A TASK force that the government instituted in September 2024 submitted its report, Re-strategising the Economy and Mobilising Resources for Equitable and Sustainable Development, on January 30. The task force, composed of 12 members, in the sixth chapter of the report titled 鈥楻eaping the Benefits of Demographic Dividends: Investment in Education鈥� has come up with 17 short-term strategies and 10 mid- and long-term strategies for the development of the education system. Whilst some of the recommendations could, and should, be immediately implemented for the betterment of national education, right from the primary to the tertiary level, a few of them appear best avoided. The task force suggests that the government should order a ban on on-campus student politics in all universities, public and private. Efforts have also been made earlier to order a ban on political activities of students on the campus. The University of Dhaka on September 19, in fact, ordered such a ban. The move of the university administration was ludicrous. Hooliganism and violence that often take place because of the link of student politics to mainstream political parties and the unholy influence that partisan politics leaves on student politics is one thing and sound student politics is another.
Besides, the political changeover that took place on August 5, 2024 is the result of student politics. After Bangladesh鈥檚 independence, violence, even resulting in murder, started dominating the campuses, gradually giving rise to an idea of banning or delinking student politics from political parties at the national level that support them. All this has also made students result- and job-centric, self-centred and flinching when they need to rise up unflinchingly, contributing to the creation of a feeble society and an uncertain future. It is important for mainstream political parties to stop using student politics as a weapon. But it is equally important to facilitate student politics. The task force suggests, as a long-term strategy, that the government should provide both public and private universities with substantial public funding. The proposition is dubious in the case of private universities. Private universities, which are legally meant to be not-for-profit entities, have so far largely run after profit. Public funding for private universities would only help private universities to make more profit. The task force further suggests the use of the English language in university. The strategy warrants further clarification as education serves best when it is imparted in the mother tongue, or the first language. An effort in this direction is, rather, almost absent in tertiary education. The task force suggests a single university admission test for all public and private universities based on standardised tests such as SAT and GRE. A cluster-based admission test introduced in 2019鈥�2020 is yet to gain universal ground as it is antithetical to university autonomy and denies universities to choose their students.
Many of the strategies that the task force suggests are welcome and could be readily implemented, but the ones that would undermine tertiary education, its system and students are best avoided under any circumstances.
