Education Cadre Frustration Over The Status

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Masum Billah :
Chairman of the Public Service Commission Md. Sohrab Hossain recently commented that `education service’ need to be introduced instead of currently run `education cadre’ setting example of Judicial Service which he says does not see any frustration as education cadre officials clamour for. He also set examples of the university where teachers enjoy promotion after a certain time; of course, they need academic publications to prove their worth. The current problems prevailing in education sector may disappear if such kind of system can be introduced in education cadre. He continued saying that the facilities and significance of a job are determined by the stretch and kind of its work. That must see differences among the cadres.
In a district the significant departments may have high officials of deputy secretary/joint secretary level of their own who will report to the respective directorates and ministries. If it is necessary to coordinate all the district level activities, one senior official of any cadre can shoulder that responsibility. The current practice seems that the engineers, doctors, teachers, agriculturists cannot run the administration. If the coordination of all the departments calls for a special skill, official of any cadre can gain that skill by participating administrative training at PATC . The doctors, engineers and agriculturists prove their worth and merit while getting admission in their specialized institutions. The above proposal may narrow the gaps and dissatisfaction currently prevailing among different cadres. That the nature and way of work differs from profession to profession and cadre to cadre stands as a universal fact. The work of a police must be different from that of a teacher. Similarly, the work of an agriculturist proves different from an engineer. However, a balance must be maintained among all the departments, sections and cadres to minimize the problems and inequalities lying among them.
In our civil education system administrative positions in the DSHE, NCTB, Education Boards and NAEM are manned by cadre teachers. Sometimes, it is heard that these positions would be occupied by the administration cadre officials which must be an uncouth and unscientific decision. Bureaucrats plan to implement such kind decision that never sounds healthy.  
It is learnt that we had only 17 government colleges and they did not wear the colour of cadre service. Around the year 1980 and 82 one boys’ and one women’s college in sub-divisions were nationalized. The current government has taken the nationalization process upto Upazilla level that tells us a further positive step and the promotion of college teachers began during the region of BNP. All these talk about gradual development in the field of education. We came to learn from the teachers of these seventeen government colleges enjoyed equal salary status like university teachers. We learn and see from time to time that several cadres such as foreign, administration, police, and customs enjoy some special facilities dwarfing other cadres. It allures government college teachers to resort to lobbying for occupying the administrative positions in the available avenues of education to enjoy some special facilities that simple teaching cannot afford. They lobby to occupy chairs in the NCTB, DSHE, NAEM, Education Boards, BANBEIS and those who once occupy these places don’t want to go back to their previous positions depriving the new ones. It appears as interesting that a group of government college teachers stand against the expansion process of nationalization of educational institutions in the district and upazial level. It surprises us as they don’t think if the expansion did not happen it would not have been a big cadre service.
The British introduced ‘civil service, in the sub-continent to rule the people of alien culture and how to derive benefit from it. To reach these objectives, they introduced such kind of system as proves the civil servants’ supremacy over the natives. Should we retain the same spirit in the independent Bangladesh? Our administration should be people orientated, time befitting and most suitable for the country to go ahead and not to show supremacy over other cadres or section of population. The secretary of the Ministry of Health and Family Planning must be a doctor and preferably a teacher doctor as he/she knows the ins and outs of that sector. The current practice bars the doctors to occupy the highest position of the ministry insinuating that they don’t realize administration. Similarly, teachers cannot become secretary and additional secretary hinting the same formula as happens to doctors. Now is the time to bring about changes here. Administration does not mean to be a ‘rocket science’ which must not be realized by the teachers, doctors, agriculturist and engineers.

(Mr. Billah works for BRAC Education and President- English Teachers’ Association of Bangaldesh. Emal: [email protected])

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