By Asrar Chowdhury
Link: http://www.thedailystar.net/campus/2008/08/01/feature.htm
Your old road is rapidly agin'
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'
- Bob Dylan
MY first encounter with debating at the Theatre Institute in Chittagong is one I won't forget for a long time. I again had the privilege of witnessing debating of Chittagong school students, again at the Theatre Institute organised again by Drishty. This time it was a Bangla debate competition.
It was the closing debate of Drishty's 16th anniversary. The debate followed the British Parliament. Chittagong Collegiate School represented the Government. Chittagong Government High School represented the Opposition. The topic: “Economic backwardness, not political backwardness, is the main reason for Bangladesh not being able to develop forwards”. The Teams based their arguments on theory and empirical evidence to establish what is the cause of our backwardnesseconomics or politics?
Both Parties based their analysis on economists. The Government Party relied on Karl Marx's analysis of capitalism that economic foundations determine the basis of other institutions of a society. The Opposition Party relied on Amartya Sen and his entitlement approach that the right to the access towards a resource determines the right of its use. Indirectly, Sen's analysis of property rights hints towards political dimensions determining economic actions.
It's not a question of which team won. One team has to win. I was once again amazed at the extent of reading the students did. The references they were making gave me a 'false' impression this was a debate of the British Parliament between the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition. The young debaters rightly pointed out the economic and political problems Bangladesh faces. Such maturity at such an early age left me bamboozled. One debater caught my attention, Muttakin Chowdhury, the Leader of the Opposition. I was impressed at him being as cool as a cucumber in tackling 'attacks' from the Government Party. If only we also could learn from this little 'kid'.
I have one observation. Although economic dimensions are a necessity towards development, they aren't a sufficient condition. 'Usually', it's the stability of political institutions that guides a country forward. When we make a statement like A implies B, and if such implication has sufficient empirical evidence, it gives one party an added advantage over the other in a debate. Drishty and other debating clubs may want to consider subject matters that are open-ended.
Real education is 'seldom' learned in the classroom because a classroom is bounded by four walls and a roof. To convert knowledge into wisdom one needs to break the boundaries of the classroom and its roof to look at the Cosmos with no fear of the unknown. This is where I'd like to thank Star Campus in making an 'effort' to identify organisations like Drishty that try to encourage students to go beyond the boundaries of the classroom. It's indeed a pleasure to be associated with Star Campus and meet the talent of tomorrow's Bangladesh.
After my second encounter in Chittagong, I'm optimistic two times round. If something happens once, it doesn't happen twice. If something happens twice, it definitely happens a third time. This is Paulo Coelho's hypothesis in The Alchemist. Following Coelho, something tells me these 'kids' will make a reality out of the dreams of our generation and those before us. “If we can't lend our hand”, we should simply get out of their way, for “the times they are a-changin”!
The writer is a teacher of economics at Jahangirnagar University and North South University. Email: asrarul@gmail.com
It was the closing debate of Drishty's 16th anniversary. The debate followed the British Parliament. Chittagong Collegiate School represented the Government. Chittagong Government High School represented the Opposition. The topic: “Economic backwardness, not political backwardness, is the main reason for Bangladesh not being able to develop forwards”. The Teams based their arguments on theory and empirical evidence to establish what is the cause of our backwardnesseconomics or politics?
Both Parties based their analysis on economists. The Government Party relied on Karl Marx's analysis of capitalism that economic foundations determine the basis of other institutions of a society. The Opposition Party relied on Amartya Sen and his entitlement approach that the right to the access towards a resource determines the right of its use. Indirectly, Sen's analysis of property rights hints towards political dimensions determining economic actions.
It's not a question of which team won. One team has to win. I was once again amazed at the extent of reading the students did. The references they were making gave me a 'false' impression this was a debate of the British Parliament between the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition. The young debaters rightly pointed out the economic and political problems Bangladesh faces. Such maturity at such an early age left me bamboozled. One debater caught my attention, Muttakin Chowdhury, the Leader of the Opposition. I was impressed at him being as cool as a cucumber in tackling 'attacks' from the Government Party. If only we also could learn from this little 'kid'.
I have one observation. Although economic dimensions are a necessity towards development, they aren't a sufficient condition. 'Usually', it's the stability of political institutions that guides a country forward. When we make a statement like A implies B, and if such implication has sufficient empirical evidence, it gives one party an added advantage over the other in a debate. Drishty and other debating clubs may want to consider subject matters that are open-ended.
Real education is 'seldom' learned in the classroom because a classroom is bounded by four walls and a roof. To convert knowledge into wisdom one needs to break the boundaries of the classroom and its roof to look at the Cosmos with no fear of the unknown. This is where I'd like to thank Star Campus in making an 'effort' to identify organisations like Drishty that try to encourage students to go beyond the boundaries of the classroom. It's indeed a pleasure to be associated with Star Campus and meet the talent of tomorrow's Bangladesh.
After my second encounter in Chittagong, I'm optimistic two times round. If something happens once, it doesn't happen twice. If something happens twice, it definitely happens a third time. This is Paulo Coelho's hypothesis in The Alchemist. Following Coelho, something tells me these 'kids' will make a reality out of the dreams of our generation and those before us. “If we can't lend our hand”, we should simply get out of their way, for “the times they are a-changin”!
The writer is a teacher of economics at Jahangirnagar University and North South University. Email: asrarul@gmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment