The developmental problems of Bangladesh have a perplexing and paradoxical characteristic in the sense that they are, collectively, extremely simple and extraordinarily complex at the same time.
From a macroscopic perspective, be as incredulous as you wish, all the national problems of this country could be summarised in a single not too complex sentence. Lack of education and absence of unity, combined with depravity, have demoted us from the position of being regarded as one of the most prosperous lands before the period of the British Raj to that of one of the poorest countries in today’s world.
While such a sententious description of our plight is very much plausible, the enigmatic aspect of the issue, however, is that the spheres of trouble, metaphorically speaking, seem to overlap each other.
Consider, for example, the fact that poverty in our country is a problem that has relational implications both from the phenomenon of practice of despicable immorality of the rich and powerful, and the inability to ensure that efficient and modernised methods of educating the public are developed and employed. It is the second of the two this humble article shall try to discuss in brief.
Education never received adequate attention in our country. It has been a deplorably neglected sector right from the birth of the nation. If one must try to be a little more specific in characterising the nature of the negligence it received, the qualifying adjective which would be most appropriate in describing the government’s measures in different eras in the field of education is “insincere.” In other words, a conspicuous lack of urgency and dedication has been felt.
Comparatively less important sectors in terms of priority have been allowed a lot more assistance, for reasons that are closely related to championing the causes of the rich while assuming intentional blindness to those of the poor.
The sector of education suffered in two ways. The very first is related to a natural dearth of money; the flow of cash was never enough. So when you visit the so called “computer lab” of a school in a remote village, you see there is but a single desktop kept carefully out of reach of the hapless students in a room accessible only to some privileged ones.
The shabby buildings, the dilapidated benches and desks, depressingly colourless walls and the morose countenances of the school yards tell you that if there is money in Bangladesh, it is at least not spent in developing schools.
The second of the two major problems in the sector of education is that the policies are insufferably inefficient, purposeless and weak.
Only in recent times there have been some efforts, though not particularly commendable, to show concern about how antiquated our educational policies have been for long and that they need immediate modification.
A much-ignored property of these weak policies is their weakness in addressing the problem of feebleness of reach; indeed, such a shamefully high rate of illiteracy reeks of insincerity.
The policy makers do not seem to appreciate how important it is to promote education for all and everyone and not just for the middle class and the rich.
As long as the farmers, labourers, rickshaw-pullers, CNG auto-rickshaw drivers and ready-made garment industry workers remain uneducated and uncouth, they would remain vulnerable to the oppression and exploitation of those enjoying the fruits of their hard labour. The poor mentioned here suffer at the hands of the upper class in ways that are not beyond the knowledge of the wise reader.
Apart from some sporadic bursts of outrage, there is no systematic and calculated defiance from the oppressed and the exploited. This is the case because they lack education and suffer from an inherent sense of inferiority.
They have learned to believe that poverty is a curse with which they were born and not only is this a fact that they must live with day in and day out but that things are unlikely to ever change for them.
Education promotes equality and denounces barbaric acts of repression and exploitation. So a very important part of the plan to attack poverty is related to educating the people so that they can find their positions and claim their rights.
One of many positive influences true education has on a society is the promotion of harmony, progress and equality in distribution of wealth and opportunities. Any sincere government thus should be concerned with giving education its due importance.
