The letter appeared a couple of months ago in The Daily Star (SWM). One may find the tone of the letter rather harsh. But in essence it does reflect a genuine sense of frustration and desperation on the part of the student. This university student is certainly not alone in this country in having such classroom experience. If one goes around asking students, the answer in many cases is likely to be 'boring', 'un-interesting', 'un-stimulating'...etc. On the other hand, if one inquires of university teachers about their experience, the answer will often reveal that students are not interested, attentive, serious, responsive, ...

and so on. These two opposing situations are actually two sides of the same coin. It is true that in this country there is a general lack of students' motivation for socio-politico-economic reasons, many of which are beyond the control of teachers. But in spite of this generally unfavourable learning environment, one has to admit that the primary responsibility to improve the situation lies with the teachers and academic administrators.

Students complaining about their teachers are not unique to this land, but are rather universal. The American Psychological Association, in a survey in 2000, found out the following as the top 10 complaints of University students about their teachers:

1) Poor course organisation and planning; 2) poor teaching mechanics (for example, poor use of the blackboard or speaking too fast, softly, or slowly); 3) lecture style and technique, including being too wooden or long-winded; 4) poor testing and exam procedures; 5) negative mannerisms, including attire and verbal and nonverbal tics; 6) monotone voice; 7) poor use of class time (for example, coming in late and stopping early); 8) intellectual arrogance -- talking down to or showing a lack of respect for students; 9) being unhelpful and not approachable; and 10) unfair or confusing grading process.

Universities in advanced countries do not consider the views of the students as taboo. They rather take students' concerns quite seriously and put continuous efforts to improve the quality of teaching.

Class lecture is still the most dominant mode of learning in universities around the world. The effectiveness of classroom teaching is therefore very vital to the overall quality of education. The role of teachers is probably the single most important factor in effective classroom teaching. Generally, University teachers are recruited from among the topmost achievers in their education. University teachers have to earn highest degrees and are experts in their respective areas of specialisation. The primary task they perform at universities is, however, teaching. Interestingly, university teachers in our country do not have any formal training on teaching. In contrast, even primary school teachers have to undergo rigorous formal training on how to teach.

Teaching is a profession in its own right. Just being an expert in a particular subject does not automatically make one an effective teacher. Once it used to be thought that teaching is an art and 'good teachers are born'. True that there are some individuals who inherently possess great talent in teaching, but research on education over the years has shown that teaching involves a great deal of science and it is a skill that can be acquired through proper training.

The need for the formal training of university teachers in pedagogy is increasingly being recognised in universities around the world. Most universities in North America have their in-house centres/institutes specifically aimed at fostering excellence in teaching among their teachers. These centres conduct workshops and training programmes in teaching which benefit faculty members at all levels. Such centres, manned by education experts as core members, provide professional support to individual faculty members to improve their teaching skills through evaluation, consultation, advice, videotaping and reviewing of teaching performance, feedback etc. These centres also publish handbooks/practical guides for teaching and newsletters on a regular basis so as to keep teachers abreast of modern teaching techniques.

An integral part of any teaching improvement programme is students' evaluation. In many universities around the globe, students are required to evaluate the courses they take and the instructors who offer the courses at the end of each term. It is a continuous process repeated every term for every course. This provides very valuable feedback to the teachers and academic administrators to identify areas that need further improvement. The purpose of such evaluation is not witch hunting but is solely to achieve excellence through incremental improvements.

Studies have shown that there is a good correlation between achievements of students in University courses and their subsequent professional performance. The achievements of students depend on the quality of their learning, which in turn is directly related to the quality of teaching. Therefore, the most promising way of improving graduates' performance is to improve teaching. This is particularly important in this era of globalisation when our graduates in a variety of disciplines including engineering, health and business are facing competition from foreign professionals in the job market even at home. Improving the quality of education is key to ensuring the success of our graduates in this globalised market. Improved classroom teaching can contribute very significantly to achieve this goal.

There is an old saying which goes as follows: if the student has not learned, then the teacher has not taught. New teaching philosophy these days is increasingly being moulded along the moral of this saying. Recently there has been a paradigm shift in the accreditation process for different academic programmes, particularly engineering programmes, in Universities in advanced countries. The accreditation approach is now changing from 'what is being taught' to 'what is being learned'.

To conclude, universities in our country should recognise, as the first step, that there is a real need to achieve teaching excellence. The next step would naturally be to develop an effective programme (and a culture) in each university to support teaching excellence on a continuous basis. The University Grants Commission of Bangladesh can play a pivotal role in this regard. Achieving excellence in classroom teaching does not really need much money. But it can bring many rewards. Above all, it can make teaching a source of immense professional as well as personal satisfaction and pleasure both for the teachers and the students.

Dr. A S M A Haseeb is Professor, Department of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering, BUET.