MAILBOX
How safe are our schools?
The article titled 'How safe are our schools?' published in the Star Weekend on August 4, showed us that we have willingly blindfolded ourselves about the vulnerable condition of fire safety in our educational institutions. The most alarming issue shown in the article is that among 993 educational institutions surveyed, 89 percent are risky, 9 percent are very risky and only 2 percent of institutions were deemed satisfactory. On the other hand, students and authorities of these institutions have very little or no concern about fire safety. Despite the Bangladesh National Building Code (BNBC) requiring every infrastructure to have fire safety measures, almost all educational institutions have none or insufficient fire safety equipment. Moreover, we have provisions for imprisonment and financial penalties if there is not a good enough fire safety system. It seems that we are not concerned about fire safety in educational institutions as Bangladesh has not faced severe fires in educational institutions before. I think it is high time to take steps to ensure proper fire safety measures and undertake massive awareness programmes in our educational institutions. Proper penalties for violators of the law should also be imposed strictly.
Md Bappi
Department of Political Science, University of Dhaka
The young and the tech-savvy
Freelancing is gaining popularity with time. From the article published on August 4 in Star Weekend, we got to know that a lot of the youth in Bangladesh are working online. Many are making a living out of it and supporting their families. The work itself is convenient as it requires no workplace, as people mostly work from their homes. A major disadvantage most young people still face is a level of English proficiency needed for the work. Learning English is still a huge language barrier in our country which is hindering our youth from freelancing online. Although there are private institutions offering English courses, these are often costly for many. If universities in our country can boost our communication and technical skills, many more can make a living out of freelancing online in the years to come.
Rafid Alam
North South University
DUCSU elections
Nations build universities. But Dhaka University gave birth to a nation. From the language movement to the anti-Ershad movement, Dhaka University played the role of a pioneer. But it is a matter of great sorrow that the election of DUCSU has not been held since 1990. As Dhaka University originated many democratic movements, the political parties now are not interested in further elections. But it is a matter of great shame that teachers are hindering democratic protests of students. Even teachers do such heinous work to get promotions because merit is not evaluated in our universities. I truly condemn this incident. I also demand for a suitable environment for democratic student politics in order to improve the democratic condition of our country. Otherwise, we have to pay the penalty for it.
Qazi Nafis Zami
Chittagong
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