Health, education sectors demand greater attention

Md Bayazid Khan :
Better quality services in education and health sectors are entirely depending on significant amount of investment in these two vital sectors of the country. Although government is spending a huge amount of money every year with a view to provide quality services to the concerned service holders of these two sectors, but the outcomes in terms of getting quality services from these sectors are not satisfactory. It is inevitable for a country to ensure quality education as well as to provide better quality medical facilities in the process of economic development.
Almost 70 to 80 per cent families of the country entirely depend on getting public sector services in health and education. But they are getting inadequate services from these two sectors despite government huge amount of investments in these sectors. Because of lacking ownership of people in health and primary education sectors, people are depriving of getting quality services.
A few years ago all the people including civil society fully dependent on getting services from these two public sectors institutions. So everybody concerned to these sectors as service provider could feel their responsibility and liability to the community for their services. Now a day members of civil society along with the middle class section of the community kept aloof themselves of getting services from these two largest public sector institutions.
Inadequate logistic supports, absence of positive attitude among doctors, teachers and staff to provide quality service, corruption and lack of commitment concerned to these sectors compelled people of civil society and middle-class people not to receive services from these sectors. As a result doctors, teachers and concerned staffs in these sectors couldn’t feel their liability and accountability to the community people for providing unsatisfactory services.
On the other hand, those who are receiving services are enabling to establish rights of getting proper services. The service recipients in these public sectors are also enabling to use and maintenance of all resources properly because of lacking ownership.
In the modern competitive world you couldn’t defy the existence of private sector involvement in health and education services. Therefore, government needs to ensure quality services of these two sectors to bring all the people of the community to choose primarily of receiving services without any hesitation. It depends on supplying of latest modern equipments and other logistic supports, appointment of trained and well experienced manpower, motivating manpower to become committed and possessing attitude of feeling accountable and liable to community people for their work.
On the other hand service recipients also need to possess positive attitude of using and marinating government resources as their own resources as well as to prepare themselves of establishing rights of getting proper services. It becomes possible by creating ownership among community people. Without applying give and take method ownership within stakeholders can’t sustain.
Moreover government needs more money for modernisation and development holistically of these two public sector institutions to fit competitive to the private sectors.
People can come forward to restore their ownership by contributing both financially and physically according to their abilities for getting proper services from these public sectors.
Government may think to introduce ‘Health and Education Benefit’ (HEB) card for each and every family in exchange of paying a meagre amount of money according to their abilities. The card is renewable for each year. Those who are service holder they may contribute more amount of money to get HEB card as they receive a certain amount of money as medical allowance from government or the appointing authority. The industrialists, businessmen and well-to-do persons of the community may contribute significant amount of money to get and renew HEB card. Those who earn may be identifying to possess a card as the head of the family.
Under a card all dependents of the family should give an identity number each. In view of his/her annual earning and expenditure, a token amount of money for receiving and renewing HEB card may consider for poor section of the community. It may not impossible for the lowest income-earning people to contribute a token amount of money to establish their ownership as we can see that almost all of them are using mobile phone. Those who have no income they should provide HEB card with free of cost. It may be mandatory for all the family to possess HEB card and without having HEB card nobody or his/her family members can entitle to receive medical and education facilities from both public and private service providers. It could be better for having the provision that without HEB card nobody will get any kind of government facilities and allowances.
The system should be completely software based computerised and may authorise the Union Parishad or other organisations to run the system those have the experiences of applying software based IT at field level. The whole system may interlink nationally so that public and private sector service providers may utilise and preserve information of the card.
Introducing HEB card government may earn a significant amount of money each year and utilise the money along with the allotted money in the budget to ensure better quality services both in the health and education sectors. Government may think of taking the following steps in both the sectors for its’ holistic development with the money earns from HEB as public-private partnership.
Health Sector:
Appoint more doctors, technicians, nurses and other staffs at union and upazila health complexes.
Doctors, nurses, technicians, and staffs should provide attractive salaries and extra allowances along with transport facilities to ensure their best services and highest commitment in the profession.
Supplying of modern MRI, CT scan, X-Ray and other latest machines/equipments at upazila and District hospitals.
Upazila and district hospitals should be the separate units of Heart and Gynaecology treatment.
Modern facilities for all kinds of diagnostic and blood examination.
Availability of quality medicines.
High quality services from nurses and staffs.
Supplying of quality foods for patients.
Education Sector:
Attractive salaries and extra allowances for government primary, high school and college teachers and staff.
Suitable and attractive allowances and benefits for non-government high school and college teachers.
Separate salary structure for government and non-government teachers.
Opportunity of getting promotions and facilities of selection grade/time scales for government and non-government teachers.
Ensuring of better quality school environments for both government and non-government education institutions.
Supplying of two sets of school dresses (uniform) and shoes, exercise-books and pens/pencils for primary school students.
Providing mid-day meal or launching school feeding programme for primary school students.
Supplying of available teaching-learning materials (TLM), supplementary reading materials and modern equipments for science laboratories and sports items.
Opening of IT and vocational classes with laboratories in primary and high schools.
The government authority like Bangladesh Statistics Bureau, Ministry of Primary and Mass Education, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Planning and Election Commission may utilise information of number of total population, household, earning people, school going children, newly enterable voters, newly born children and dead people etc from HEB software as latest and reliable one.
It becomes possible for the government to implement above facilities in its largest two sectors with a view to provide better quality services by introducing HEB card as an initiative of public-private partnership.
As a result of introducing HEB card, people definitely feel their ownership that assist to establish their rights of getting quality services and on the other hand compel all concerns as service provider to demonstrate their commitment and sincerity towards providing better quality services. It could also make community people to become responsible for proper use and maintenance of public resources.
It may be a challenge for the government to introduce HEB card. But government may take an initiative to sit with all the political parties of the country for making a consensus of introducing HEB for ensuring stakeholders’ participation to provide better quality service in health and education sector of government. n