।। Dr. Forqan Uddin Ahmed ।।
In today’s world, the more educated a nation is, the more developed it is. By education we mean knowing and understanding a subject. In fact, people have been learning from their surroundings since birth. Education helps people to achieve their human qualities. That is why education is the backbone of the nation. Education promotes harmony with knowledge, removes prejudices and enlightens a society. At present education is being divided into two classes- general education and vocational or technical education. At present, the world is moving towards rapid development due to the advancement of general education as well as vocational education. Therefore, career-oriented education is essential for improvement and development. Questions have also been raised about the usefulness of our education. A recent BIDS survey found that one-third of the highly educated population is unemployed. They can’t find any work. In other words, our education system is not able to create skilled and qualified manpower. In this situation the desired development of human resources cannot be expected. In that case, the government’s development strategy will have to change. Development that makes the rich richer and the poor weaker is not expected. We have to ensure transparency and accountability of all government programmes adopted by the government for the poor so that no one can get away with the rights of the poor. At the same time, the education system should be arranged in such a way that every educated person gets a job. In a country that claims to be a role model for development, the education of one-third of the unemployed cannot be desirable in any way.
The government’s approach to education can be seen differently. Some people think that only by making a law can all problems be solved. In fact, they all have fundamental weaknesses. At different times, the government and other quarters may not have wanted education at all. But many do not remember the harsh truth that progress is not the country’s overall socio-political situation or perspective. Or even if you remember, don’t use it. Laws that are incompatible with the reality of society cannot be enforced even after many attempts. That is why anti-dowry laws have never been fully implemented in this country. Compulsory primary education law has not been fully introduced in this country. Compulsory primary education laws or ordinances have not been able to provide any definite measures to increase the rate of education. By announcing the introduction of such a provision, any ruling party can feel that they have done what they can do to advance education. But they should not be unaware of the fact that many laws or provisions that are said to have been enacted for the purpose of expansion of education or economic development have turned into a farce in the context of the real picture of the country. However, by introducing such a provision, their self-satisfaction level may increase. But the chances of real progress in education are not up to the mark in our country.
Human resources are essential for socio-economic development. The role of human resources is essential for sustainable and long-term economic development. If there is scarcity of human resources in spite of abundant financial and material resources, then the process and pace of development comes to a standstill. And the main instrument of human resource development is education and the basis of education is primary education. Pesanto, a philosopher on primary education, said that education develops all the beautiful and inherent strengths in the body and mind of the student. According to the philosopher Russell, education is a child’s spontaneous self-development. The American philosopher Ode, the educator John Dewey, says that education means the full development of personality. According to Mahatma Gandhi, education is the full development of the best qualities of a child’s body, mind and soul. Therefore, without the development of primary education, the development of human resources and the development of a country are not possible at all. Different experts have defined human resources from their respective perspectives. Paul J. Mayer, a prominent economist, says: modern economists think that people, like other resources, are national resources. Various economic studies and analyzes have shown that a country’s national income is related to its natural resources. In other words, the development of the macro-economy is not possible without the development of the people living in the society.
The spread of modern science-based education is essential to take the country on the path of rapid development and prosperity. But most of the post-independence governments in Bangladesh were stuck somewhere despite thinking and trying to give more importance to modern education. Therefore, it is time to formulate a quality, modern and up-to-date education system in the country. Judging from this, it must be said that although every government has said a lot about improving the quality of education, the real purpose or philosophy of education has not been determined yet. The reality is that nationally we do not yet have a model of education.
One of the steps taken by the government of Bangladesh to spread education at all levels is the distribution of free books among 100% of the students. Stipend system has been introduced from primary to secondary level to advance women’s education. At present 26 thousand 193 primary schools have been re-nationalized. A significant number of teachers’ jobs have been made governmental. In 1990, the percentage of children enrolled in school was 61, now it has increased to 96.6 percent. The ‘Education Assistance Trust Act, 2012’ has been enacted and the ‘Education Assistance Trust’ has been set up to ensure the education of poor and meritorious students who are deprived of education facilities.
But despite all this, the universality of education is not coming. Education is not cutting misery. The wind of change is not coming in education. Therefore, we have to adapt our education system to suit the current and changing situation and give priority to a people-oriented and action-oriented education policy – without the implementation of which Bangladesh will never be economically liberated. With a sound education policy and its successful implementation, people of Bangladesh will become efficient manpower and proper human resource development will also take place. Without education and human resource development, our progress will be hampered, development will only float on paper.
The writer is a former Deputy Director General, Bangladesh Ansar and VDP.
