La Semaine Dernière A Mes Yeux

Selon un reportage, 1972 Bangladais dont 850 en Arabie saoudite ont été péris par Covid-19 aux pays étrangers.

Selon un reportage, un prof en retraite a été massacré dans sa chambre à Narail le vendredi.

Selon un reportage, un tueur présumé a été massacré dans un temple hindou à Bogura.

Selon un reportage, le sénat américain a conseillé le président américain d'imposer restriction sur les dirigeants supérieurs de la force élite bangladaise, RAB, pour avoir tué extrajudiciairement 400 Bangladais depuis 2015.

Selon un reportage, la Banque centrale de Bangladesh a donné son aval sur versement de l'argent parmi les opérateurs de service financier par portable. Le service de l'interopérabilité a commencé depuis mardi.

Selon un reportage, l'organisation internationale des droits de l'homme , HRW, dans un rapport s'est dit que les femmes torturées au Bangladesh n'pas assez lieu d'asile dans le pays. Il y avait 7 augmentation de violence contre les femmes pendant confinement. 255 femmes ont été tuées par leurs maris ou proches de mari. Il y avait seulement 36 logements d'asile dont 15 opérés par les ONGs.

Selon un reportage, le gouvernement a prolongé fermeture des écoles jusqu'au 14 novembre à cause de Covid-19.

Future Of Learning

At one fell swoop govt cancelled school exam.
Many fear students will be subject to harm.
Learn-apply-evaluate will be future of learning.
Ability to apply should reflect in its meaning.

In one of the rarest moves in country's history, Bangladesh decided not to take the year-end exams in the secondary and primary schools. It has been taken in a bid to contain the spread of COVID-19. The decision has met mixed reactions across the society. More or less 238,00,000 students are pursuing education at primary and secondary schools in Bangladesh. (Source: Wikipedia)

This promotion without exam, aka autopromotion, starts debate about evaluation of learning that was severely hampered by COVID-19. Ministry of Education came up with an idea that revolves around assignment based on a 30-day syllabus on relevant subjects. The assignment will be sent to the parents and the student will prepare it. Based on the assignment, his or her learning will be measured. This particular decision has put the autopromoted students in somewhat awkward position compared to students who were promoted through exams in past years.

Government had earlier cancelled nation wide exams at elementary, secondary and post-secondary level showing Corona virus as cause. There has however been policy discrimination. For instance, government did not bar holding "O" level exams and continuing activities of religious seminaries. Students of these streams of education are no less susceptible to COVID-19. Perhaps the sheer size of the secondary school students made the government nervous as the effective vaccine for COVID-19 is still not on the surface.

Exam is considered a measure of progress made by a student in this part of the world. This particular decision put the auto promoted students in somewhat awkward position compared to other students whose promotion to next class was based on exams in previous years.

Government should take cue from"O" level education system. Secondary school students who will be autopromoted will be given chances to sit for exam as soon as COVID-19 situation improves. If the exam score is higher than the assignment score than it will be kept, or else the assignment score will be retained.

Since it is not known when the COVID-19 will be fully defeated, indefinite closure of schools is untenable. Small batches of classes in several shifts could be seen as an alternative. But to implement it, teachers have to be duly compensated ( for extra classes) and new temporary teachers need to be recruited (to reduce strain on existing teachers).

One prerequisite should be to allocate part of the school resources available for COVID-19 treatment. And senior students should be trained to treat Corona virus patients. This step will reduce pressure on hospitals if situation turns worst.

One of the great things to notice is that COVID-19 led the government to take resort to audiovisual media in a bid to broadcast educational content.Private television stations also stepped forward to take part in this initiative. At the same time, government should keep in mind that a good number of households do not have access to television and resources to buy digital gadgets. Government should address this problem by providing subsidized television sets, other digital gadgets and equipping the class rooms in villages in a bid to bridge the digital gap.

There will be sea of changes in future learning. COVID-19 starts the process in that end. In the post pandemic world the changes will be more conspicuous. I think we will be back to old days when one teacher groomed one or small batches of students surrounded by stocks of learning tools. Like those old days, certified teachers will teach small batches of students depending heavily on repository of digital learning tools and library. Apprentice kind of learning will be prevalent. A kind of learn-apply-evaluate like sequence will be widely followed.

Two examples are presented to illustrate the point. First one from my elementary school days. Back then government primary schools used to have huge empty land behind school premises. Vegetables were grown on the land by students. In one winter noon, teachers and students picnicked at the school premise and consumed those vegetables in the lunch. Students knew how to prepare the land, what it takes to grow vegetables, how to take care of the plants, different stages of plants and benefits of eating vegetables. Students learned it, applied it and experienced (evaluated) their outcome. Based on past experiences, they might grow vegetables more efficiently.

Second one from a movie called "The Matrix". In that movie, the protagonist has to learn marshal art to deal with an evil program in the cyber world. He has no idea of marshal art. His mentors pass a program that includes all the steps of marshal art into his brain. He trains himself in the virtual world to get along well with the new knowledge and faces the formidable foe with greater ease.

I am not expecting such radical change in the process of learning in the future. But virtual learning environment will help students learning and perfecting new knowledge in short span of time. Complex surgery will be much more easier as such simulation will be created as many times as possible in virtual reality. Simulation based learning will be child's play. Simulation can teach us horror of neglecting climate change and dodging taxes in the class room.We do not have to wait for a Hollywood blockbuster to underscore importance of tiny things in our lives.

We should measure the progress in learning by a pupil's ability to apply it. If exam reflects it, then there is no problem with exam. But exam should not be the only mean to gauge it. Many students pass the English exam in their year-end exam or school certificate exam. It is assumed that they are capable of making basic conversation in English with their workable knowledge in English. Is it really the case? Ability to apply the acquired knowledge should be the yardstick to measure progress in learning.

La Semaine Dernière A Mes Yeux

( 14 octobre --- 21 octobre)

Selon un reportage, la douane bangladaise a saisi 39.000 pilules d' amphétamine à expédier vers l'Arabie saoudite depuis l'aéroport de Dacca.

Selon un reportage, Bangladesh a fait bien dans l'indice de faim. Bangladesh est placé 75ème parmi 107 pays en 2020. L'année dernière Bangladesh a été placé 88ème parmi 117 pays.

Selon un reportage, une enquête faite par le bureau de statistiques du gouvernement de Bangladesh a divulgué que Patuakhali était la ville le plus pauvre au Bangladesh. D'après l'enquête, Borishal est classé la région plus pauvre où 41,2% de familles pauvres habitent.

Selon un reportage, un dirigeant de la filiale d'un groupe indigène a été tué par balles à Rangamati, une ville qui connait une série de tuerie récemment.

Selon un reportage, une étude faite par Columbia University et Health Effect Institute, est classé Bangladesh 2ème parmi le pays où l'air est très polluée.

Alter Education, Alter Society

Shattering cries led the government to amend the laws.
Could it remove the existing structural flaws?
Except the education model allowed the Norwegian companies in.
Government should search the answer if it is really keen.
Education on reproductive health and social credit score
May curb rape and alter the society to the core.

In an unprecedented scale, manifestations against rape, fuelled by women of all walks of life, gripped the country. Air is thick with cries demanding capital punishment of the rapists and an end to rape. So strong was the cry, the cabinet nodded to raise the ceiling of capital punishment for rape to death. Some even consider to amend the definition of rape in the law.

Skeptics have already put a question mark about its effectiveness. In a country where vulnerable groups, religious minorities are being persecuted continuously, where flawed education system does not make good citizens to make aware the rights of others and duties to the nation and society, it will be naïve to think amended law is a magic bullet to end rape.

In recent years, our education system regressed back to a period that is comparable to dark ages. Our syllabus was updated by dropping poems and essays written by authors belonging to different faiths. Pythons were further endangered in our alphabet book and even replaced by rituals pretty common in dominant faith group. Reproductive health is never discussed in schools. In fact, in university and colleges it is slightly discussed and never talked about at great length.

We allowed a Norwegian brand to dominate our cellular phone market but never tried to emulate successful reproductive health education system found in Norway. The country is considered a pioneer in this domain. Country's education ministry runs an educational program titled "Newton" on its national channel to create awareness on reproductive health issues among school students.

But here we face increasing difficulty to talk about such topic. An online educational content platform once broadcast one or two clips of menstruation but it later took down the contents after facing stiff resistance from a fanatic group.

In Canadian universities, students' association or individual student often receives free packages of toys used for orientation towards reproductive activity. These toys are pretty common and help a lot to check the reproductive behavior. Such toys are still seen as taboos in our society.

Back in December last year, I read an investigative report on the Dhaka Tribune on underaged sex workers of Bangladesh. Many of them were sold to brothels at an age when they even do not know what intercourse is. Many clients in Daulatdia brothel told the reporter they prefered to start their day with such activity and went the brothel couple of times in a week. If there were toys in our society, we might restrain the demand-supply mechanism and curb the number of sex workers.

Lowering the marrying age of women and drying up of the stipend program for female education are the two serious errors the government made in its tenure.

Just to inflate its popular vote bank , its erroneous decisions in the long run seriously harmed the society and the nation.

Political leadership at times nerds to be bold it is a pity that power grabbing generals introduced contraceptive and family planning in this society. No political leadership dared to take such bold decisions in such a regressed society like ours.

Prof Humayun Azad, academic and linguist, aptly captures Bengalis' reproductive life in one of his writings:

Reproductive life of the Bengalis is a big taboo. Seldom is known and written about that life. That life is banned and shrouded in mystery. As if any discussion about it were a serious transgression. It is an indication that life is dirty, polluted, full of sins, unnatural and devoid of orgasm. Bengalis are very keen in sex; every male is a Casanova, but their demand remains unmet. So their reproductive life is full of perversions. Adolescents engage in pervasive acts, youth stays sex starved, so does the grown-up and aged people. Most Bengalis take great pleasure in talking about reproductive life and spread rumors about others' reproductive life; this life occupies a great part of the discussion of the grown-up. They are sophisticated imposter; when you inquire them about sex they play ignorant as if they never heard of it and never knew anything about it. This is the pervasive part of Bengalis' reproductive life. Bengali children never get any education about it; they do not know about their reproductive organs; they do not know their use. They indirectly face some religious and social obstacles. These obstacles are unscientific. Bengalis' reproductive life is devoid of science and art. It is imbued with cruelty. Bengalis spend their youth with unmet demand, which results in perversion. Rape is a vernacular incident in Bengal, the Bengalis could be aptly described as racist race. And the reason lies in the absence of a healthy reproductive life.In the West, at the age when young men and women get closer and indulge in knowing each other, Bengalis spend that age in agony. Bengalis' youth is a complete failure, full of agony. Sane men never rape, sick men cannot help raping. Extra-marital life of the Bengalis is pretty wide, they are constantly in search of chances; but their married reproductive life is the sole area to meet the physical demand.Are the Bengalis satisfied in this life? No survey can be found in this regard; no discussion can be heard. Bengalis in this life remain unsatisfied and deeply unhappy. In the act of reproduction, Bengali male is the active participant; the female remains passive. The male only thinks of temporary pleasure and nothing else; he does not know that the partner also wants the pleasure; he never tries to know that.Bengali male and female never reach orgasm. They have no idea of orgasm. Most Bengalis lack the healthy and trouble-free ambiance to get orgasm. So instead of getting inspired, Bengalis quickly draw conclusion: it is the briefest task of their life though it is perhaps the greatest and important task of their life. Dissatisfaction they draw from this life surrounds their entire life, makes them sick. The sickness results in sudden desire. Whenever the Bengalis encounter a woman, they think of her an object of sex. They copulate with her in their minds. Such a sick race in reproductive life cannot become successful in other parts of their life. (Source: The Bengalis: A Sick Race? by Humayun Azad)

Prof Azad, who was attacked in the Ekushey Book Fair with machete in 2005 at the same spot where a blogger was killed in 2015, bluntly decoded the problem of our reproductive life in harsh language.

Since the source of the problem is known, government should take bold steps to address it. At the individual level, altering our education system is a good option to fight rape. At the aggregate level, some new concepts could be introduced in the society so that a reward and punishment mechanism being followed for individual conduct.

Social credit score, introduced in China, could seriously be thought an alternative for gauging good conducts, otherwise not reflected in social status or education or wealth, of citizens interested to avail some public goods and services or to engage in other aspects of life.

Frequent transgression could be reflected in poor social credit score and the individual will be barred from getting desired public goods and services. This in turn makes one more conscious about his social credit score and improves his public behavior and interaction.

A person who has less carbon footprint, less dependence on gov't money,less harassment record can possess high social credit score than a rich individual and that high social credit score could place him ahead of that rich individual in availing public goods and services.

So when a citizen sees his social credit score secures him some position in the society and at the national level, he should mobilize more effort to care about others, nature and cultivate good manners.

Right kind of education that incorporates education on reproductive life starting from the elementary level of schooling could churn out more sane and sensible individuals. Introduction of social credit score, on the other hand, nudges a society to embrace the right kind of conduct and reduce the incidence of social maladies.

La Semaine Dernière A Mes Yeux

(07 octobre --- 14 octobre)

Selon un reportage, des ouvriers bangladais qui travaillaient en Italie et au Qarar se sont manifestés devant les ambassades de ces pays à Dacca. Comme les deux pays ont interdit les ouvriers qui passent vacances dans leurs pays d'origine à cause de Covid-19, ils se sont retrouvés coincés au Bangladesh.

Selon un reportage, le conseil des ministres a donné son aval à la proposition de la peine de mort contre viol après une série de manifestations contre viol a bouleversé le pays.

Selon un reportage, une fusillade à Naniarchar , Rangamati a laissé morts deux membres d'un groupe indigène. L'armée de la terre s'est dite que son équipe était tombée dans une embuscade et elle avait répliqué avec fusillade.

Selon un reportage, Bangladesh est classé le neuvième parmi les pays sinistrés par un rapport baptisé «The Humain Cost Of Disaster: An Overview Of The Last Twenty Years 2000-2019». Le bureau de sinistre de l'ONU et CRED qui se situe en Belge ont fait le rapport.

Selon un reportage, un auto rickshawwallah, conducteur de rickshaw motorisé, est mort bizarrement dans l'état d'arrestation à la gendarmerie de Nawabpur. Ses proches soupçonnent il a été tué pendant interpellation. Police l'a appréhendé pour interroger son lien dans une tuerie. Police leur a dit qu'il s'est suicidé.

Selon un reportage, un tribunal de cybercriminalité a condamné une personne minoritaire à sept ans de prison pour avoir publié commentaire diffamatoire contre le Prophète.

Could The Sunny Spell Last?

Fallen income of household
Does not reflect in real estate market.
Onion price crosses the threshold,
Though some time later onion perishes in perfect.
Riding on fallen import and remittances
Current account registered a surplus.
Despite the sunny spell of some indices,
Slashed growth forecast makes some nervous.

The scars of corona virus for the last six months are gradually surfacing. Despite government's confidence in economy, multilateral institutions heavily downsized their growth forecast for Bangladesh. Drastic measures of lockdown, appeared unsuccessful, pushed further a good chunk of the population down to abject poverty. Even some government statistical institution acknowledged deterioration of poverty rate in its latest estimation. A 10% increase in poverty rate has made the task of poverty alleviation a grueling one as more resources have to be mobilized in order to meet the expenses of wider safety net.

Price of the main staple is rising, adding further woes to the have-not communities. Unusual rain, frequent flooding cast shadow over paddy yield. Other grains' prices are somewhat showing similar upward trend. What is puzzling was the sudden rise of the price of onion. Much of the spike in onion price was attributable to Indian ban ahead of an important state election. But onion is not a quintessential ingredient and it cannot be stored for indefinite period. In fact, many of the specially arranged consignments that made their way into Bangladesh were full of rotten onions. Though onion price is stable now, it hovered around Tk 100/ kilo for several weeks. This same incident happened a year ago. Again an important Indian state election provoked a ban on onion export. I am a bit puzzled why one has to spend Tk100 or more to buy a kilo of onion.

In computer accessories market, the higher prices of hardware and gadgets prevail throughout the lockdown and postlockdown months. Prices of imported gadgets and laptop show no sign to stabilize. Unlike the computer gadget market, smart phone and feature phone market experienced a drastic cut in prices, responding in alignment with falling income of the consumers. Unlike computer market, value addition in mobile phone market reached 60-70%.

Real estate sector is another sector where flat price remains as it was before the pandemic. A report published in a popular daily divulged that small flat like 800-square-foot registered an increase in price over the years. I have not checked the price of small flat right now. Another point is that real estate sector is the sector where undocumented money is melted. No one from the government asks the owner about the source of the money.

So falling income and rising price mismatch tells the presence of unexplained things in our economy. Perhaps that is reasons why some are more optimistic about achieving six percent GDP growth rate next year.

Online shopping platforms also did well during the lockdown. However, meteoric rise of an upstart platform and its failure to deliver goods in time prompted central bank's investigation and freezing of its accounts. Unusual monthly sales arouse suspicion as the paid-up capital is so little and the owners maintained silence about company's promotion and true status. Though High Court granted bail to the company owners, many allege that it is another edition of Ponzi scheme and is meant to legalize undocumented money.

Current account balance registered surplus.But it is mostly due to fallen import payments and increased remittances. Fallen import payments indicate demand for Bangladeshi goods has fallen in overseas markets. And remittances channeled through banks are mostly savings and dues transferred by migrant workers who are returning permanently as claimed by migration experts and analysts. In addition, most of the remittances come through a bank where Middle-East based owners have stakes. In the past, specially when disaster strikes, we witnessed benevolent donors donated huge some of money to government so that macroeconomic stability maintains and forex market gets a positive signal. This is too a disaster-like situation. However, it is not know whether any wealthy donor remitted huge money this time.

Part of the workers' protest before the Sonargaon Hotel for a ticket to Saudi Arabia is a reminder that relations between the two countries turned sour in recent weeks. And if it is not thawed we may see more workers coming back to Bangladesh.

Invisible part of the economy and remittances herald a sunny spell. But it is not clear whether this spell is temporary or long.

La Semaine Dernière A Mes Yeux

(30 septembre --- 07 octobre)

Selon un reportage, Bangladesh est classé deuxième dans l'indice des pays de personne déplacée. Selon un autre reportage, 388 Bangladais qui voulaient parvenir les pays riches de l'Europe clandestinement se sont abrités dans les forêts en Bosnie-Herzégovine .

Selon un reportage, vidéo de déshabillage d'une femme par des gens au début de septembre à Noakhali a causé polémique et bouleversé la société. Police a appréhendé une personne.

Selon un reportage, pandémie de viol a provoqué manifestation à travers du pays. Le grand rassemblement a aura lieu à la place Shahbagh où les manifestants gauchistes ont demandé justice pour les victimes.La cour d'appel a ordonné la Police de se plancher sur déshabillage de la femme dont la vidéo est devenue virale.

Selon un reportage, un groupe indigène a donné une lettre de protestation à l'autorité de Bandarban contre construction d'un hôtel cinq étoile là-bas. L'hôtel sera construit par l'armée de la terre et une société locale qui a causé polémique après un de ses dirigeants avait tiré vers dirigeants d'une banque locale.

Selon un reportage, un ouvrier chinois qui travaillait à la construction d'un pont à Pirojpur a été tué par un coup de couteau. Police soupçonne c'est un acte de vol.

Selon un reportage, la Banque mondiale a baissé sa projection pour la croissance du PIB pour Bangladesh en 2021. La nouvelle projection se dit que Bangladesh atteindra 1,6% de croissance du PIB en 2021. Selon un autre reportage, le gouvernement a divulgué que pauvreté a intensifié pendant confinement au Bangladesh. Bangladesh a connu 29%  taux de pauvreté en 2020. Néanmoins, les ONGs estiment que le taux sera plus haut que le calcul de gouvernement.