There are both problems and opportunities in the country. Now, if we don’t know what the problems and opportunities are, how will we solve the problems or make the right use of the opportunities? Solving problems requires knowledge. Knowledge means education, which requires reading, learning, and knowing. But if even after studying, we cannot acquire the knowledge to solve any problem or simply memorize without learning anything, then that studying is nothing but a waste of time.
When computers, the internet, smartphones, and AI like ChatGPT were not there, was there no reading, writing, or knowledge acquisition in the world? Like birds, passive creatures existed then and still exist now, but without actively educating oneself, it’s not possible to create knowledge. Because learning without training means failure in work. And the depth of your experience affects the effectiveness of your actions. Most of the intelligent people in the country belong to this class. Yet, parents are upset about the current education system. If they have the knowledge about any subject, then what’s the need for experts? Parents should endorse new curricula. This kind of duality exists nowadays, because what do you know?
When a child is sick, the decision about what illness it is should be made by the doctor, not the parents. However, the symptoms or signs are noticed by the parents, so they inform the doctor, making it easier for the doctor to make a decision. If we look at it this way, it’s possible to overlook arguments. However, due to the rapid development of world technology, the nature of knowledge discussion and learning has completely changed. Earlier, people waited for news to listen to, now news waits for you, whenever you will listen. Earlier, people read books, now books read you. Earlier, people searched for books, now books search for you. Through a specific app on your smartphone, any book in any language of the world, any news, just by speaking, will read and listen to you. If you want to write something, just speak, it will write it for you and even create a listenable or audio and video with it and save it safely.
Therefore, the depth of your experience affects the effectiveness of your actions. In that case, everyone (parents, students, intellectuals) needs to think about how to endorse the educational curriculum.
Let’s take an example:
Many students who have passed from medical and engineering subjects in Bangladesh are now joining professions such as police, administration, foreign service, and various positions in the BCS. If doctors and engineers have to go to these cadres, then why have they studied medicine or engineering?
Naturally, they will perform well in any exam, as they are the most talented. But the problem is not there, the problem is that in Bangladesh, in many institutions, engineering and medical studies are being taught. The government spends 30-40 lakh taka behind each person. If after studying engineering and medicine for 5 years, they join the BCS, then isn’t it a waste of the country’s money? Because their acquired knowledge is not being utilized for the nation’s work. Those who remain in these professions, most of them accumulate wealth abroad. On the other hand, students studying public administration are taught about government administration, management, political science, law, economics, sociology, public-private partnership, public policy, international relations, etc. The public administration is located at the center of the government. Public administration is not limited to administration alone. In various semesters, courses like sociology, political science, economics are taught here. Yet, from the first to the seventh in the merit list of the Foreign Cadre, engineering and medical students flood in BUET. If engineers and doctors can join the Foreign, Tax, and Administrative cadres, then why won’t students studying public administration get the opportunity in the education cadre! I have heard that public administration has not been included in the education cadre. If public administration is included in this regard, then the opportunity for meritorious students to become teachers will be created. Students of public administration directly observe the functioning of various countries’ governments, politics, and administrative work. Teachers are engaged in these tasks through assignments in various semesters. Most BCS seats are vacant due to not having the education cadre.
After knowing all these, how can the parents of the country remain silent- they want to know very much!
Rahman Mridha, Former Director, Pfizer, Sweden. [email protected]
