Feature

My teacher-ship in AIUB, my passionate journey…

Faheem Hasan Shahed

I often used to hear from a senior acquaintance of mine, Chair of an important Department in a public university, that two distinct types of people always get into the teaching profession: 'teachers by choice' and 'teachers by default'.

The first category comprises individuals to whom teaching, besides being a 'daal-bhaat device', is an adoring horizon of social commitment; they become teachers because they have wanted to be the mentors, advocates, philosophers and activists for uncountable young people. The other category consists of people with a rather uncomplicated, one-dimensional view: 'teaching is just like any other money-making job and therefore, rock on and keep rolling!' In other words, one may call them rock-'n-roll teachers!

I do not congratulate or blame anyone. Everything in this mundane world is a matter of perspective. But the problem is, the latter category of teachers have found many of our private universities an ideal avenue to practise their commercial propensity. Of course, it's their personal mindset, but I feel pained as an insignificant-yet-conscious citizen of this country.

However, I sense elation by the thought that AIUB, my place of work, has very little space to entertain these 'rock-'n-roll teachers'. In fact, this type of teachers has never been able to cope with this organization's culture. AIUB's immaculately regimented environment encourages both orderliness and flexibility with equal ease for all its students, teachers and officers. While there is no room for professional sluggishness, there is an automated flow of spontaneous informality, academic creativity and cultural vibrancy. Community Service has been a prime feature for teachers' performance-evaluation. This is exactly why I have found AIUB a soothing place to ramble on for long nine years.

Not many universities, but AIUB, will provide you a constant support of high-tech IT facilities, other logistics and cooperative manpower for any sort of academic and co-curricular activities. You just need to tell the concerned campus officers what you need, and they will make things happen for you.

Not many universities, but AIUB, will provide its female students an absolutely harassment-free, secured atmosphere with several hundreds of powerful close circuit cameras, aided by an uncompromising disciplinary-committee, operating in all corners inside and outside. Justice is ensured even in case of the slightest eve-teasing incident, if that occurs at all.

Not many universities, but AIUB, can ensure you a corruption-free exam hall where invigilators feel bored as they have nothing to run after. Well, students might attempt to cheat, but only with a high amount of termination-risk above their heads.

Not many universities, but AIUB, will provide its teachers and students all-time direct access to each of its top administrators, including the Vice Chancellor, for any discussions or assistance regarding any issue. Nobody has so far encountered a wee bit of bureaucratic formality in any sector.

Not many universities, but AIUB, will rigorously thrive for quality assurance in its academic infrastructure, as a result of which its separate Quality Assurance Cell has been working in full swing. To be precise, AIUB is the country's first, and so far the only, university to have applied for international accreditation of its programmes which has been successfully going on.

The reasons why I have mentioned some of these issues is simple. I want to make one fact clear to the readers: working in AIUB as a teacher is definitely a unique affair, and it is the 'teachers by choice' who will only realize and subsequently cope with this uniqueness. For the 'teachers by default', I can only whisper a 'sorry dude'!

I wind up with a personal experience. Way back in May 2001 when I was about to join AIUB, my boss told me, 'Listen, you'll be making mistakes out of your decisions and that is absolutely fine. We want you to grow up through your mistakes. Don't worry brother, we are here to provide you all the backing.'

Since then, I have been trekking along the AIUB-highway amid passion and comfort. Tell me, what else do you need in your workplace?

(The writer is an Associate Professor and currently the Head of the English Department in AIUB)