Third Anniversary Special : Winds of Change

http://thedailystar.net/campus/2009/08/05/camspotlight_power.htm

Photo: Md Akhlas Uddin

ONE of the major drawbacks that has been holding us back as a nation is our inability to think on a collective scale; most of us tend to be self-centred, if not selfish, and fail to understand the power of WE and concentrate in our personal gains instead. All the problems, it seems, have the root in the mindset of ours, which, I believe, is desperately in need of a change.

Corruption, one of the most talked about problems on talk shows, newspaper articles and in high profile seminars, can hardly be solved with new laws and drastic actions unless we are able to come out of the box of ME. Those of us in power, the power to make important decisions on a national, or even a smaller scale, tend to think of our personal benefits that can be derived while making those decisions. We tend to assign the contract of making a bridge or a road not to the lowest bidder or one who can assure the best quality, as it ideally should have been, but to someone who has taken advantage of our low morale and has bribed us into believing that he would be the best person for the job. Little do we understand that in doing so, often enough, we bring about our own doom, with underquality constructions often resulting into dire consequences that can hardly be prevented.

In the job market, nepotism seems to be prevalent as an overwhelming number of employers seem to think that their shalas and bhaginas are more aptly fitted for a certain job compared to someone who truly has the merits and the required skills for the job. In hiring someone less able, the organization loses the brightest of minds who had a higher probability of performing better and thus taking it forward. Here too, ME seems to be the predominant factor.

Many streets in Dhaka, and in other parts of the country are made dirty mostly by its local inhabitants rather than from outsiders. If we cannot keep the streets in front of our homes clean, how can we really expect the city to be clean and spotless? All of us should play our individual roles in the society to bring about the collective change that we so desperately need!

Examples like the above seem to be countless and unending but I believe my message has been well explained already so this article would no longer be prolonged. It is high time that we change our mindsets in order to take the country forward or lag behind everyone else in this fast paced world. Change, as they say, seems to be the only constant!

mahdin@thedailystar.net

What exactly is a ‘Jakaater Shari’?

http://www.thedailystar.net/magazine/2009/08/04/perceptions.htm

Come Ramadan and you will be able to see good old Dhaka with a festive look. Shopping malls getting all decorated with lights, the vast majority of the people attending the Jumma prayers in huge congregations and thousands of Iftar Shops springing up, all of them equipped with the ‘authentic’ recipes of Bombay Jilapi, Shahi Haleem and Doi-bara. But among all these festivities, there is an enigmatic label in some banners which is seen all across the city. ‘Ekhaney Jakaater Shari O Lungi Pawa Jai’(Sarees and Lungis for Zakaat are available here) is what it says. Perhaps because of my ignorance in such matters, I fail to comprehend what exactly this means!

So I went forward and did a little research on ‘Zakaat’. Here is the summary :

Zakaat is one of the five pillars of Islam. It has been mentioned, along with daily Prayers (Salaat), over seventy times in the Holy Qur’an. Linguistically, Zakaat has two meanings: purification and growth. Technically, it means to purify one’s possession of wealth by distributing a prescribed amount to the poor, the indigent, the slaves or captives, and the wayfarer. Zakaat has many benefits on the socio-economic scenario but I’ll try to highlight the two key features. Firstly, it functions as a social security for all. Those who have enough money today pay for what they have. If they need money tomorrow they will get what is necessary to help them live decently.

Secondly, and more importantly, Zakaat is the best check against hoarding. Those who do not invest their wealth but prefer to save or hoard it would see their wealth dwindling year after year at the rate of the payable Zakaat. This helps increase production and stimulates supply because it is a redistribution of income that enhances the demand by putting more real purchasing power in the hands of poor. Zakaat becomes obligatory for a Muslim for a minimum amount of money or other assets he/she possesses. After adding up the cash values of the assets, a 2.5% /year Zakaat has been prescribed for all the able Muslims.

Now, coming back to the original question, what could probably describe a ‘Jakater Shari’? Something which is of such a low quality that we cannot give to our mothers, sisters or daughters? Something which won’t even last till the next year’s Eid? Why do we tend to discriminate the poor even while donating? If our sister wears a sari worth 6000 Taka, why can’t we give someone poor the same Sari instead of getting 30 low quality, unwearable Saris worth 200 Taka each?

On second thoughts, we the so called privileged classes of the society deserve to wear those cheap lungis and Sari more than the underprivileged. Might sound like a crazy thought at first, but digging a little deep, this idea becomes quite comprehensible. Firstly, we have a closet full of clothes, so if one of them (the Jakater Shari or Lungi) becomes unusable soon, we can always look for alternatives. Secondly, the people who are on the receiving end of these clothes are usually day-labourers and maid-servants which involves strenuous hard work and thus demands strong, long lasting clothes.

We have seen quite a few times in newspapers on how poor people have died in stampedes after going to collect their lungi or Sari for Zakaat. We tend to forget such loss of lives very easily, and the number of deaths become nothing more than a statistic! There should be dependable government and non government organisations involved in this. The floods last year have shown how government organisations like the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund and non government organisations like BRAC and a newspaper Prothom Alo have efficiently collected and distributed huge amounts of money and relief goods. This can well be applied to Zakaat as well. It is said that if everyone gave their Zakaat in a proper, systematic way, there would be no poverty left in the country. We are taking different steps in poverty reduction. So let us try to attain a Bangladesh free of poverty through Zakaat.

Helping Primary School Teachers Teach English

http://thedailystar.net/campus/2009/08/03/feature_cfl.htm

Cfl-BRACU comes forward
THE Center for Languages at BRAC University (Cfl-BRACU) has recently launched a program to help primary school teachers at the BRAC schools, spread all across the country, to better teach English to their students. Still in the phase of being a pilot project, the department now plans to go full scale, covering teachers from all the primary schools of BRAC, spread all across Bangladesh.

BRAC, the largest NGO of the world in terms of the number of employees has established a network of 35,000 schools all across the country. These one-room schools usually have one female teacher who has passed the SSC (Secondary School Certificate) examinations and teaches 30-40 children. Through extensive research conducted in these schools, it was found that most of these teachers lack the basic communication skills and English language skills that are necessary in a school teacher.

To resolve this problem, Cfl-BRACU has launched this unique programme to enable the teachers to teach English better to students. Several faculty members from the department trained the school teachers in different aspects of English language including speaking, reading, writing, grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation. Through a 12 week training started in January this year, divided into 4 phases, the teachers were equipped with all the necessary skills to teach English better to their students. Emphasis was given on language, speaking grammar, methodologies (CLT Method), content based learning, drama performances and others.

In the drama performances, participants (trainees) were asked to write scripts about different socio-economic scenarios and much to the amazement of the trainers, all these dramas were of superior quality. The participants were also provided diaries to write their personal journals, with the topics to write about being of increasing difficulty over the weeks.

The seven teachers of the department who coordinated this training program tried to ensure that the primary school teachers who attended the program had the following necessary skills after the programme ended:

– be able to speak English well

– be able to teach English well and explain subject matters in a clear and concise manner

– be able to teach through different methods and be flexible about the ways of teaching.

Most of the trainees showed marked improvement after the training and became more confident in delivering their lessons. The department hopes to soon go to the next stage of this training programme and train teachers from all the 35,000 schools of BRAC countrywide.

Quality growth is essential for universities (Says SUB VC )

http://thedailystar.net/campus/2009/08/03/feature_quality.htm

WITH a vision to emerge as a leading university in the South Asian region by providing need-based education to meet the ever-increasing demand for quality professionals at home and abroad, the State University of Bangladesh (SUB) started its journey in mid 2002. The people behind it wanted to build skilled professionals in different fields ready to join the industry. Starting small with undergraduate and graduate majors in the field of Business Administration and Computer Science, the university has today grown to be home to more than 2000 students in its own building in the prime location of Dhanmondi, Dhaka. In an exclusive interview with Star Campus, Professor Iftekhar Ghani Chowdhury, Vice Chancellor of the university, has shared the university’s story of growth, its key achievements and its future plans.

Prof. Chowdhury mentioned that the university is an outcome of the passion of two entrepreneurs, Dr A.M Shamim and Dr M Mahbubur Rahman, for expanding into the tertiary sector of education as they faced shortage of qualified professionals in running their health enterprises. They took expert help and had discussions with the academics and the professionals, at home and abroad, to decide on an ideal enterprise they could venture. The outcome was the State University of Bangladesh. The formal permission to launch the university under the Private University Act (Act 34) 1992 of the Government was received in June 2002.

BIMDT, a sister concern of LABAID GROUP, paved the way to what is today known as SUB. The organization had been working in the field of education since 1996 with a vision to develop skilled professionals in the field of Medical Technology and Science. Initially BIMDT Ltd. offered three-year Diploma courses in Health Technology. With its success and growing reputation in imparting custom designed education, BIMDT ventured into the university to promote innovative approaches in nurturing academic and professional skills in people with potential.

Starting with Business Administration and Computer Science, different departments were later added to the repertoire of the university with the target of making a full-fledged institution of higher studies. Health Sciences Department was started in January 2003 with both undergraduate and graduate programs. More departments were added as the university grew over the years. Currently there are 10 departments spread under 3 faculties including Business and Social Science, Health and Computer Science & Engineering.

With the rapid expansion of the university, the stakeholders understood the need for good infrastructure and soon enough, construction of the SUB campus in Dhanmondi started. Dr Chowdhury said that SUB is the first private university to have its own independent campus; the building is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities such as digital and computer labs and on-line surveillance.

Dr Choudhury mentions that the mission of SUB has always been to create human human resources that the market will eagerly embrace once they graduate from the university. This, he explains, is done through the creation of a teaching and learning environment that encourages students to stretch their abilities, both intellectual and physical. A blend of national and international curriculum adapted to the local needs prepares students for the most challenging professions in a cross-cultural environment, he adds.

When asked to name the things that he feels proud of, the VC mentioned the library, which has a rich collection of books and online journals, state of the art laboratory facilities, the modern surveillance system to ensure security and a whole range of different scholarship schemes for meritorious students.

Professor Chowdhury hates to term the different forms of student activities as extra-curricular activities; he says that an ideal university curriculum includes what we commonly term as extra-curricular activities. In order for a student to have complete university education, he must participate in activities like sports, debate, quiz competitions, cultural programmes and things of the sort.

The Vice Chancellor informed that the university encourages the faculty to engage in research and publish their findings in scholastic writings. Two journals are regularly published by the university; the Journal of SUB and SUB Journal of Public Health, Both of which are available in hardcopy and in e-version.

In order to provide education of the highest quality, the university has set up collaborations with world renowned universities including Mahidol University, Bangkok, McMaster University, Canada, Kyrgyz Republic Chui University, Kyrgyztan, ORBIS International Wah Medical College, Pakistan

Tribhuban University, Purbanchal University & Katmandu University, Nepal and Masachussettes University, USA.

Prof. Chowdhury mentioned that he wanted to see the university grow not only in size but in the quality of education it renders. This would be measure in how fast the university’s graduates are employed in the industry, both inside and outside the country. This would also be reflected by the number of times the publications brought out by the teachers and students of the university are cited by other papers of the field.

The major achievements of the university, Prof Chowdhury believes has been its controlled growth over the years, in terms of the number of students that have been admitted and maintaining high standards of faculty members across all departments.