The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet

Gopal Sengupta

Academic collaboration with the best of universities could help improve quality, unlike direct intervention by foreign educational providers. While such collaborations have always existed, we need to increase their scope and extent in the future. As a matter of fact, efforts are being made in different parts of the country to promote collaborative learning. A large number of scholars including some Nobel laureates have visited the universities in Bangladesh during the last two decades. Testimonies of the teachers and students of these universities and the visiting scholars show that the benefits have been mutual. The essence of such mutually beneficial academic collaboration is partnership based on equality. It cannot be based on a relationship of superiority and inferiority. It has to recognize the kaleidoscopic character of quality in higher education and the value of mutually enriching collaborative learning processes.

One has to look at the larger, countrywide picture before alleging that the universities and colleges contribute little to the improvement of Bangladesh’s higher education. It is an astonishing surmise that the avowed mission of public universities is to contribute to nation-building. What goal has been set and achieved by any of our public universities? What study of basic discipline, research, and extension in real terms? How does our rice-per-hectare production compare with that of other developing countries? Are we able to design even a passable engine for our Main Battle Tank after spending huge money?

For the clarity, it is true that quality can be ensured only through an internal process. But in the teaching profession there is no standard means to assess this internal process and its success wholly depends on the ability of teachers. Even if we spend exorbitant sums on faculty improvement, there is no objective means of assessment to ensure that the process works. So, what is the harm in inviting foreign universities and relying on competition for quality improvement?

For access and excellence in higher education, the initiative to allow foreign education providers to set up shop reflects our ineptness in handling higher education. We already have a large number of universities. But the bitter fact is that quality of education is cruelly compromised. Bangladesh cannot meet its future challenges unless we stop treating higher education as a business. There is an urgent need to upgrade the facilities in the existing universities rather than encourage foreign tags. Impart locally — and not import — knowledge and intelligence.

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