Letters
Admission Trade
Nowadays, children have to fight to get admission into most schools offering primary education. Parents and children prepare for these days for days at a stretch and spend a lot of money buying admission forms and paying for the tests. However, the schools in question are not always fair when grading these test papers. In most schools, the applicants do not even get to see their test results and are simply informed that they either passed or failed. Most renowned schools operate this way. Recently, parents have started to suspect foul play. They request to see their child's results but are often denied this request. Some parents have even petitioned to have the results published for everyone to see and in some cases even view the test scripts, but this too, has been denied. The schools announced that their policy does not permit them to do so. But what kind of policy is this? If the children who study at these schools are allowed to view their scripts and results, then why not these applicants who spend time and money to sit for these exams. How does this make sense? One might suspect that the schools do this to make some extra cash, which is pure exploitation. The government must take steps to ensure that people's rights are protected and take steps to supervise the admission process in these schools.
Md Abu Bakar Siddique
Jagannath University, Dhaka
The Flower Trade
 |
Photo: Star file |
It's true that we import more products than we export but at the same time the number of new export items is also increasing with time. These days, fertiliser, jute, ready-made garments, fish, etc are not the only export items that we offer the world. Flowers, handicrafts, etc. are also sent to foreign markets and are highly in demand. Simply put, if we think about the importance of the flower business our country can easily earn a lot of foreign currency through exporting these products.
If private organisations and the government invest in the flower business, we can earn a lot of foreign currency in the European or the ASEAN markets, where these products are high in demand. Currently only 1.2 percent of exported products go to the ASEAN region, so it is important to add new products with the existing ones.
Subrata Ray
SUST, Sylhet
Dhaka City
 |
Photo: Star file |
Dhaka is one of the biggest as well as one of the most over populated cities in the world. This city is more polluted than Mexico. The population of Dhaka City has increased drastically and the city is barely able to hold its populace. As a result, environment pollution, traffic jam, craziness, has already gone beyond the limits of tolerance. The rural population and job hunters are migrating to find jobs, shelter and better facilities. As many people fail to find what they are searching for, they are deviating from their goals and engaging in illegal activities to survive. Apart from this, the citizens of Dhaka are tired and weary because they are plagued by all kinds of problems.
Day by day, the situation is going from bad to worse. Under these circumstances, the government will have to take appropriate steps in order to bring healthy environment in Dhaka City.
In my opinion, it will be better for the government to transfer some offices, organisations and institutions situated here to other places outside the city and ensure proper facilities in every district so that citizens have space to breathe and the city is relieved of it's current overloaded population.
Mohammed Jamal Uddin
via email
Smoking
We, the Bangladeshi youth, are very interested in mysterious and pragmatic issues. Most of us have been raised in strict suffocating environments and tend to defy our parents, even if it is behind their backs. Take smoking for example. Most Bangladeshi boys and even girls nowadays start smoking from a very young age. They think it is cool. They enjoy hiding this from their parents and discover ways to do it so they won't be caught. What we don't realise is that smoking is extremely harmful. It may give us a cool image but it is unhealthy not only for the smoker but also for those around them. Cigarettes are also extremely addictive. Many places all over the world have banned cigarettes. We must think about the pros and cons of this and make a decision. Recently, a US chemical research company has found that a smoker's body is negatively affected within 15 to 30 minutes of smoking a cigarette. In addition, they have found that most smokers die before they reach the age of 60 and suffer from many physical disabilities. I believe smoking should be banned everywhere and the government should make the right decision in this matter.
JK
SUST, Sylhet
Education
I am not writing this to spark up a debate on our newly proposed and to be implemented education policy, rather to look at the recently introduced JSC system, which provides scholarships to students who excel in these exams, and are branded as hidden talents. Although a nagging question remains in my mind as to how these students are up to the mark on an international standard. Given the quality of our education assessment system, where memorising gets priority the chance to explore, nurture and flourish new ideas, learning topics in an interactive way are aspects our policyma-kers are yet to take into account. It is a common trend to memorise notes, essays and all the details you can find in the textbook or give away your laboratory notebook to a professional artist who will draw all the diagrams you were supposed to draw eliminating creative thinking, helping graduates who barely studied, pass with top marks using the “magical” power of cramming. I hope the concerned authorities, instead of taking pride in our 93 percent graduation rate, will undertake a massive overhaul of our education system, otherwise we are going to lag behind further in our dream of becoming a developed nation.
Shetu
RPATC, Rajshahi
Submission Guideline:
Letters to the Editor, Star Diary and Write to Mita, with the writer's name and address, should be within 200 words. All articles should be within 1,200 words. A cover letter is not necessary, but every write-up should include the writer's name, phone number and email address (if any). While The Star welcomes unsolicited articles and photographs, it cannot accept the responsibility of their loss or damage. The Star does not return unsolicited articles and photos. Response time for unsolicited write-ups ranges from three weeks to two months. All articles submitted are subject to editing for reasons of space and clarity.
All materials should be sent to: The Star magazine, 64-65, Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue, Dhaka-1215, Fax: 880-2-8125155 or emailed to: <thestarmagazine@gmail.com>
It is recommended that those submitting work for the first time to The Star take a look at a sample copy beforehand. Our website is: http://www.thedailystar.net/magazine
Copyright (R) thedailystar.net 2010
