On research
My attention has been drawn to a news item in The Daily Star (March 11, "Findings of researchers can be used in formulating policies").
According to the report, Professor AKM Nurun Nabi of the University of Dhaka has urged "...formulating policies and devising strategies, and thus giving the researchers due credit" at a programme to mark the "Research Day."
There is no denying what the Professor said, however, the point is the research also needs to be contemporary, innovative and practical given the problem in hand. A professional researcher is also responsible to carry on a worthy research.
Unfortunately, the policies and strategies that are designed and implemented in Bangladesh in most of the cases lack appropriate ground works and researches. That is why those ultimately fail and lose relevancy, and could not bring any benefit for the nation.
Our politicians, bureaucrats and policy makers hardy rely on researches for their works. As a nation, we are lacking in this regard. This is true from the agriculture to the judiciary.
There are no centres of excellence or think tanks on various branches of knowledge, which could guide the nation on which we could rely on. Only the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) or Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) can't solve the all problems of the nation. There are other issues and areas of work beyond theirs.
In recent times, a few organizations are emerging (mostly initiated by university professors out of their own institutions, or retired bureaucrats and military officers). However, those have their own limitations, sometimes vested interest. Nonetheless, the trend is good.
The primary aim of ideal higher education is to equip one to do analysis, research and writing of a topic or subject matter with innovations and thus contribute to new knowledge. The research findings also need to be disseminated in the form of publication in the relevant journals of other forms of communication as early as possible.
Given the situation in Bangladesh, our higher education system (at the graduated and post-graduate level) is still relying on a faulty structure and practice which wants students to memorize s and bring them back in the answer scripts (those who don't go for other means). The skill of students is determined how one is effective in reproducing things without one's own analysis and judgements. That is why those individuals find them helpless in real life situations beyond classes.
Very few disciplines, have comprehensive and effective courses built in their curriculum on enhancing students' analytical and writing skills.
It is high time to think about our education system in Bangladesh which needs through overhauling. It should be practical, innovative, interesting and relevant to our national and global needs.
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