Massive changes needed in edn system: Khaleda

Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairperson Khaleda Zia on Saturday said that massive changes in the country’s education system were required to reflect people’s aspirations.
Addressing the closing session of a seminar, Khaleda, a former prime minister, said she was not an educationist but felt the necessity of change in the education system when she was in power at different terms.
BNP organised the national seminar on ‘Present Education System of Bangladesh and Our Future’ at Dhaka Ladies Club in the capital.
Slogan of the seminar was ‘ Education for Change’.
Khaleda said the student community of this country before independence had carried out movement and sacrificed blood for a time-befitting and welfare-oriented education but the education problem yet persisted.
The BNP chief said education gives lesson to people to be respectful to different opinions.
But unfortunately the incumbent government trampled the basic objective of education, she said.
Though they (government) claimed advancement in education sector, they in fact destroyed democracy and curtailed freedom of expression, she alleged.
She said all types of existing education systems in the country must link up to take education ahead.
Referring to her party’s charter Vision 2030, Khaleda said if BNP was voted to power in the next election, they would make the education people welfare-oriented.
She pledged that five per cent GDP would be spent in education to free the country from the curse of illiteracy and other educational problems.
Dhaka University former vice-chancellor Emajuddin Ahamed inaugurated the seminar, which was divided into six sessions including inaugural and concluding sessions. 
The topics on primary and secondary education, various streams in education system, tertiary and advanced education and science and technology education were discussed in four sessions.
Teachers of Dhaka University, Jahangirnagar University and Shahjalal University of Science and Technology presented the keynote papers on the respective topics.
Each session featured question and answer session.
Teachers of different educational institutions, academics and BNP leaders were present at the seminar.
Inaugurating the seminar, Emajuddin Ahamed said strong political will of the nation was necessary to bring radical reformation to the education system.
He said the country’s political culture was such that only ruling party would formulate policy of important national issue like education through engaging only partisan people.
In other countries this responsibility is bestowed on the experts, said Emajuddin, noted political scientist.
Sirajul Islam, teacher of Dhaka University, in his paper said copying and question paper leak were putting negative impact on the minds of children and the standard of primary education declined due to faulty education curriculum and low standard textbooks with numerous errors.
He said absence of democracy was directly and indirectly responsible for the present dark decade in the education sector.
Shah Shamim Ahmed, associate professor of Institute of Education and Research, Dhaka University, said recruiting teacher, enlistment for MPO, student admission and promotion and transfer of teachers were plagued with corruption and mismanagement.
The closing session was presided over by BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir while former Dhaka University teacher Mahbub Ullah presented a paper.
It was addressed among others by BNP education affairs secretary Obaidul Islam and assistant education affairs secretary Helen Zerin Khan.

 

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