It is well known that the degradation of values in the society is increasing alarmingly. But when this trend becomes more pronounced in the education sector, the level of concern is really alarming. A picture of the current education system in the country emerges after seeing the news on Barta24.com on February 25 (2024) entitled 'Mayor's son and niece 'extra time' in examination center: Controversy led to release of the secretary".
Going deeper into the news, it was learned that the local mayor (Kendua Pourashava) Asadul Haque Bhuiyan is also the president of the Managing Committee of the school where this crime had taken place. And while giving 'extra time' to the Mayor's son and niece in the secondary examination, the concerned teachers were trapped. According to the newspaper, due to the incident in Kendu's Saima Shahjahan Academy, the local education office has so far "suspended" four teachers and has recovered from the apparent responsibility of the matter! The formation of a committee for further investigation is also known in the news.
The issue is that the teachers who have been booked for providing unethical benefits to the two students have been temporarily exempted - but will nothing happen to the students or their 'authoritative' parents? We have recently come across reports in the press of expulsions of students responsible for near-miss offences. Perhaps, the students responsible for the Kendua incident got away from their powerful parents!
As we know, Mayor Asadul Haque Bhuiyan is an influential person in local politics, who is the General Secretary of Upazila Awami League. And his niece's father, Enamul Haque Bhuiyan, who got 'extra time' facility at the examination center, is also a politician, who is the President of Kendua Poura Awami League. It was understood that because the Bhuiyan family is very influential in local politics, the education departments may not have seen the 'responsibility' of those two students! But the question that comes back and stings is, do those 'influential parents' or should I say 'responsible parents' see no responsibility?
As public representatives or political leaders, they constantly face the people. Their 'mandate' to the people; Can parents avoid responsibility for their children's misdeeds in the efforts they make to keep themselves pure or to present themselves as role models? We sometimes see in the international news, many politicians save their self-respect by resigning even from the post of Prime Minister with a very slight deviation. Even if we don't expect so much values to be practiced here, can't we expect the 'instinct' from the highest person who leads the management board of a school to at least step down from his post after being ashamed of such misdeeds of his own sons and daughters?
According to reports, a local public representative and a parent first reported this complaint to the office of the Upazila Nirbahi Officer. Action was then announced against the responsible teachers and four teachers were released. But even though 9 days have passed since the incident, does the management board of the school not feel any 'responsibility'? Or will the real culprits remain elusive by sending the sacrifice of teachers?
But what we can understand by looking at the happenings in the remote villages of the country, there are numerous institutions like Saima Shahjahan Academy, where the true value of education is being undermined by this kind of unfair dominance of the Managing Committee. No matter how strict the government's measures are, we do not know the answer to how far such trends can be prevented if the values of the concerned are not improved. However, first of all, the public and the parents should wake up to remedy the way those concerned are showing the determination to shake the backbone of the nation by providing unethical benefits to students in educational institutions. We hope that the relevant authorities will immediately dissolve the management committee of that school and bring back the educational environment in the school and take more strict measures to prevent the repetition of such 'incidents' in other educational institutions of the country.