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To the Editor...
Letters will only be considered if they carry the writer's full name, address and telephone number (if any). The identity of the writers will be protected. Letters must be limited to 200 words. All letters will be subject to editing.
Is teaching child's play?
I am surprised at the way educational institutions all over Bangladesh are degrading the noble profession of teaching. It's almost like a coordinated effort to establish the fact that anyone can be a teacher, provided the person has a Masters, preferably from abroad. Is that the only thing needed to be a teacher? 1 see my friends coming back from abroad with Masters and immediately getting a job at any of the private universities around the city. And I wonder, what happened to the need for experience to be a university teacher? How can someone become a university teacher with just a Masters? Doesn't that person need experience? Does a degree reflect the person's ability to teach? Then, every PhD holder would prove to be a brilliant teacher. When will these institutions sober and start employing 'actual' teachers instead of 'students' posed as teachers?
Asifur Rahman Khan
Circuit House Road, Ramna, Dhaka
Dog vaccination and sterilisation programme
I have been researching for a reply to Md Asimuzzaman's letter of July 20th. He complains that there are too many dogs in West Rampura, that people are afraid of them, that all dogs should be chained up or they are dangerous (!) and wants 'the authorities' to 'take effective measures'.
I hope the 'measures' he refers to are not the previous, ineffective culling/killing of every dog in sight, including personal pets with collars, sitting outside their residences! Dhaka City Corporation used to kill around 30,000 dogs a year at an annual cost of 9 lakh BDT, but it only proved the truth of the World Health Organisation's claim that “there is no evidence that the removal of dogs ever had a significant impact on dog population densities or the spread of rabies." It also met with a lot of opposition - as research proves that a high percentage of dogs are owned personally or by the community in which they live.
At last, an alternative policy has been presented to the government and been accepted. The praiseworthy organization is Obhoyaronno — Bangladesh Animal Welfare Foundation and the policy is to vaccinate the dogs against rabies and sterilize them to control their population. This was officially launched last January to national and international acclaim. Obhoyaronno signed a Memorandum of Understanding with both Dhaka City Corporations. The Daily Star published two articles but, it seems, the news is slow to get round. The Department of Health is also planning a nationwide mass dog vaccination programme.
Slowly, the new policy is being implemented. Already, nearly 4000 dogs in Cox's Bazar and 6000 in Shatkhira have been vaccinated. As most public concerns about dogs in Dhaka are due to overpopulation, Obhoyaronno's Dhaka programme does not only vaccinate dogs against rabies, but also sterilizes them. Its clinic at 780/24 Bosila Road, near Bosila Bridge, Mohammadpur, has vets and para-vets, trained in India in modern dog population management and its van is slowly getting round each area of Dhaka, consulting people and taking around 12 dogs back to the clinic every day for anti-rabies injections and sterilisation. The public can also take their pets there. It also conducts education programmes in schools and communities on 'how to avoid dog bites' as some dog bites are provoked. For more information, see their Facebook page -https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Obhoyaronno-Bangladesh-Animal-Welfare-Society/1495730817563531.
The governments of many of our neighbouring countries including Bhutan, India and Sri Lanka, have adopted this programme and have proved that it can reduce rabies to almost zero! That is quite a contrast to the 2000 people who die of rabies every year in Bangladesh, over half of them children.
I advise the writer from West Rampura to wait patiently until the new programme reaches their area. 1 also hope that more people understand that a dog needs affectionate care and regular exercise and that keeping it permanently chained - or in a flat or yard all day - is such an abnormal life that it will go crazy and might, indeed, become dangerous.
Angela Robinson
Sickening garbage dump
ofThatari Bazar
In both South and North DCC, tons of garbage are stockpiled on many roads, lanes and by-lanes for days together. Sewages in drains overflow and important public thoroughfares are water-logged, posing a serious threat to public health.
It may be mentioned here that about three decades ago, Dhaka Municipality placed 3-4 garbage containers in front of the northern fish market gate of Captan/Thatari Bazar on Ice Factory road. Those garbage containers always overflow, with rotten vegetables and fishes.
The garbage is not removed and the containers are not cleaned properly, and the bad odour pollutes the whole area. People passing through the road fall sick due to the bad smell. The authorities concerned did not take any practical step to address the problem for decades.
Would any top political leader of Awami League or BNP, or a DCC executive, inspect the site and take immediate necessary action in the interest of public service please?
O.H. Kabir
Wari, Dhaka
Violence dominates newspaper reports
The daily local newspaper is an index of the state of affairs and happenings in Bangladesh. Scanning through the pages, it seems clear that violence and killings are the order of the day. As a retired person, every day I go through five English dailies; from cover to cover; and most of the news items from Bangladesh is either related to violence, criminal acts or killings!
It makes quite a depressing reading! On 25th August, while randomly picking through a newspaper, the interesting findings I stumbled upon on the page, and the other were as follows:
The front page, excluding two photographs and a small advertisement in the corner and the headlines, had 47 column inches of news material. Out of this, 20 column inches were political and general news and the usual tales of corruption. The rest of the printed matter was devoted to violence and killings only!
While the front page had only 42.5 percent of the print area related to news of violence and killings, the inner page had 74 percent of the news space devoted to violence and killings!
What does the home minister feel about this sorry state of affairs in our homeland? As an average peace loving citizen, I feel that we can only be safe, barring theft and robbery, if we stay at home! Whither Bangladesh?
S.A. Mansoor