Education is the key for all development- The present status of Bangladesh as one of the poorest countries tn the world is a clear witness that the key didn't work

It's a proof that the system suffers from a major crisis, and the crisis Ites in Its very ob|ec tive Walking without a direr tlon takes one nowhere Likewise, mere literacy brings little benefits

The system must work with a sound objective Only then it helps knowing the right direc tion of life at every crossroads — the basic need of every hu man. Then how to know (education), how to work' (technology) and how to live' (culture) no more remain obscure. rather they get Integrated with student's conscience.

Man is not human by birth, in this regard he differs from other beings He has to go through a learning process to attain human qualities. His mental, moral and intellectual development mostly depends on this process. This very art of making humans must be the prime objective of all academic endeavours. All educational institutions should make concerted efforts to accomplish it.

The country's existing educa tion system is the legacy of the British education policy in India. It has proved Its efficacy in producing a class of people who worked, fought and gave lives for the British in India and other parts of the world. When Palestine. Iraq and other Middle East lands were won by the British in World War I. the ma Jortty of the army were Indians. In fact, the system didn’t have a better mandate either.

In Bangladesh, it caused more dependence than development. Since the birth of this independent nation-state, various bodies were entrusted to frame an appropriate education policy, but their endeavours didn't make any significant difference. The system utterly failed to usher any attitudinal changes in students; hence discipline, diligence, honesty and other higher values are still the missing factors in our na tlonal life. Such an awful picture Indeed represents the country's most crucial educational crisis

An arena of diversities

Education helps harmonious development of mind. It facilitates exchange of views among individuals, thereby brings a homogeneity of Ideas on national issues. So in educated class, factional feud-becomes a rarity. In Bangladesh the sys-

tern didn't work. It has succumbed to bloody- hostilities. Chaos is the way of life in moat campuses. Mostly It owes to failure In promoting a universal system of education The pre sent system has varied InsUtu ttons. and they differ not only In curricular context but tn fundamental objective It has English medium schools foe the privileged, religious madrasaa for the under privileged and secular Institutions for the rest 13ieae stereotyped Institutions vary widely in academic environment. budgetary allocation and intellectual make-up of both (he teachers and the students They do not possess a

helps them to kill Invaluable time in bad ways The poems or stories that Tare taught In schools have little relevance to the experience of our pupils and the country's need Much of the study contents in schools are never real, they are far removed from our every day life

To decide on English as a compulsory subject at all levels, the national policy makers swang from one extreme to another, and still seem to be con fused The importance of English as an International Ian guage can't be denied but Indiscriminate Imposition of It

achieved it long before, as it Is taught In this country for more than two hundred years

The proper educational ser vicing is impossible with a singular curricular system — as educational needs are not alike for all groups. Often It makes the curriculum Irreverent to the priorities of pupils and their catchment area The know hows' on Eskimo's house mak Ing or whale hunting has little relevance to our children. Rather the know hows on disaster management against cyclone. tidal surge and other calamities are not only relevant

consensus opinion even on a single national issue. The country's universities and other higher institutions have proved their worth as fertile breeding grounds for warring demagogues. not so much for intellectual pursuit.

The irrelevance of curriculum

Mere reading, writing and numeracy skill is not education. To teach reading without a purpose is to make children more vulnerable to the add-mass and to make them addicted to a kind of narcotic. The practice

as a compulsory subject ^t all levels still deserves further scrutiny. Otherwise It will continue to waste billions of study hours at the national level. Study hours for learning priority subjects like science must not be curtailed at any cost At present 14.4 percent of the teaching time is spent for learning English, not spending much for learning scientific know how’! Thus a farmer s son while returns to his paternal field as a school dropout finds his education Incredibly useless. If English has been the key to progress then we would have

but important for survival. But little is taught on these sub

Jects'.

The poor: the most de-

, prived

Poverty is a major bar to ed ucation. It has been revealed that undernourished children score 10 percent less in intelli gence tests than those from better-off homes. Deprivation of good nurture is a death sentence to child's Intelligence. An encouraging environment seldom exists in poor homes. It is found that poor children from a stimulating background make a difference of 10-20 per cent of Intelligent test scores than those who are both mainour ished and deprived of stimula tion Undernourished children from drab homes are found to score 40 per cent leks on IQ tests than well fed children from stimulating homes

An average Bangladeshi Is badly fed he survives on a per capita intake of about 1900 calories a day FAO specifies a minimum dally Intake of 2122 calories for a non working per son. Whereas, for an average adult male the minimum amount of energy required to keep the vital organs function Ing is 1700 calories Of all chU dren. 40 per cent and IO per cent suffer from mild and severe malnutrition respectively In ab Ject poverty, education remains unwelcome to the poor While the very existence Is at stake, 'education becomes a luxury. Poor calorie consumption itself leads to inattention and easy irritability, students with such handicaps can hardly be attentive to lessons. Moreover, schools for these students are also In a poor state. Their classes are large, on average 59 students to one teacher In the primary grades And teachers are unmotivated or absept. This is why the drop-out rate Is alarmingly high In rural schools Of those who enrol 48 per cent leave schools before completing the third grade and 62 per cent before completing the fifth grade A school (ceding programme, specially In slum and rural schools, can help raising their interest, so far free books and free schools have worked very little to that end.

Conclusion

The present system of education got enough time to prove its worth. But the result Is very gloomy. The system gave the country a wrong track towards a wrong end, Its further continuation will not only delay development rather expedite decline. Now the nation must search for a right key the right form of education. It must get the highest priority in our further planning: out of all development issues it should be earmarked as the most fundamental one. Investment in other sectors. Is important, but the most important Is the Investment of humans. Only this very Investment can give the nation a good harvest of worthy people, whom the nation needs very much for cherished goal of national dignity and development.