I wonder at times whether our country is truly united from the base or not. I see so many examples of how united a country can be, for example, our closest neighbours. It puts me to shame when I overhear conversations among certain children of our country, such as: “Hey, let’s not speak to that other kid because he’s from that Bengali medium school and he will not be able to mix with us.” Tell me if it would not hurt you to hear your own kids utter such words. I’m sure it would, because you probably would want them to learn and know better.
The one problem I see here is the various mediums of education we have to offer in our country. Not only are there three basic mediums of education – English, Bengali, and Arabic (madrasa) – but there are also English and Bengali standards within Bengali medium schools. Then there are external authorities who have made quite a business in our country’s education sector by offering international standards of education for a cost that is far beyond the reach of regular middle-class families.
I, myself, am a product of different mediums of education, and I had some discriminatory experiences at my school during my childhood. You see, our school offered education in both English and Bengali mediums. However, while the English medium boys and girls could play in the field everyday with their separate sports uniforms, we – the less fee-paying, worthless Bengali medium time-wasters – had to wait in line even on that one day we were allowed to get inside the playground wearing red socks and black formal shoes. Does it stir your mind even a little as to why a school would be so discriminative towards its own students?
Also, after studying for 10 years (or maybe 12) under the British system of education, kids move on to do their undergraduate programs in the American system. How is that practical in any way?
As a consequence of studying in different mediums of education under different boards and authorities, our nation has slowly become a mixture of generations where it’s been divided into groups of children who are automatically discriminative towards those from different educational backgrounds, and I strongly believe it is becoming a constant blow to our unity. If children are not taught to be united from the very early stages of their lives, how will they understand the true value of education and unity when they grow up? And surprisingly, it is also very stylish to not know much Bangla nowadays for many of these children.
It has also become a matter of pride for many parents nowadays to send their kids to very expensive schools in brand new luxury cars, simply to become more popular parents and to show off. What they are forgetting in the process is that their children are not learning anything about the real world, like being friends with children from different backgrounds who necessarily do not have the luxury of carrying an iPhone or a Macbook, and have to finish their school projects by probably using someone else’s computer.
Is it a good thing that they are not learning how other children around them are living their lives? Is the luxurious way of life teaching them how great it feels to mix with people from different religious, ethnic, and social backgrounds, and being united by heart? These kids will definitely learn about adjusting to life in Canada, UK, or Australia when they are sent there for higher education. But will they be able to tell the “true story” of life back in their native country? I don’t think so.
The Ministry of Education should take a stance in the near future and start reforming our education system into a unified one where the standard would definitely be an international one, English would be the base medium, Bengali would be a compulsory subject for everyone until they pass their 10th grade, and religion as a subject would be taught equally to everyone so that they can respect each other despite their differences.
Of course it is a long process and would probably take 10 years to come into effect even if the process is started right now, but at least that will be a start and it will gradually help our children to learn more about the different values and norms of people within the society they live in, thus making them more aware about the lives of their fellow citizens.
Not only will this help to build a better united Bangladesh, it will also save the huge amounts of money our parents would otherwise be paying to foreign authorities. However, that is a completely different issue for discussion.
