Is education becoming a commodity?

Education is a right, not an opportunity. But it is turning into a commodity day by day. Does anybody know that there are more than 56 private medical and dental colleges as well as 80 plus private universities in Bangladesh? We may now say that Bangladesh is a land of private universities and medical colleges. In recent years we have observed that the pass rates as well as the number of GPA 5 holders in the SSC and HSC levels have dramatically increased. But unfortunately, it does not reflect the quality of our education, as we all know that only two students had qualified to be enrolled in the English department of DU this year.

Meanwhile, the DU authority has taken a decision that from now on HSC passed students won't be able to apply for a second time for admission to the DU. The DU authority should rethink the matter. At the same time, public universities are offering various evening courses for students in exchange for huge amount of fees ignoring their regular academic activities. Our request to the authorities, please don't make education a commodity.

Mohammad Iftekhar Hossain
EMBA student, Faculty of Business Studies
Jahangirnagar University
Savar, Dhaka