Nazla Fatmi a lecturer in the English department of Eastern University

from The daily sun

Despite the fast changing socioeconomic circumstances, teaching remains a standing career choice for the female graduates. With this reality in perspective, Badiuzzaman Bay of daily sun approached Nazla Fatmi, a lecturer in the English department of Eastern University, to know how things have been in her case.

Sun: How does it feel to be a teacher?

Nazla Fatmi: Teaching is a profession with great virtues and immense sacrifice behind it, as the reward of it doesn’t come in double digits to your bank accounts. When students do something remarkable for the humanity, make great achievements, or generate new ideas to change the world positively, teachers who taught them feel a heavenly joy, a joy so profound that no one else can understand.


Sun: Why teaching, why not any other profession of more lucrative prospects?

Nazla: Not everyone has the same perception of prospects. The student who stands first in all the exams usually picks teaching as a profession, even though s/he is aware that the back-benchers of his/her class may make more money than him/her. For me, I was always of the belief that a teacher with a true heart does not care about financial prospects.


Sun: In recent times, there has been a steady fall in the interest of students to pursue liberal arts courses. They are more focused on market-oriented courses. What was your case?

Nazla: I chose English not because it could have opened doors to blue-chip corporations or bureaucracy, but because I love literature. It’s a tragedy that all our thoughts and desires are now shaped by the trends of capitalism. Most of us think twice before studying liberal arts, as degrees in them are very unlikely to get us good jobs. But there are also many graduates with liberal arts majors who are doing much better than those with business or science majors.

Sun: More female students from various disciplines are graduating every semester. How is the job market for them at the moment?

Nazla: Graduation does not mean that one would get a job. It depends on many things like communication and leadership skills, performance in team work, ability to work under pressure and the like. Those who have these skills, male or female, stand a better chance to get a good job.

Sun: Some think that female graduates feel more at home in teaching than other career options, because they find it secure, honourable and hassle-free. How do you evaluate the situation for yourself?


Nazla: Is this question empirically tested? I guess, no. As a teacher, I have to remain in the office for 40 hours a week, take at least four courses, that is, 3 to 4 classes per day, prepare lesson plans and questions, check scripts, organise seminars and extra-curricular activities, and many more. It may be ‘honourable’, but definitely not ‘secure’ or ‘hassle-free’ because failure in meeting the deadlines or desired expectations may result in serious interventions from the authorities. Moreover, every semester students evaluate the performance of the instructors of the courses they enrol into, and an instructor’s fate depends on the evaluation of their students. So teaching for girls is as challenging as any other profession.

Sun: What is your idea of an ideal teacher in a modern

society?

Nazla: The idea of an ideal teacher/father/mother remains the same at all times, but the idea of modernity changes over time. An ideal teacher is one who is friendly, passionate, sacrificing, and visionary.

Sun: Please name two of your favourite teachers, and explain why.

Nazla: Poet Mohammad Rafiq and Dr Shamsad Mortuza of Jahangirnagar University (the former retired now and the later in Dhaka University), because they never tried to teach anything! They just used to talk in the class, and students used to undergo a massive transformation under their influence and come out of classroom as different human beings.