Bangladesh’s education system lacks real learning, says Farhad Mazhar

Writer and columnist Farhad Mazhar has said Bangladesh education system is hollow, leaving “no real learning” for students.

At a discussion in Dhaka University’s Teacher-Student Centre (TSC) on Saturday, he criticised the absence of research into the 1969 mass uprising, which paved the way for the Liberation War, and the 1990 movement that forced an end to military rule. 

He said young people leave university without understanding what a mass uprising means.

Mazhar recalled the Aug 5 mass uprising, calling it “a global event” and noting that in a neo-liberal economy, governments have rarely been overthrown in this way. 

“It is comparable with the French Revolution. Yet students remain unaware or fail to grasp its significance. It is still only an emotional matter for them,” he said.

He contrasted the independence of Dhaka University in 1971 with its present state. 

“In 1969, police could not enter the campus. As a statutory institution, it had its own security force, and no external power could intervene. Today anyone can enter. The independence of the university is gone,” Mazhar said.

The event, titled “Education, Research and Politics: Upcoming DUCSU Election”, was organised by the think-tank group Bhabboithoki.

Mazhar also recalled Dhaka University’s earlier global standing. “Physicist Satyen Bose, who once corrected Einstein’s formula, taught here. The history and economics departments were once world-class. 

“But now, students prefer MBA courses over political economy. MBA means selling yourself to companies.”

He urged young people to unite across political lines. “We protested together without representing any political party. To resist constitutional counter-revolution, young people from left, right, and Islamist groups must come together,” he added.