Alaul Alam :
In recent years the country has reaped the benefits of rapid digitalization and promises to continue with inclusive achievements in the field of technology through building up smart Bangladesh by 2041.
However, in building up smart Bangladesh it is a must to produce a smart generation and in this connection, the role of teachers is in the forefront.
If teachers fail to produce a smart generation, the concept of building up a smart country may remain unfulfilled despite the government’s relentless work on the issue.
Again, the question may be pertinent to raise; how far teachers can contribute to producing smart graduates vastly required in this era of artificial intelligence (AI) if they are not smart?
Obviously, the word ‘smart’ is often misheard when it shows no sign of intelligence but a mere pretension to be smart. Cunning people wrongly use the word ‘smart’ and try to cover everything with shrewdness.
Undeniably, such smartness is highly depreciated in society. Even in the age of technology you may be surprised to see many smart teachers at the universities of the country who teach students with traditional approaches and hardly try to make themselves updated with innovative skills and knowledge.
How far are they, who attend classes without plans and preparations? They may be called teachers by chance; they show no devotion to the academic development of their students and frequently find shortcut ways to change their fortune by being involved in lobbying.
However, the first and foremost responsibility of a teacher is to be accountable to his/her duties and responsibilities with no chance to be callous to the betterment of students.
Building a knowledge-based economy is mostly dependent on how far teachers contribute to this.
The word ‘SMART’ may be a chromosome for Specific, Measurability, Attainability, Realistic and Timely.
It is believed that smart teachers are equipped with skills and knowledge which are pivotal for becoming smart graduates in the age of technology.
Studies have shown that formation of smart teachers is the key to ensure smart education resulting in producing a smart generation.
Many educationists opine that producing smart teachers is the panacea for solving all kinds of educational challenges.
Can it be the example of a quality teacher when he/she is deeply engrossed with personal incentives and hardly concentrate on producing quality research?
Many university teachers claiming themselves smart get involved in the rat race of publishing research papers whether these have any contribution to serve people and society.
Again, can it be the basis of a lecturer to be promoted as a professor having only some years of experience along with a fixed number of publications?
But such practice prevails at our universities. Do the teachers have any scope to confine themselves within the limited frame of study only for their sake?
The ethics of research are violated when teachers find short-cut ways and get involved in plagiarism.
Frustratingly, their smartness is revealed when we see that they have only a headache to manage students and finish their courses with some classes with no aim to enhance students with pragmatic education.
Certainly, they are not smart teachers who are busy with adopting unethical practices in their classes and make no efforts to update their teaching approaches. Obviously, to be popular teachers they are interrupting the normal norms of education.
What will we do with so many popular teachers when we notice that they hardly address the real purpose of education?
In the age of the fourth industrial revolution a teacher must see no alternatives to cope with the advanced technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI) and data analytics.
Smart teachers have the scope to unlock every potential of students using cutting-edge technology and tools. They work on maximizing learning outcomes using AI driven tools and technologies.
Smart teachers can manage the class smartly allowing the use of technology and helping students ensure an interactive classroom atmosphere with more focus on student-centric activities.
Obviously, smart teachers remain enthusiastic in the class to teach students the techniques of enhancing soft skills which are prerequisite to produce quality graduates. They discourage root learning culture which deteriorates the creativity of the learners.
It is good to see that our universities are emphasizing outcome-based education which is a significant step towards equipping the graduates with pragmatic knowledge and lifelong skills.
The integration of outcome-based education into higher education in Bangladesh has been aligned with the national education policy -2010 recognizing the importance of producing graduates to meet the demands of a dynamic job market and contribute to national development.
It is no denial that every university is an industry of producing graduates. Every year they produce a huge number of graduates. But in many cases, most of the graduates fail to enlist themselves into the category of smart graduates due to their confinement to traditional learning.
Even in this highly competitive age, many universities are merely busy with awarding degrees and opening new departments with little concern over producing smart and efficient graduates.
The rise of unemployment among the educated youths corresponds to the bleak scenario that our education system has mostly failed to equip the youths with life-oriented knowledge and skills.
It is frustrating to know from a survey report that 66 percent of the students who passed out from colleges affiliated to National University remained unemployed as they have not been able to equip themselves with skills and knowledge required to get jobs.
However, it is very urgent to take timely initiatives to produce smart graduates where smart teachers will play the key role. Finally, to reach our ultimate goal of building smart Bangladesh by 2041 it is a must to update the teacher community through rigorous professional development.
(The author teaches at Prime University and also a Research Scholar at the IBS, Email: [email protected])