Speakers at a seminar on education have said that the residential halls at different universities have been turned into torture cells. And the appointment of vice-chancellors (VC) is the first step towards ruination of the universities, they added.
The discussants also pointed that the loyalty to the government has become the foremost qualification needed to be appointed as a VC.
Although the universities were to be independent, the environment is deteriorating further. The flaws in the country’s education system are so appalling that now it seems the more educated you are, the more corrupt you are.
They made these remarks at a seminar titled “University education and teachers” held in the city’s Gonoshasthaya Nagar Hospital on Saturday.
Rahman Chowdhury, a teacher at the Gono Bishwabidyalay presented the keynote at the seminar. The seminar was mainly held on a research paper published by him.
Educationist prof Abul Kashem Fazlul Haq presided over the seminar. He said, “It’s true that the teachers and the educational institutions are in a bad condition in terms of morality. The government is trying to include moral education in the curriculum.
However, corruption has pervaded all spheres including administration and business. Therefore, the question naturally arises whether the inclusion of moral lessons in the curriculum will bring any benefit. For this, people from all walks of life need to be aware of the moral issues.”
He further said if the government and politics is more or less good, the internal situation of the society may improve.
Prof Anu Muhammad said, “Only the people who are loyal to the government are being appointed as the VCs. His identity will be defined by his loyalty to the government. It sparks corruption in every phase at the universities, including the appointments of the teachers.
And the residential halls of the universities have been turned into safe heavens for torture. There is no scope for a student to have mental stability or trust there so that he or she will be able to study properly at the university. Instead they are forced to think about what the seniors will do. And obviously the term ‘senior’ here stands for the members of the ruling party’s student wing.”
Rahman Chowdhury, the keynote speaker of the seminar, said, “The public and private universities have become places of exerting authority for the owners and the administration. The quality of education is falling rapidly. The certificate based education is damaging the most.”
In his keynote speech he further said, “A number of universities have sprung up in the country all of sudden and there are plenty of reports of irregularities in these institutions."
The reports on the corruption and ineligibility of the VCs do not surprise the people anymore. And the scenario is the same in both public and private universities.
Referring to the flaws in the education system, New Age editor Nurul Kabir said, “We are observing that the more learned, the more corrupted. All the people, who amass money from the poor, take bribes and launder money, are highly educated."
"So we have to ask ourselves where the problem lies. How does an educated person get involved in corruption? It’s high time we find some solutions and start working on those. Otherwise, we will be finished.”