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A Comparative Review of Present and past of students and parents in rural and urban areas

A Comparative Review of Present and past of students and parents in rural and urban areas

Md Zillur Rahman Tuhin

There is hardly any person who has not listened to Madanmohan Tarkalanka Mahashay's rhyme as a child. The rhyme is like this:

"Birds all roost at night

Kanne Kusumkali all bloomed

The shepherd takes the herd of cows to the field

Children pay attention to their lessons”.

There is a reason for quoting only four lines of rhyme. In its third and fourth lines we see a picture of disparity emerging. Here we get the introduction of two types of children.

A group of children are going to graze the field with a herd of cows as night falls. After spending the whole day in the fields with the herd of cows, the hungry cowboys are coming back. Another group of children at home are simultaneously memorizing their lessons, making the house buzz with reading joy. But their life is developing in a certain pattern.

After crossing the primary stage, children of this class are going to secondary school and are gradually going through different levels of education in search of a better life.

On the other hand, shepherd boys or children of that class allow themselves to be used as helpers in the work of their parents. This class of parents think or act that they have no right to get or receive education and that it is only for the rich people. Therefore, at one time it was seen that the children of barojebi are barojebi, the children of farmers are farmers, thus they are keeping themselves busy in their father's profession.

Basically, the opportunity to receive education then did not become a universal or "for all" as like the present. If you look at the picture before and after independence, it can be seen that there were no educational institutions in the village before independence.

In the village Pathshala Maktab or hardly a primary school could be seen. There was just as much a student crisis as there was a teacher crisis. Besides, the lack of educational materials was also evident. In those days, textbooks were not available. At the secondary level, the enrollment picture became even more dire.

Because of the lack of educational institutions of that class, in some villages no institution was established at the secondary level at that time. Only a handful of villages (throughout the country) had those types of schools established by the zamindars, and it was not even heard that the children of the Zamindars and sahibs studied much.

However, those who have money, wealth and so-called gentlemen in the society used to send their children to school and all these parents thought that there is no developed nation without education.And the educated represent the society. Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman took a landmark step of nationalizing primary schools after independence.

As a result, an opportunity has been created for all to pass at least the primary level of education free of charge. At this level of primary education as education for all, one thing was observed that, The children and parents of the people of the region whose profession is to collect prawns are busy in collecting prawns.

Because if he goes to school, he won't get any money, but he will get some money by engaging in this work. Again, in the greater Faridpur region and in many paddy-growing regions, a class of people used to earn a living by doing the work, and their children, along with their guardians, found an opportunity to earn an income.

They were patronized by parents considering it a supplementary source of income. There is only one reason why they don't go to school. Therefore, in many cases it was not possible for the students of this class to pass the Secondary level.

At one time, the children of people of this class of profession were working as a supporter of the parents' income. Even if the parents are not educated, they are able to understand the meaning of education. As a result, he sends his child to school himself.

Besides, the government's patronage is smoothing the way for children of all classes to get education. Now on the first day of the year, the textbooks are reaching the hands of all the students of primary and secondary level.
Once upon a time, lack of money to buy books also hindered education. This is not the case now or ever.

On the contrary, in the rural towns, the attractive primary and secondary schools, well-equipped campuses and other support including the guarantee of receiving stipend money have become helpful for the education of all classes of children. As a result, disinterest in education is not observed as compare to the past.

The picture in the city is different then and now. At that time parents in the city were conscious about the education of their children. As all these parents belong to the elite class, they give their children the opportunity to study in good educational institutions.

At that time, as various educational institutions were established in the civil society or in the city, most of the children were school-oriented. Especially the dream that was cherished in the heart of the parents, many of them tried to realize that dream through their children.

As a result, all those students would have a tendency to engage in a competition. Due to the fact that students from different areas come to study in the city, there is a huge competition in the field of education. Due to the competition among the good students, the exam results are good and the students can also move towards the realization of their dreams.

Some of the elite class children come again at this time to enroll their children in English medium schools. Before coming to this topic basically: In the cities of those days the trend of education and higher education among the children of ordinary parents was quite noticeable.

As I said earlier, parents who were not able to realize the dream (cherished in the heart) could not be seen in parents to make that dream a reality through the child. As a result, doctors, engineers, university teachers and other professional officials emerged from the students of the city even then.

The first English medium educational institution in this country was established in 1977. The main aim of the institution was to educate students in English education so that they can learn the international language well and use it in later life.

It is not in the sense that Bengali and English conflict. In other words, there is a tendency not to speak Bengali (Inspite of being a Bengali) among those who teach or study in English medium education or those types of institutions. They are gaining a kind of complacency by considering being able to speak English fluently as an individual merit. Lately one thing is particularly noticeable in the city and that is the commercialization of education.

This demonetisation is in two ways an educational institution with a huge barrage of ancillary costs including admission fees and tuition fees which are turning the institution away from its noble mission of education into a commercial institution. On the other hand, coaching is a business. Education is now commoditized by these two types of commercial travel. This is like buying education from the market with a price.

The great philosopher Socrates said in the definition of education “the disintegration of falsehood and the development of truth by bringing out the inner potential” i.e. education in the overall sense is a process of acquiring systematic knowledge which continues the full expression of the developed personality and human sense. Students in the city now do not accept these great sayings of great men as ideals.

A scientist like Jamal Nazrul Islam (who was a friend of world renowned scientist Stephen Hawking, Richard Fein, Mann, as an astrophysicist and physicist who was revered by Stephen Hawking) is not being produced. Because in the city of this time, students are not coming to science education. Now they are not so much coming to business education in terms of secondary education. Now they are preferring business education in higher education. BBA rather than doctor engineer. Becoming a corporate officer by doing MBA and assurance of higher pay (not related to government pay scale) has become their norm. So “Good Speech is now in exile”.

Actually, education has now become more about money and financial affluence than the development of knowledge, culture and free-spiritedness. A student starts thinking about his future workplace right at the beginning of his education.

That is, higher education then becomes a source of 'certificate' for earning higher salaries, losing its original purpose. Parents also want exchange. Parents view spending money on a child's education as an investment rather than an expense.

As a result, students are trying to get jobs in corporate jobs or commercial organizations (banks, insurance, other financial institutions) at the end of their education. Only the future can tell where this unequal competition will lead the next generation.

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