‘The absence of industry-academia collaboration is a major weakness in our education system today’

TBS: You have spent decades in DU. First as a student, then a teacher. What changes do you find most remarkable from your days as a student and today as the UGC chairman? 
 
Prof Shahidullah: We were more vibrant. The environment was more interactive. In our time, we spent a lot of time in various activities, sports for example. 
 
Besides cricket, and football, we used to play basketball and tennis regularly, there used to be inter-departmental competitions. There were numerous other opportunities back then which are on the decline now. 
 
The usage of the library back then was not PSC-centric like today. 
 
However, in our time, around 80% of the students were boys. The interaction among the boys and girls were not as open as today.
 
Now the university has an equal share of girls. Today at DU, the participation of women, both as teachers and students, is equal. 
 
In our time, we would take subsidiary classes. For example, a history student would take economics as a subsidiary. It would broaden the scope of interaction. Today, it does not exist anymore.
 
Too much politics is damaging DU, such headlines are everywhere. But the university is also credited for its role in the great political upheavals of Bangladesh. What is your observation of these two narratives? 
 
I was a student of this university during the Pakistani period. During our time, expression of dissent and protest was possible either on student platforms or through the labour unions. 
 
Whenever a moment came in the history of Bangladesh to take a stance for freedom, it was always the University of Dhaka that initiated the movement. 
 
After the independence of Bangladesh, however, the labour groups lost their motivation of dissent with the entrance of capitalist practice in business. 
 
But only a place where you can still dissent with a degree of security is our campus. Even today, whenever a crisis is there, people ask why are Dhaka University students not doing anything. 
 
Let me remind you what happened during 1/11. People looked up to the Dhaka University students and teachers to do something about the undemocratic regime, and they (DU students and teachers) did lead from the front. 
 
All these aside, however, we are feeling the impact of the over-politicisation today, which is in turn badly impacting the quality of education. 
 
Today we notice certain changes in the role of the students. In the past, the students would not prioritise their personal cause over their political causes; they would not strive for unfair privileges as today. 
 
It is actually not only about the students. It is a general reflection of the whole political establishment of the nation. 
 
In its 100 years, was there ever a period when DU played a strong role in producing international standard academic research? Why has research been consistently ignored at the country's premier university?
 
We have lost the tendency of serious research. In the past, we did not play the number game. 
 
Today, our younger colleagues are tied up to the number game. Now the culture is to get promotion based on the quantity of your research. 
 
Suppose you get a promotion for four research works in four years. So what you do is, after idling for three years, you get those 'researches' done in a hurry in the fourth year. 
 
Perhaps you got one of the articles published and others accepted, we all understand you did so through exerting influence or personal connection. 
 
In reality, if you are a quality scholar, you do not need a 100 publications, only 10 quality articles are enough.  
 
This tendency in Dhaka University began after it went through the 'restructuring formula' for the promotion of teachers in the late 1980s.  
 
Conditions were set based on the number of yearly publications of teachers. 
 
Theoretically speaking, these were very strong conditions if you fulfilled them seriously. But unfortunately, we are human, and our human tendency says that if we can do it in shortcut, why not take it? You would perhaps take eight years to do four research works in the past, now you do it in three years. 
 
So, it is bound the affect your quality. And that is exactly what has happened. It is not like no one is doing serious researches, but by and large, many seek the shortcut route to promotion. 
 
As a result, you will find many young people in high ranking positions today which was impossible in the past. 
 
With impressive economic progress, Bangladesh is about to become a middle-income country. Do you feel DU is providing the right sort of education and preparing students adequately for the new job market? 

This is a new way of looking at our university education. We started to break away from our traditional system ever since the semester system was launched. 

We did not have an industrial commercial base in the past. So, we took pride in traditional education, in the creation of knowledge, and strengthening the general foundations of our students so that they get to work in any field. That was the requirement of the time. 

However, the scenario has begun to change in the last two decades. Now we are progressing into a middle-income country and we are hoping to progress one more step by 2041.  

Our business sector today is energised thanks to a booming garments sector. Beginning with garments, we are progressing in pharmaceuticals, leather, technology, etc.  

So, I think it is time to rethink our syllabuses. We have to seriously consider modernising our curriculum in line with today's market demand. 

Our students must graduate with skills necessary to meet the demands of our industry/business sector. The absence of industry-academia collaboration is a major weakness in our education system today. 

Since our industry did not grow that much in the past, neither they (industry leaders) thought about it, nor us. Rather we (academics) maintained a sort of distance from the industry.  

Now we expect more industry-academia collaboration. In the next 10 years, you will find major recasting of the public university curriculum. 

Do you feel a sort of negligence and absence of accountability out there? If so, what can be done to improve the general level of accountability at the institution?
 
There was a culture of negligence. But after the semester system was launched, the situation improved. But still, I would say the teacher-student interaction that we had in our time has not returned. 

Our teachers would know us personally. Our teachers, be at department picnic, stadium, cultural programme, or in a class, whenever we reached out for help, they always helped us. 

But today a common knowledge is that the teachers do not have much time for the students. 

Do you think private universities can replace DU in near future as the premier academic institution in the country?

You used the word 'near future' in your question. I do not think that is going to happen. But in the long run, I do not know. 

We have to understand even though some private universities are functioning well, their trustee boards could not yet get rid of their business mentality. Their business mentality has to go if they want to come close to the University of Dhaka. 

Speaking of business mentality, what about the evening courses of Dhaka University?

Yes, they do have evening courses. And you know I tried to clamp down on that. It is not desirable to take courses irresponsibly. 
It was reaching an irresponsible and unacceptable level where all the departments were trying to do evening classes for extra income. This was affecting the academic environment. 

Now if the same teacher teaches both in the morning and evening, where would s/he focus more – her/his regular students or those who are paying her/him extra money? Personally, I am not in favour of the commercialisation of education.