Bad news, good news
EVERY day we are being bombarded with news items that either make us feel good and uplift our morale to a lofty height, or dampen our spirit and drown us in the abyss of despair. A day is either made, or messed up, depending on what kind of news item you read first. One news item last week kept me hanging in between, knowing not how to respond, or react. I couldn't be happy, neither did I feel sad. The headline said many of the Golden GPA holders failed to pass Dhaka University admission tests. The same report said that most of the ordinary GPAs, however, succeeded in getting through.
The news item I believe has plenty of material for education researchers to work on. Why did Golden GPAs fail in such large number? How did so many get Golden GPA in the first place and what is the evaluation yardstick? Does getting Golden GPA make one an all rounder? Do they excel over others in all departments of knowledge? Are they totally equipped with knowledge to take on the bright students from the region? Then why don't we see outstanding results in numerous debate competitions where our students go in large numbers every year? Why don't we see more Bangladeshi IT experts holding top positions in the US or Europe?
When the Golden GPA holders fail to communicate well verbally, in English or Bengali, and fail to write one page of script in English or Bengali on an unknown topic, when they fail to impress the audience with their power point presentation, they paint a dismal picture of teaching standards at the SSC and HSC level, and at the primary level for that matter. In the professional arena, many of the GPA holders are outshone by colleagues who did not obtain GPA but are more into self-education and upgrading.
A comprehensive study is definitely needed to reveal the flaws in the teaching method and examination and script evaluation system. I come across many such record holders every year who fail to get admission in any of the prestigious public or private universities. And most of them ultimately seek admission in some less known educational institutes in the country or in the region where anyone can get admission by paying money. And it has been seen that most of the GPA holders cannot obtain such record marks in examinations at university level.
Now a nugget of good news. We have been writing plenty on the importance of banking services going to the rural areas to extend loans and services to the people there to boost rural economy. This would generate income and employment in the villages and thereby contain rural to urban migration of people. I think something like this is going to happen ultimately.
On Monday, it was reported in the business page of this daily that Bangladesh Bank (BB) is all set to launch a loan scheme named "One banking product in each upazila" across the country. The sole objective is to take banking services to rural areas with a view to involving more people in economic activities, which would result in more work and more jobs for more people. The programme is to be implemented under a 5-year strategy from 2010 to 2014 giving emphasis on small and medium enterprises after agriculture sector.
The strategy of government banks extending loans to poor people to boost their income is being followed in West Bengal, Sri Lanka and some other South Asian countries. This has worked so well in those countries that the private banks or NGOs never got the scope of offering micro-credit. I strongly feel that if BB can implement the project without letting any "quarter" sabotage the plan, it would go a long way in taking the rural populace out of poverty in a decade or two.
There is no denying that such a step by BB would eventually open up many more doors of opportunity for the development of the rural areas of the country where 80 percent of the population live. The private sector can also invest, and involve the locals in carrying out extensive research to develop indigenous products for the overseas markets through quality development. Indigo is being cultivated widely in some areas to produce dye for the textile industries across the world. The array of jute products, clay products, bamboo products, reed products etc can earn foreign currency for us.
The morale-boosting news item from BB really was the best thing happening on Monday morning. All our economic activities, and non-activities, seem to be happening around the urban areas of the country. The 20 percent of the urban people are playing around with 90 percent of the money of the country. It is here that people come up with "dubious" projects and get them approved. It is here that a pied piper can become a "crorepati" in a fortnight. Therefore, when we want BB to go to the rural areas, we do not want the corrupt bank officials teaching the simple rural folks how to prepare a dubious project profile and then together eat up the money. Caution at the outset would save many embarrassments.
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