# This is a special time, everyone has to be patient - Imtiaz Ahmed, Professor, DU
# This environment has become so bad because the third party took an opportunity here - Prof Dr Omar Farooq Sarkar, General Secretary, RUTA
# Closure of educational institutions is not desirable in any way- Md Faekuzzaman Mia, General Secretary, BSMRSTU Teachers Association
# My Bangladeshi children are in crisis - Fatema Rahman, PAD Fellow, University of Malaya, Malaysia
# Long break disrupts students' concentration - Maulana Muhammad Nurul Amin, Principal, Charfashion Karamatia Kamil (MA) Madrasa
“There is fear about the current environment. I don't know when the class will start, I will meet my friends. But time is passing bad. I feel bad because I can't go out."
Ishtiaq Tafim, a class eleven student of Dhaka Commerce College said to Daily post. In the current situation of the country, all types of educational institutions are closed. The people concerned think that this closure is for the safety of the students. Maulana Muhammad Nurul Amin, Principal of Charfashan Karamatia Kamil (MA) Madrasa said, “Government has closed the educational institution keeping in mind the safety of the students in the current situation. Long breaks disturb students' concentration. Hope the government takes everything into consideration and opens the educational institutions soon.”
From primary schools to universities is closed. The ongoing HSC examination has also been postponed. The heat of the quota reform movement is also spreading in schools and colleges. Finally, on July 16, all educational institutions were announced to be closed. On the same day, the HSC exam was announced as the first round. After that, the HSC examination was postponed in two phases. HSC candidates are worried because the exam has been postponed. HSC examinee Rimel Islam expressed his worries, "Holidays are good in student life. I think I can study more if I take a break between exams. In fact, it did not happen; on the contrary, education is being damaged.
The pace and routine of reading is gone. In this situation of the country, I am worried about when the exam will be held." However, teachers feel that small problems have to be accepted to avoid any major damage. Abdul Hakeem Khan Teton, a lecturer at the Government Sara Marwari Model School and College, said, "We have to follow the government's decision. Sometimes small problems have to be accepted to avoid big losses. Due to the postponement of the HSC examination, there is a kind of uncertainty and fear in the minds of the students and parents, but this decision was a timely decision in the current situation. There was a possibility of great loss to the students in the troubled environment in different parts of the country. The students were out of major trouble with the decision to postpone the exams.”
Meanwhile, public universities have been virtually closed for a long time. The teachers-officers-employees have protested on pension issues. On the other hand, the universities were in turmoil since the first day of July due to the quota reform movement.
At one time, students of private universities also joined the movement. After reforming the quota, 6 coordinators of the movement withdrew all the programs, but the other part rejected it in a counter notification and the movement is still ongoing. And the crisis is increasing. It is as if the education of the country has fallen into a hundred tensions. There are also differences in the opinion of the students regarding the continuation of the movement. But everyone wants to open the university soon. Dhaka University student Sharmishta Sarkar said "We wanted quota reform, which the government gave us." The renewed agitation is disrupting the learning environment in the campus, creating sick politics and jamming students' sessions to shut down campus activities for a long month. The government is requested to investigate the incident of student casualties and waste of state resources and take proper judicial action. I think it is a timely decision to trust the administration and hand it over to the government instead of taking it into our own hands. "
Advising everyone including the students to be patient, Professor Imtiaz Ahmed of Dhaka University said, "We who are 71 years old, we have not had classes for 9 months. So many people have been injured all over the country. It doesn't always happen. These are special times. The issues should be understood by students-parents. Such an environment has been created; maybe it will remain for a few more days. Everyone has to be patient." Despite expressing anger over the casualties and arrests in the movement, the students of the private universities expect the university to open soon. Nusrat Jahan Shobha, a student of East West University, said, “Due to agitations, campus closures and session jams, students are being deprived of normal academic life.
Due to all these reasons, students are under stress. As a result, their academic and professional future is uncertain. Losing classmates makes it difficult for many to get an education. Students are still being arrested from house. A frightening environment has been created for these. Now people are afraid to claim themselves as students, how will they receive education?”
Teachers also think that the closure of educational institutions is not desirable. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Science and Technology University of Gopalganj General Secretary Md Faekuzzaman Mia said that it is not desirable to close educational institutions which are the hubs of knowledge production and talent development. It is most important at this moment to bring back the learning environment in educational institutions as soon as possible. In order to overcome the deadlock that has been created, the relevant ministries including the Ministry of Education should take initiatives to restore the confidence among the students and take the necessary measures to solve the problem very quickly. I believe that the situation will be overcome by discussing with the education stakeholders to create a favorable environment for education.”
Students fear session jam due to long closure. Khulna University student Humaira Binte Azad said, as the quota movement started naturally, the situation soon turned into chaos. The strike program of the teachers was also ongoing. I don't know the situation now. At this stage, our students have to suffer a lot. In a semester of 6 months, what stage will it come to in a long break of one and a half months? Moreover, the mental condition was disturbed by the number of deaths. So that you don't have to suffer with the session jam, teachers should solve it quickly. May the light of education come back, Let all darkness pass.”
Students are uncertain about when the solution will be, keeping in mind the apprehension of session congestion. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman University of Science and Technology Law Department student Nusrat Jahan Nishu said, "Due to the complete deadlock of the education system in the current situation, students' studies, classes and exams have been suspended. No one knows when it will be resolved.
No student ever thought that our safest place would become unsafe like this. Many students and common people had to give their lives around the logical movement of students against the quota discrimination that started in June. We want justice for the death of our classmates, brothers and sisters; we want the release of the innocent brothers who were detained. Let no more fresh life perish. May Bangladesh overcome such horror quickly, may my Bangladesh heal, and may a new dawn arise. We want to go back to class.”
The teachers are not dismissing the issue of session jam. In this regard, General Secretary of Rajshahi University Teachers' Association and Professor of Marketing Department Dr Omar Farooq Sarkar said, "It took 29 months to complete a study year. The session was so busy. Now students can't even imagine it. We have come out of this situation. Now it is difficult to go to that place again. It will be better if the campus is opened soon. Now the semester system is on, every day is precious now.
But the atmosphere of opening the university did not come at this moment. The way the room was burnt in Rajshahi University, how will the students be picked up? Can students live there? It will take time to reform them. The investigation committee has been given 8 weeks, means 2 months. I have asked the VC sir whether arrangements can be made to open a little faster and if something can be done accordingly.”
However, this teacher leader thinks that the current student movement has been politicized. In this regard, he said, "We teachers were also in favor of quota reforms. The government was also in favor. If the government had discussed with the students and teachers quickly, then there would not have been so many problems. These issues are late in the discussion. Journalists are dead, police are dead. Apart from university students, school-college students have also died. Basically, this environment has become so bad because the third party took advantage here.
For those who have died, what is there to do except pray and ask for justice? The head of government is supporting them. Now a judicial inquiry is required and action should be taken against the killers. So many lives gone prematurely. State resources have been wasted again. But ordinary students cannot do this. A trained group has harmed the country by infiltrating the student movement. I think that the damage done to the country should be compensated by identifying them and confiscating their resources."
However, the university teachers of Bangladesh outside the country have also expressed deep concern about the current situation in the country. Fatema Rahman, PAD Fellow, University of Malaya, Malaysia, said, "When students from all over the world are not getting a chance to catch their breath with new semester admissions, higher education opportunities and seminar conferences, my children in Bangladesh are in crisis of life. As a teacher, I am worried about the image of the country that has surfaced in the social media and mass media today. All educational institutions, including universities, are closed with far-reaching effects. This shutdown will create session congestion. Also this movement and current events will create permanent scars in the education field. I think it will be impossible in many cases to overcome the deterioration of the mental health of both teachers and students."
ZH