Bangladesh community outraged over shooting death

Community members claimed police left behind the body of Rafiqul Islam at Detroit Receiving Hospital without first identifying him or informing his family.

By Charles Sercombe

Chanting "We want justice," over 100 men and boys from the Bangladesh community stood outside City Hall last Friday protesting how police handled a recent homicide.

Community members claimed police left behind the body of Rafiqul Islam at Detroit Receiving Hospital without first identifying him or informing his family.

Islam, 46, was shot to death last Tuesday at about 10:30 p.m. in front of his house.

Police say it could have been a botched robbery or carjacking attempt. Neighbors called 911 after hearing gunshots.

When police arrrived, Islam did not have his wallet or identification on him. He was taken away by ambulance while police tried to track the suspected gunman and was later pronounced dead at Detroit Receiving Hospital.

Witnesses say a suspect was seen fleeing from the area and got into a dark van at Ellery.

On Friday, family, friends and concerned members of the Bangladesh community held funeral services and then went to City Hall to protest.

Their anger seemed to come from two issues, the police allegedly abandoning Islam at the hospital and previous shootings of members from the community.
Babul Miah said officers "spoke down" to the family and had an "attitude."

Interim Police Chief Ron Mathias explained to the crowd that when police arrived they had to act fast to try to save Islam's life and also hunt for his killer. He said police did not even know that Islam was in front of his house in the first few minutes they were there.

He said no matter, this case will be handled just like any other homicide.
"I can't make promises we are going to catch someone or not," he said.
Investigators have very little to go on in this case. State police are helping in the gathering of forensics evidence.

City Councilmember Abdul Algazali told the crowd that he would make a resolution to investigate how police officers conducted themselves during the investigation.

At one point in the rally, held during bitter cold temperatures, a hearse drove up in front of City Hall. A man got out of the hearse and opened the back door of the hearse, where a casket could be seen. It was not clear if the casket contained the body of Islam.

Another man from the crowd immediately closed the door and the hearse drove off.

Islam had just returned from a downtown restaurant where he was part of the wait staff. He is married and has two sons.

This is the first homicide of the year.

BANGLADESH: Report blasts primary school education

DHAKA, 11 February 2009 (IRIN) - Around 70 percent of children in Bangladesh who complete their primary education are unable to read, write or count properly, according to an internal report by the Department of Primary Education (DPE).

Sixty-nine percent of students who had completed five years of primary school were unable to read news headlines in Bangla newspapers properly, while 87 percent of pupils failed to do simple mathematical calculations, the study, entitled National Assessment of Pupils of Grades Three and Five - 2006, said.

Conducted by the Second Primary Education Development Programme (PEDP-II) - a donor-assisted programme to ensure quality primary education for all children - the study reported that 72 percent of children were unable to write a short composition in Bangla - the mother tongue of over 95 percent of the population.

The report also found students "pitiably weak" in English, which plays a key role in day-to-day life, particularly in business, higher studies and technical education.

The quality of education in remote rural areas was far worse than in urban areas, largely due to a scarcity of English teachers and the predominance of religious schools (`madrasas') where English is not taught, the study said.

The report said students in the fifth grade completed only about 56 percent of the Bangla syllabus, 46 percent of the mathematics syllabus and 47 percent of the English syllabus.

Weak institutional framework

The PEDP-II study identified the weak organisational and institutional framework of primary education and the lack of a proper physical environment at school as leading causes of poor performance.

"Inadequate qualified teachers, lack of devotion on the part of the teachers, [and] poor support and monitoring from family largely contribute to the causes of weakness," Rawshan Ara Begum, head teacher of Chakhar government primary school in southern Barisal District, told IRIN.

"Many poor students come to school half-fed. They cannot pay attention to their studies in the afternoon classes as thirst for knowledge is replaced by hunger for food," she said.

According to Badrul Alam Tarafder, secretary in charge of the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education (PME), the government placed emphasis on enrolment without concentrating on the quality of primary education.

Insufficient contact hours

The PEDP-II study recommended that contact hours between teachers and students be increased and more attention paid to mathematics and literacy.

According to the DPE, children get only 500 hours annually to interact with their teachers in grades one and two. This increased to 700 hours from the third to the fifth grade.

This compared unfavourably to an international standard of 900 contact hours per year for grades 1-5.

One reason for the fewer contact hours was the running of double shifts in most government schools due to a lack of classrooms.

The low teacher-student ratio was another factor keeping contact hours down.

The study recommended that at least 90,000 new teachers be recruited and 60,000 new classrooms be built to enable the existing number of students to attend in a single shift.

Fewer holidays?

Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC), a private research organisation, in its annual report for 2008 entitled Primary Education Halkhata (State of Primary Education), recommended reducing holidays.

"The future of the nation is dark because primary students lack adequate academic knowledge," said renowned academic Zillur Rahman Siddique. He attributed the low contact hours to long holidays.

At present in government primary schools, pupils get nine days holiday during the two Eid festivals, 15 days for the summer vacation and 20 days off for Ramadan. The report suggested seven days for the two Eids, five days in summer and 10 days for Ramadan would be more appropriate.

Some 200,000 teachers educate close to 19 million students in about 38,000 government primary schools country-wide. Teachers are paid by the government which also supplies free text books. At least 40 percent of students receive financial assistance based on their performance, attendance and the level of family poverty.