|
|
|
Responsibility of Private Universities
President
Zillur Rahman on Sunday urged the authorities of private
universities to create opportunities of higher education for
the children of the country's rural people. Many people are
being deprived of the opportunities of higher education, he
said while addressing the fifth convocation of BRAC University
in the city. Zillur Rahman observed that although children of
the well-off section living in urban areas are getting
opportunities of higher education in private universities, the
children of rural people are getting deprived of. The main
reason is that the guardians cannot afford the educational
cost of their children in these private universities, he said.
The President's observation is absolutely right. The Cost of
higher education in our country is very high at all levels.
Specially the cost is unbelievably high at private
universities although the tuition fees in the public
universities is comparatively low. It is against this backdrop
that the President underscored the need for increasing
opportunities of higher education to the country's poor
students at the private universities.
It may be pointed out that a tendency is common in most of the
private universities of the country to maximise profit by
running education business in the name of providing higher
education to students. Bangladesh is a poor country, but the
amount of money the private universities realise from the
students as tuition fees and other charges is very high and
affordable for only limited number of people. It is simply
impossible for the poor guardians of students to bear such
huge cost. But the reality shows that the private universities
are interested more in earning money than in imparting quality
education or helping the poor students get the opportunity
there free of cost or at a lesser cost.
It is an open secret that a section of profit mongers are
engaged in brisk education business in the country causing
serious degradation of the quality of education. While
education in public universities are being hampered seriously
by session jam, teachers' involvement with private
universities and NGO activities etc, a section of private
universities are allegedly imparting substandard education and
selling certificates. In fact, the state of country's private
universities is far from satisfactory as most of the private
universities have virtually turned into brisk business centres
instead of seats of quality education as they are run mainly
on commercial basis. Except a few, most of the private
universities do not have even own campus, labs, sufficient
class rooms, library facilities, educational equipment and
even adequate number of teachers. Academic and other
facilities in most of the private universities are inadequate
and that gross irregularities are practiced there for
commercial gains.
Yet the private universities are realising exuberantly high
charges from the students . However, in spite of this, Private
universities are an unavoidable reality in the country now as
the public universities are unable to accommodate the growing
number of students. But they should function as educational
institutions and not as commercial establishments. They are
also expected to be well equipped in all respect to impart
quality education. And, as has been urged by the president the
private universities should increase opportunities of higher
education to the children of the poor rural people. The
private universities should accept this task as a moral and
social responsibility.
Ensuring road
safety
The
High Court on Sunday issued a suo moto rule asking the
government to explain within three weeks why it should not be
directed to properly execute the traffic rules by controlling
the speed of vehicles and examining their licenses. A division
bench comprising Justice AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury and Justice
Borhan Uddin passed the orders after browsing the newspaper
reports. The suo moto rule came following newspaper reports on
the tragic death of kindergarten school student Hamim Sheikh
in a city road crash recently.The High Court also asked the
government to submit a report every month to the court on the
progress in execution of traffic rules through controlling the
speed of vehicles to prevent road accidents.
The rule issued on Sunday is another praiseworthy step of the
High Court taken in the public interest. In the past the High
Court took similar measure as regards protecting environment
and saving rivers, checking extrajudicial killings etc. The
Sunday's rule of the court has reassured the people that at
least the judiciary is there to act in favour of public
interest when the administration fails miserably to safeguard
it. What is happening on roads under the nose of police and
administration is simply dreadful. The way running vehicles
ran over and killed little Hamim and Shimu in the capital city
is more than accident. Both of these were virtual murders and
these could take place due to the failure of the authorities
concerned to strictly enforce the traffic rules.
|
|