Feature

I always believe that education can change life and destiny. It has the power to move things transform and revolutionize. It is truer now than ever before. Society has changed from feudalism to the age of technology and information. A new generation has taken over the driver's seat and navigating the world forward. This is a generation, which unlike its predecessor is more focused, confident and accoutered than ever before. They are equipped and prepared with modern education and knowledge and marching on with heads full of ideas and plans highly motivated and energized. Everybody is unequivocal when it comes to the importance of education and its impact on society. Barack Obama the president-elect of USA is a perfect example of what education can do and its power to change lives, help achieve objectives and be successful. Education sharpens the minds and hones up skills to help the person to succeed and make a place for himself or herself in this highly competitive world.

When I talk to the young people I find them well informed, intelligent with clarity of mind and abreast of the world around them. They know their minds and know how to get around making their way through the maze of this world. They are creative, innovative and raring to impact upon the world.

Modern technologies have bolstered their intelligence and opened up new avenues for them to make the best use of and help them to explore new concepts and ideas. They have unfettered access to the Internet and are computer savvy. The age of information super highway has given them a huge thrust to help them in their pursuit of knowledge and education. They are exposed to the cutting edge technology and have a full grasp of the world, which evolves and changes as time goes by. A marked change has come over their lives. They are helping a new more modern and strong society to emerge which is their contribution to the coming of age of Bangladesh which is on the thresh hold of new changes and advancements.

Universities and colleges have sprouted everywhere and the number of admission seekers has grown manifold in a meteoric way. New outstanding performances results in examinations bear testimony to the fact that these young people are more disciplined, rooted to realities and know what their aims and objectives are. They are more committed and intelligent. They are more articulate; career oriented and determined to achieve what they have set upon. The future looks promising.

Education has diversified and broadened its base covering myriad subjects to prepare the future generation in a way that they can be more competitive. They have clearer vision and incisive and enquiring mind ready to explore and understand new ideas. They're also having more fun than the generation before them. They are lot into music and parties and have frequent get together. They spend more time on the mobile with their friends and peers. They are into gizmos and hi-tech gadgets which are flooding the markets and easily affordable. They are more tech savvy and are enjoying the fun technology has to offer. They are netizens too with a great deal of the time on the net, browsing, searching, chatting etc. From PC to laptops to mobiles they have ample opportunities to delve into the world, which is at their fingertips. They are experts in multi-tasking.

Bangladesh has come a long way from the 70s; it is more in tune with the outside-developed world and is striving for its place in this community of nations. The new generation is trying to carve a place for itself in this modern age prepared to meet the challenges of the new order. Today's curriculum is what the developed world requires and it is obvious that the young people are conscious and aware of this fact and sparing no effort to stand up to the challenges. The preparations reflect in their personalities. Their preparedness is with a sense of confidence and buoyancy. Colleges, schools and universities are mushrooming at a very fast rate and crowding the cities and with that the student's population has brown remarkably. There are private institutions galore and boys and girls are flooding them in hordes seeking admissions to prepare themselves in the best possible way to be in demand in the job market. There is stiff competition for lucrative jobs and the better the person is prepared the better the opportunities are. There is a speedy change which we can see transforming the economies, technologies and the social, political structure of the nation.

Nothing comes without the downside and so does this. Even here we have the negative aspect, which cannot be ignored. We see that as information is flowing in the students are getting acquainted with the opportunities and quality offered by the colleges and universities abroad and if one has to up his chances of getting good jobs and pay they can travel abroad to obtain foreign education so that they are more equipped than their counterparts in the country. The long queue to go abroad is getting longer.

In the case of English schools and colleges we see that the students have proclivities to tilt towards western cultures and ideas and ape their life style as result they slowly drift away from their culture and values and get distanced from their history, heritage and traditions. They become insouciant to their social political and cultural environment and fail to play a positive role in the development of society.

In the country's educational institutions politicking and political partisanship is common which lead to a highly volatile and violent environment. Violence is rampant and a way of life affecting education and creating session jams which cause delay in completion of courses and seriously impact future prospects. This is a worrying and disturbing phenomenon. This also negates the continuation of the studies of students with little resources and compels many to abandon their education to seek a livelihood, unable to sustain the increasing expenses due to disruptions and delays. Most of the institutions are city based which are not easily accessible to the towns and village based students. It becomes a big hurdle for them to travel down and study in these universities.

The present trend in education is career based, producing professionals. The popular courses are mostly to do with finance. This is the latest trend prevalent in our country. As a consequence IT is not making much headway like it is in our neighboring country. The progress is slow and negligible. As financial institutes and banks are growing students have no option but to go for business courses in order to be qualified for jobs in them. We need to have other subjects as well, to develop as much as this, so that the society can have balanced progress.

Studies in private institutions are extremely expensive and there is no government mechanism to ensure participation by students coming from poor families who struggle to pursue their studies. This situation is depriving the poor but intelligent and bright minds with huge potentials to get admission and avail of the facilities in order to make their due contributions in the social development. The loss is for the country, which cannot take care of such bright minds that can be an asset for the nation.

Last but not the least. The sight of the buildings housing the colleges and universities alongside the residential flats, shopping malls make me wonder what has happened to the good old days of sprawling campus, imposing buildings with eyes and mind pleasing architecture and designs, spick and span environment, green foliage and pristine, peaceful ambience where we used to roam around attending classes in different buildings scattered around the premises, chatting and lolling under tall spreading green age old trees and lying on green grass absorbing the warm winter sun. Today's institutions are in crowded areas- residential and commercial with heavy traffic snarl-ups and incessant honking and air pollution.