Dr. Yunus' administration has established six commissions in six different public administration sectors; this is an excellent move in the right direction. Although selecting the six sectors and choosing their heads has raised questions, no question has been raised about the rationality of the government’s decision.
Strangely, this first step of the interim government does not include the education sector, an issue that is supposed to be the primary topic of debate and discussions in the teaching community and universities, to be more specific. Regrettably, our university teaching community is virtually silent in this regard. This looks odd because the Federation of Bangladesh University Teachers Association (FBUTA) is always active in issues concerning their financial benefits and ranks. Nevertheless, a murmur of dissatisfaction has recently been heard in the electronic media concerning the government’s inaction.
The first National Education Commission was established on 26 July 1972. Its fundamental objective was to suggest a national policy education framework in light of the liberation war's aspirations, i.e., the four fundamental principles of the Constitution: nationalism, democracy, socialism, and secularism. Dr. Qudrat-e-Khuda was appointed the commission chair, composed of 13 eminent personalities.
The Khuda Commission (KC) formed 30 special committees, to which 400 experts contributed. KC submitted the report summary in May 1974 based on these committee reports. This report is less relevant today because it was prepared at a time when the political, economic, and international milieus were completely different from those of today.
Nevertheless, some of KC’s observations are worth noting. First, KC observed that all governing powers and responsibilities were excessively centralised in the capital city. Second, primary and secondary schooling was systematically neglected compared to higher education. Third, the central administration holds a ‘cavalier’ attitude toward the views of educational experts in determining educational policies.
The combined impact of all these was the unsatisfactory teaching quality at all educational system levels. It would not be an exaggeration to suggest that the educational situation in the country has continuously worsened over the past half-century.
Envisioning the structure of the National Commission cannot be difficult, given that similar commissions have been formed in many countries. Moreover, we can take KC as a model. However, the commission's terms of reference (TOR) must be different because it will work in very different national and international contexts.
The national context has two aspects - political and economic. The political aspect is the August uprising that has given the nation a golden opportunity to create a discrimination-free society. The financial aspect is the country's huge human population that has been employed in various sectors of the economy. One way to achieve the Herculine goal is to convert abundant human labour into human resources through several types of training. The international aspect concerns the current level of globalization that has opened humongous opportunities for overseas employment and immigration. 
The key to guaranteeing success in these respects is democratically fair access to all levels of education. At present, the government has declared primary education universal. Even then, this declaration is a paper promise. On the other hand, the secondary and post-secondary education system is founded on a worldwide discriminatory system called a two-tier education policy. This policy attests that secondary and post-secondary education is for parents who can afford it. This is discrimination in democracy because, in education, students should be screened out based on their natural and acquired merits, not the financial strength of their parents or guardians.
Therefore, the interim government’s TOR must emphasize removing discrimination from our education system. Dr. Yunus' interim government can do very little to remove this undemocratic education policy because it is a global norm. The global community needs to reject this discriminatory two-tier education policy like our students did against the autocratic government of PM Hasina. However, recognising this political truth will be a monumental achievement for the people of Bangladesh and food for thought for the world community.
Once the TOR is finalised, the next government job is to appoint the head of the education commission, which is the critical stage in forming all national reform commissions. Criticisms against some of the commission heads suggest that the interim government was not very careful.
The headship is a leadership position with some common characteristics irrespective of its level and context. In our case, the education ministry is responsible for making reform policies in the sector on behalf of the interim government. Accordingly, it suggests a list of distinguished personalities to the cabinet to appoint the person to act as the head, meaning the leadership responsibilities are successively passed from the cabinet to the education advisor to the commission head. The commission is supposed to perform the same job that the education advisor is supposed to do: organising, guiding, planning and facilitating.
The commission head does not have to be an education expert for this job, the same way the CA and other cabinet advisors may not be. Socrates defined the main criterion of a leader about two and a half millennia ago as wisdom. Moral virtue signifies the possession of knowledge, experience, and good judgment. Knowledge is only information; wisdom is using knowledge to pursue the good life. Along with this moral virtue, the leader must be committed to their mission and vision.
The head's first function will involve selecting commission members who carry out their assigned duties. By necessity, membership will include sufficient distinguished academics. However, it should also include non-academic members to ensure diversity of opinions in the commission. The full commission will form six special committees: four on conventional areas of knowledge, arts, humanities, and science, and two on specialized subjects—vocational institutes and madrassa.
Many of us who had bitter teaching experiences during our careers thought the August uprising would bring significant changes to the profession. This expectation is gradually fading as we see little progress in restoring typical academic atmospheres at different campuses.
The main reason for this lack of progress is following the orthodox practice of appointing the management of public universities. The difference between the current and previous policy environment is that the education advisor is a brilliant academic and a good person. Additionally, CA does not interfere with his ministerial activities.
However, regarding governance and policymaking, this desirable quality carries little significance because they must vacate the PM's office sooner or later. Our known faces or their supporters will take over these cabinet positions. Therefore, for all the good reasons, the link between the government and the VC appointment must be disconnected. To do this, forming a national education commission is imperative and urgent.
The author is a retired faculty member of Bangladesh Agricultural University, currently living in Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
