The Greatest Compromise we have ever done

Poor governance, corruption, absence of the rule of law, and departed values, ethics, patriotism, and what not we have enlisted in the directory of ‘Compromise’. In addition to these, we have compromised such a thing which a civilized society can never think of. We have crippled down such a system which can help a nation to stand strongly. We have fused it so that no one reaches and sees the light in the dark days. It is agonizing that we have sacrificed our backbone mere for political interest which is above the national interest.

Very recently regular class activities of Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology (CUET), Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Jahangirnagar University (JU) have been in halt weeks after weeks due to campus movements led by student body and or teacher body. I should not go for any arguments whether the demands of the movements were right or wrong but I just ask a question, ‘What is the outcome or value addition of the Movement in terms of satisfying the primary objectives of a University?’

Is it called a University?

Before that University of Chittagong was closed for around two months to avoid further clash between student political groups after the killing of the two students. Again I am not putting any arguments for or against the student politics but I just ask a question to the authority ‘What is the gain of the nation from the ‘so called student politics’ prevailing in the Universities?’ People might talk about the ‘student politics’ of pre-liberation war. But we should not forget the CONTEXT of the object. The then student politics was constructive but today’s one is destructive which should be termed as ‘so called student politics or student terrorism’.

Is it a place of Higher Education?

In the present context we see students are used in politics for the gain of the few teachers-cum politicians and leaders not for the gain of the nation. In the fight of the self-interests of the power and money lovers the collective interests are fallen under the trash. And then we see campus violence and sudden closure of the universities resulting into the creation of long session jam. The careers and lives of thousands of genuine students are ruined. It is unbelievable in some public universities a four-year course takes around seven to eight years to complete. Who will take the responsibility of wasting the time of the students? Doesn’t the authority know that thousands of families’ livelihoods depend on their university going offspring? What kind of compromise we are doing with this wastage of education life?

This is not the end, as the quantity of the higher education institutions is increasing; the quality of education is decreasing sharply. Where it is to be the place of creating and disseminating Knowledge, it is the place of practicing politicization, corruption and kinship. Politicization has taken over the place of Meritocracy. From faculty recruitment to research publication, promotion- everything is politicized. Especially teacher recruitment has turned into a system of ruling party supporters collection system. Simply it is a voter recruitment system. University is the highest place of education and if in such a place corruption enters, how we can save our backbone as nerve destructing venom enters into it. In an informal study, it is seen that more than 25% faculties and staffs of a public university have been recruited under the shadow of kinship.

If the meritocracy is not encouraged how we can think of universities as the producers of masterminds and visionary leaders who will establish good governance, rule of law, values and ethics based on pure patriotism.

The status quo says us that Bangladesh is in ‘self-destruction’ mood. We should not have had any compromise with our education system. But we are optimistic, the time has not gone. Sincere attention and action can prevent the future devastation.

See my previous write-up: Student Politics: 1952 vs 2010