There is no questioning both the immense challenges that the interim government faces and the stellar work that they have done in less than two months of being in charge. Reforming institutions and sectors that were left in shambles will not be easy, and thus requires collective patience and perseverance.
With that said, if there is an area where the interim government continues to display the age-old reactionary approach which was the hallmark of previous regimes, then it is with regard to our education sector.
The sudden dissolution of the committee that had been formed for textbook revision and improvement after external pressure and criticism directed towards the committee threatens to establish a dangerous precedent -- that this interim government is susceptible to external pressure and will make reactionary decisions that may not be what is best for the majority of the people.
We have seen this before with regard to the cancellation of the remaining HSC examinations in August, much to the dismay of the masses. Giving in to external pressure and dissolving the committee merely two weeks after being established is not the sort of decisive action-taking the people of Bangladesh are expecting from the authorities.
More importantly, while it is true that Bangladesh’s education sector has been languishing, the suddenness of the dissolution and the reasons for doing so rightfully raises concerns about whether it is possible for Bangladesh to establish secular and unbiased education.
With education often rightfully touted as the backbone of any nation, we cannot let our education be biased and driven by a singular religious perspective. This will result in further marginalizing other viewpoints and undermining the very principles of secularism that we aspire to establish.
Political and religious bias has dominated this nation’s history, and if we are to build a new Bangladesh that does not discriminate, then having an education that instead signals a shift towards ideological conformity is not the way.