takes sometimes more than six years for a student to walk away from university.
Bangladesh is going to have its national election which will enable a brand new government to be crowned to represent this country. We understand the new government will face challenges regarding economy and poverty reduction, but the government should also focus on the education that our universities offer. It is not a big task to receive a Master's degree from a university , the students need to be educated in the fields offered. We must train them in doing research and make them think critically. We can encourage students in submitting various assignments where they would contribute their own judgement and own creativity with critical thinking. The government should try to give students access to Internet through which these students would be encouraged to research various issues. Adequate incentives need to be made for our teachers, who can inspire these students to study and nurture their creativity.
*Me and Salahuddin Ahmed from Ashland University contributed in this article. This article was published on the daily Independent (Editorial, Page 6) on December 19, 2008.
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