Overhaul education system
Guardians and teachers must follow moral and ethical values in life and instil those into children in order to help protect the society from moral degradation, said speakers at a roundtable discussion yesterday.
They also stressed the need for overhauling the entire education system, saying the educational institutions will have to be kept out of politics. Also, teachers' appointments must be done strictly and carefully.
Parents should change the mentality of pressurising children only for higher grades. They compromise with ethics while doing so, speakers said. The teachers, on the other hand, have to quit the unethical practice of spending more time coaching and tutoring students privately.
The speakers also expressed concerns over the menace of question leak and “coaching business”.
The Daily Star and Campaign for Popular Education (CAMPE) in association with the European Union and Civil Society Education Fund organised the roundtable on “Ethics and Values in Education” at The Daily Star Centre in the capital.
Prof AAMS Arefin Siddique, former vice-chancellor of Dhaka University, said it is the duty of teachers and guardians to teach children ethics and values.
“But we have to question ourselves, to what extent we follow ethical practice? Students have to be taught ethics so that they become a good person. But how our curriculum deals with it?” he said.
He said students of different religions should not be taught religious studies in separate classrooms. All students should be taught synopses of all religions in one classroom so that they can learn ethics and sensitivity, and learn to respect other religions.
Talking about the question paper leak, he said the way question papers were leaked, it has become difficult to find out the motive of the people involved in the menace.
Question papers used to be leaked in the past also, and those behind it had done it for financial benefits. But in recent times, they leak question papers merely not for money as those are being spread on social media instantly, he said.
“They are actually anti-liberation forces and want to destroy the education system…,” he said.
Prof Arefin said the authorities' denial of the question paper leak, without any investigation, is more dangerous. “I think those who leak the question papers and the authorities who deny it [without any investigation] are the members of the same vested quarter,” he claimed.
The authorities concerned should investigate with utmost importance whenever any allegation of question paper leak surfaces, he added. Commenting over the GPA-5 galore, he said the rat race should be stopped.
Noted writer and activist Syed Abul Maksud said, “Students should be taught moral education, which is needed for building a secular and democratic society.”
He suggested that students should also be taught about the lives of great men.
Apart from teachers, officials of the education ministry and others involved in the education sector need to ensure ethical practices, he said.
“Also, teachers will have to practice morality,” he said, adding that the officials of the education ministry and others involved in the education sector need to do the same.
He suggested appointing teachers with moral values. “…we have to be cautious and strict while appointing teachers,” he said.
The total education system needs to be reorganised. “It will not take place in a day, but the civil society should carry on the campaign," he added.
Manzoor Ahmed, professor emeritus of Brac University, stressed the need for going deep into the problems and finding out solutions with a holistic approach.
He said the future of the country depends on education and therefore a political decision is a must to keep it out of the influence of bad politics.
Shafi Ahmed, a former professor of Jahangirnagar University and Dhaka University, said the tendency to incorporate everything in the curriculum has to be stopped.
“How much the students would read?” he said. “By incorporating everything in the textbook, we are producing examinees, not learners.”
Former education secretary Nazrul Islam Khan said teachers in other parts of the world teach students basic norms and manners, which is absent in the country.
He suggested introducing class-based assessment to have a better evaluation.
Shyamal Kanti Ghosh, former secretary to the primary education ministry, said there are many good things in the curriculum, but teachers fail to teach those properly.
He recommended bringing a change in the mindset of guardians and teachers before going for reforms in the education system.
Momtaz Latif, a former curriculum specialist at National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB), said the question paper leak has become a major problem lately. It is directly involved with the ethical issue.
“But what is more dangerous is that the guardians and students are running after the leaked questions and spending a huge amount money to get it,” she lamented.
Prof Syeda Tahmina Akhter, director of Institute of Education and Research at DU, laid emphasis on moral education at the pre-primary level so that students could learn about what is good and bad from the very beginning.
Tapon Kumar Das, deputy director of CAMPE, said they have been working on ethics and values in education and held many views-exchange meetings with teachers, students and guardians in different parts of the country.
Once completing the meetings, he said, they will publish a report with recommendations on the issue.
Prof Hannana Begum, former principal of Eden Girls' College; Sheikh Shahana Shimu and Abul Kalam of Brac Institute of Educational Development; Ziaul Kabir Dulu and Salim Uddin, president and general secretary of Obhibhabak Oikya Forum, a platform of guardians, also spoke.
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