Teachers have moral degradation- Who is responsible?

The teacher is called the craftsman of making people. All the students follow the teacher. If that teacher loses the qualities to be followed, he is no longer worth following. Recently, such an incident happened in DUET.

Nishad Jahan Itu Miyaji is quite talked about on social media because of TikTok's offensive gestures, even before the duet job.  Recently, after he was appointed as a lecturer in the architecture department of Dhaka University of Engineering and Technology (DUET), the students there raised objections about his TikTok videos.

Itu Miyaji studied at the Department of Architecture at the Bangladesh University of Engineering (BUET). Duet authorities appointed Itu Miyaji as a teacher on the 19th of this month. A few days later, Itu Miyaji's TikTok video began to be criticised on campus and on Facebook.  Recently, the students formed a human chain on the campus, demanding the cancellation of the appointment of that teacher.

Many on social media have expressed different opinions about Itu Miyaji. Many have said, "Ethics and decency should be seen in the appointment of teachers." Many others said, "He needs psychiatric treatment."

However, many have raised questions about personal freedom and said, "I don't see any fault in his talent for the previous TikTok! He has acquired the qualifications needed to come this far. I have not seen any such rules anywhere that teachers can not do TikTok! It was not written in any book! If given a chance, he could not return to that life if he got a respectable position, we do not give people a chance to come on the right path.

In this regard, the head professor of the Duet Architecture Department, Bayezid Ismail Chowdhury, told The Report, “A committee will be formed soon to investigate the matter. The teacher has already been prevented from performing the exam duties. Now the university authorities will decide after an investigation."

One after another, the students are being sexually harassed by some of those teachers. Apart from this, as a video of teachers and students drinking alcohol during an educational tour in 2023 has gone viral on social media and the net world, students and parents are in extreme anxiety, worry and discomfort. They say that three or four such incidents are coming to light. Apart from this, how many incidents of torture happen, which students bear with a blank face for various reasons. They remain unaccounted for. Sociologists and educationists also consider these incidents as degradation of teachers' values, moral slippage and degradation.

Teachers have moral degradation; who is responsible? Raising such questions, they say that on the one hand, the education rate and the number of educated people are increasing, on the other hand, the degradation of values, obscenity and various types of criminality are increasing in society. So society and the state must take responsibility for it. If it is not controlled, it will cause disaster in the education sector and the nation may have to pay a heavy price for it in the future, the stakeholders believe.

In the past year (2023), several incidents of sexual harassment against teachers at Dhaka University, Vikarunnisa Noon School and College and Chittagong Coaching Center started a stir across the country. At the same time, a video of teachers and students drinking alcohol on an educational tour at Shivchar in Madaripur has gone viral on social media. Apart from this, various complaints are being raised against the teachers of their institution, including harassment of students, reduction of marks if they do not study coaching-private, harassment, irregularities-fraud and question leakage.

In response to the question of why these events are happening, Jagannath University's associate professor, Dr. Ashek Mahmud, said that, in light of time, the relationship between students and teachers and the relationship between parents and children is not what it used to be. A lot has changed. Earlier, students used to fear parents and teachers a lot. But that is no longer the case. Now, everywhere, there is an impact of technological modernization. It has increased the distance, but no initiative is being taken to reduce it. Now teachers are told that students cannot be disciplined like before. But then the relationship is no longer the same. So there is a relationship of respect with governance. But not strict rules. Because governance also has a character-building aspect. Now the modern culture is everyone to enjoy and entertain together. Distance cannot be kept with parents or teachers. But there should be a limit to entertainment. That is, the main point is the attempt to free the society from the regime.  Efforts to create value have largely diminished. As a result, such incidents are happening.

He said, that in the society here, a kind of mentality has been created among everyone to move freely.  The reason is that now everyone has a smartphone.  Which is removing people from many social controls.  That is the excessive freedom that is being practised among people, due to which the students and teachers no longer have any sense of value and are taking it away.

Dr.  Ashek Mahmud said that now that the goal of education is job- goals, material benefits and achievement then there should not be values. And if the main purpose of education was to become a man, to do social reforms and to work for the people, the teachers would teach them to the students. Therefore, education should be taken from the place of religious discipline, the development of values and humanity. As a result, what will be learned and who will teach - it is necessary to bring reforms in these areas.  Otherwise, it will not be possible to stop this degradation of morality and degradation of values but will continue to increase.

Teachers have moral degradation; who is responsible? In response to such questions, an academician and professor of Dhaka University. Nizamul Haque Bhuiyan said, that in our society, such moral degradation is sometimes happening among the teachers. Which is not new. But recently, several incidents have raised such questions. Which in turn puts us in a very embarrassing position as a teacher and which is very painful and shameful.  In this case, moral and human qualities should be developed among the teachers. And we have to look for a way out of this dire state of moral disaster.

He said that effective steps should be taken to ensure that those who are involved in the degradation of values cannot enter a great profession like teaching. Those who are doing such work should be severely punished if proven in the investigations. Then no one will have the courage to do such heinous acts in the future. By doing this, people's respect for teachers will increase and a safe study environment for female students will be ensured.

The Writer is a Researcher, PhD, University of Rajshahi and Lecturer, Rajshahi Cantonment Public School & College. He could be reached at [email protected].