-Prof. Dr. Naied Md. Shamsul Huda
Professor Dr. Naied Md. Shamsul Huda, Principal, Edward College, is working at his office.
Edward College is a centennial-old historic institution and stands as an ideal seat of promoting civilization in Bangladesh, said Professor Dr. Naied Md. Shamsul Huda, Principal of Edward College, in an exclusive interview with The Guardian.
The Principal, in this context, mentioned that the College has outlived the times in the history of spreading knowledge and building up an enlightened society and has become an outshining part of the chronicles of Bangladesh.
He informed that Edward College proudly proclaims its eminence in creating innumerable enlightened personalities who have been contributing at home and abroad for ages. He then mentioned that this institution adds a new dimension to the national store of knowledge and science and has constantly been playing a vital role to promote the nation as an excellent abode of learning, heritage and culture in Bangladesh.
He informed that the College which started with 14 students and 7 teachers as Pabna Institution at the outset of 20th century is today’s Government Edward College with 26,000 students, 160 teachers and 155 office staffs, offering Honours and Master’s Degree in different disciplines under the National University.
A high-profile educationist, Professor Huda believes education is not just an accumulation of informative knowledge rather true education instills visionary and moral attributes into an individual to make him capable of meeting the challenges of the practical life.
From this realization, he is optimistic about the students of Edward College that they will engage themselves to be illuminated with the spirit of true education and competent to face the challenges of the 21st century; and about his colleagues he said that Edward College has academically brilliant and well-trained teachers and they will exert their whole hearted devotion to the building of a prospective generation for the nation.
In a long exclusive interview, Dr. Huda replied to several questions, covering the history, contribution, present scenario of academic and extra-curricular activities and facilities, problems, potentials, developments, achievements and future plans of Edward College. His deliberations are quite outstanding, informative and educative that, we believe, can make students, teachers and policy makers interested to know about Edward College in detail. The full-text of his valuable interview is presented here for The Guardian readers at home and abroad:
The Guardian: Edward College is one of the oldest colleges in Bangladesh. Please tell us something about the founding history of the college and its journey to the present time.
Principal: Government Edward College, a renowned seat of learning in the then North Bengal and one of the best educational institutions in the country, was established at the turn of 19th century. An enlightened educationist Shree Gopal Chandra Lahiri founded a school, named ‘Pabna Institution’ in 1894, which was later renamed Gopal Chandra Institute in 1898. The century-old college launched its journey in this institute in the month of July of the same year. In December, it was affiliated as FA Standard College under Calcutta University. Gopal Chandra Lahiri served as the Principal till 1906, the year in which the college was renamed Pabna College. In 1911, it came to be known as Edward College in honour of Edward VII, the Emperor of England.
The Principal is giving interview to The Guardian Rajshahi Bureau Chief Kazi Gias.
The founder Principal had a brilliant set of scholars as his colleagues to discharge the mission of spreading the light of education. Some of those great personalities are Shree Gopal Chandra Maitra, Shree Ashutosh Roy, Pandit Hori Narayan Kabbotirtha Biddabinod and Moulavi Sheraj-ul-Haque. The subjects taught at the initial stage were- English, History, Logic, Mathematics, Science, Sanskrit, Arabic and Persian. The establishment of the college was a giant step in spreading education in this region of the British Bengal. It became an excellent centre of learning giving birth to a learned generation, promoting culture, inspiring curiosity and love for knowledge and enriching the history and heritage of Bengal.
In course of its eventful journey, many local elites interested in education extended their gracious hands in its development. In 1912, Lord Thomas David Barron Carmichael came to visit the college. On the occasion of greeting him, Roy Bahadur Banamali Roy declared a donation of Tk 50,000 for the college. The governor also pledged the same amount. So far, the institution had no land or campus of its own. In 1914, Gopisundari Dasi, an heir to Parisundari Dashi, the Jaminder of Sadarpurj, Amla, Kustia and Debendra Narayan Sing donated 46 acres of land. By the year 1915 -16, the groundwork for the construction of college building started at the cost of about Tk one lac.
The Principal, accompanied by his colleagues of the college, is hoisting the national flag on the occasion of great independence and national day 2014.
In 1914, a great incident familiarized the name of the college throughout the continent. Rabindranath Tagore, the greatest poet of Bengali literature and Nobel Laureate came to this college to attend the North Bengal Literary Convention. Enlightened dignitaries Jagadindranath Roy, Moharaja of Natore, Jaladhar Sen, Editor of ‘Bharotbarsa’, Historian Akshay Kumar Maitra, Nolini Ranjan Pandit, Radharaman Shaha, Gurusadoy Datta (I.C.S.) literateur and social worker, Kishorimohon Roy, Editor of ‘Sharaj’, the founder Principal Gopal Chandra Lahiri, Shasdhar Roy, Jaminder of Pabna and Jogendranath Maitra, Jamindar of Shithlai glorified the convention with their gracious presence.
In 1921, the college was affiliated under Calcutta University as ‘Up to Intermediate Science Standard’ college with the addition of five subjects to the existing ten. Co-education was introduced in 1923. In 1925, BSc course was introduced at the newly constructed BSc building. BA Course was introduced in 1940 and the Department of Biology was started in 1946. Honours Course in Bangla and Economics started in 1954 and 1955.
On acquiring the land adjacent to college campus, the area of the campus came to 49 acres and construction of separate Arts Building along with other infrastructure was initiated. On 1 March 1968, the college was provincialized. In 1972, Honours Courses in Physics, Mathematics and Management were introduced. MA Courses in Bengali and Economics started in 1973.
In 1978, the college went under ’35-Government College Development Project’ and an extensive development work was done. In 1987, it was included into the Project ‘Eight University’ and a great infrastructural development was done at the cost of taka 298.84 Lac by the year 1987- 90. In 1987 Honours Courses in English, Chemistry, Botany, Accounting, Political Science, Philosophy, and History were introduced and the number of honours teaching subjects stood to 12 so far. In 1995 MA Course was introduced in all the above disciplines. In 1999 Honours and Master’s Courses were introduced in Islamic History & Culture and Sociology. Department of Zoology started Honours and MA Course next year. The Department of Finance and Marketing started teaching Honours Courses in 2011.
The Principal, accompanied by his colleagues and students of the college, is bringing out a rally showing homage to great independence and national day 2014.
Intermediate course was closed from the session 1997-98. Recently, the Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board, Rajshahi has permitted to resume H.S.C. course following an order by the Ministry of Education. 600 students have been enrolled in Science, Humanities and Business Studies Section for the session 2015 – 20016. At present the total number of students in the college is 26,000.
At the turn of the 20th century, Edward College completes its glorious journey of 100 years. 21st century dawns with the good news of its being categorized as AA College at the national level. Very recently a four-storied Academic-cum Examination centre building has been constructed under the ’69-Government College Development Project 2010 – 11′. There are 160 posts for teachers in different subjects. The creation of more posts is under process.
The Guardian: It is good to hear the history of the glorious past of Edward College. Now please give us a brief description of the present infrastructural facilities of the college.
Principal: The College is rich in infrastructure with academic and administrative buildings. There are two girls’ hostels, three boys’ hostels, a teachers’ dormitory, a canteen, a number of well- equipped laboratories, a central library, an auditorium, a number of playgrounds and other buildings.
The Administrative Building: The administrative building has heritage of hundred years with classic architectural design. This building houses the office of the principal, the vice principal and the staff-council room.
Academic Buildings: Three academic buildings accommodate the five departments of the science faculty. The old building adjacent to the administrative building accommodates chemistry and Physics departments. The building at the southeast corner of the college science campus is housed with Mathematics and Zoology department. The department of Botany is in the new science building. The academic building for Arts and Commerce faculties stands on the north side of the campus popularly known as degree campus. The Department of Philosophy is located in a separate building on the eastern side of Degree campus.
The Principal, accompanied by his colleagues and students of the college, is paying homage on the occasion of great independence and national day 2015.
The building next to Philosophy accommodates three departments- Islamic History &Culture, Political Science and Sociology. The building opposite is furnished with the department of Economics, English and History. The other two academic buildings accommodate Faculty of Business Studies consisting of Accounting, Management, Finance and Marketing. The newly constructed academic building named after Professor Solaiman Miah Bhaban belongs to the department of Bangla and it is also shared by Humanities and Commerce section of Higher Secondary Level and Degree Pass Courses.
Library: Edward College is proud of having a century old rich library located at the entrance of Degree Campus and has rare collection of books on different subjects, journals and magazines. It has a well-furnished reading room.
ICT and Language Learning Facilities: Edward College facilitates ICT and Language programmes to prepare students for facing the challenges of modern world. For this purpose it has a well-furnished cyber centre with sufficient number of computers. Recently the college campus has been brought under Wi-Fi network to facilitate the use of internet. It is located at the science building. It offers different IT programmes for the teachers and the students. To make the students ready for the global standard, FLTC has recently been set up. It offers courses on different languages.
Transport Facilities: More than twenty thousand students study at Edward College. A large number of students attend classes from their own residents. To facilitate transport communication we have four buses which carry the students from the surrounding upazilas. There is also a micro bus for the principal.
Auditorium: We have a spacious auditorium with modern facilities which can accommodate two thousand audiences. It remains vibrant with programmes on different occasions round the year. Fresher’s reception, cultural functions, debates and dramas are held here. It is also used as seminar venues for different organizations.
Botanical Garden: Edward College has a big campus with varied looks of Botanical garden located at the premise of department of Botany, which adds a spectacular view to the college campus. It harbours different kinds of bewitching flower trees and rare herbal plants. The students of Botany collect their specimens of different plants for their laboratory purposes.
Canteen: Edward College has a spacious canteen which is located at the end of the degree campus. Students can have snacks and light refreshments at a low price.
Common Room: There are two separate common rooms for the boys and girls. The students spend their break hours here. The common rooms are provided with some indoor games facilities.
The Gateway to Edward College.
Residential Facilities for Students and Teachers: A considerable number of students of Edward College come from other upazilas, even from outside the district town. To provide accommodation for them it has 3 boys’ hostels and 2 girls’ hostels. All the hostels are located inside the campus. They are Shaheed Shamsuzzoha Muslim hostel, Kamal Uddin hostel, Gopal Chandra Lahiri hostel, Gopisundari Dasi hostel, Sheikh Fajilatunnesa Mujib hostel. They have an accommodation of 600 students. However, compared to the needs of students, it is barely enough. We have plans to set up more hostels. The college has also a dormitory for the teachers. It is located near the Principal’s quarter. It is a four-storied building which accommodates 30 teachers.
Principal’s Residence: Edward College has residential facilities for Principal. Principal’s residence is a building of old and traditional design with a beautiful garden in front of it. It has recently been modified.
The Guardian: Reopening of HSC Course must be a great ropportunity for the people of this locality. Would you please inform us about the groups, subjects and the number of students currently enrolling in different sections at the HSC level?
Principal: There are three groups- Science, Arts and Business Studies at the Intermediate level. Names of Group-wise subjects and number of seats are mentioned below:
The Guardian: Please tell us about the present seat capacity in Honours and Master’s Level in your college.
Principal: We have Honours Course in 17 subjects and Master’s in 15 subjects in different faculties. Subjects-wise seats in Honours and Master’s courses are given below:
The Guardian: Edward College has a good name in co-curricular activities. Now would you give us some idea about different co-curricular activities of Edward College?
Principal: Apart from academic programmes, Edward College has a great tradition of co-curricular activities. It is enriched with Literary and Cultural Centre, BNCC, Rover Scout, Juba Red Crescent Society, Gymnasium. Literary and Cultural Centre was established at a separate building close to the office building. It arranges cultural programmes on different occasion round the year. This centre also observes the different National days in befitting manner.
BNCC: Edward College Unit of BNCC is quite famous for its performance. It is situated at the Degree Campus in a two storied building. The students of BNCC take part in all the extra-curricular activities of the college. College regularly hosts national BNCC Programmes.
View of a newly constructed Academic Building of Edward College.
Rover Scout: Rover Scout in Edward College unit has much reputation. Since establishment, this unit is involved in various activities of the college. The performance of the students of this unit on the national days is praiseworthy. The students of this unit also take part in various social welfare activities.
Jubo Red Crescent: Edward College has a Jubo Red Crescent Unit which plays a vital role in different occasions of the College. Health awareness programmes and regular BP and Blood Sugar tests organized by this Unit are very useful for the teachers and students of the College.
Sports and Games Facilities: Edward College is an ideal centre of sports activities in Pabna. The playground adjacent to administrative building hosts divisional football and cricket matches. There are also two playgrounds in the degree campus. We have also a well-furnished Badminton court. Students as well as teachers play badminton in winter. In addition to this, there are also other indoor games facilities. Inter-departmental football and cricket matches and annual sports are held every year in a gorgeous manner.
Teachers’ Club: The room adjacent to teachers’ staff council room in the Administrative Building is used as teachers’ club. It is furnished with a television set, some indoor games facilities and gym instruments. Teachers gather here in the evening for recreation and pastimes.
Gymnasium: Gymnasium in Edward College bears its old heritage. It gets vibrant in the morning and in the afternoon. It is equipped with various physical exercise instruments. The students as well as people of the locality do physical exercise here.
View of the newly constructed Independence Monument of Edward College.
The Guardian: Would you please let us know about the social and religious practices in your college?
Principal: Edward College campus is a popular place of social gathering for people of all communities. In the morning and evening people from all walks of life throng its long beautiful walkway and wide field. The College celebrates Pahela Baishakh in a festive, colorful and gorgeous manner. People from the whole town even from outside come to enjoy these programmes. Square company arranges music concerts in the campus with live coverage by TV Channels.
To observe religious ceremonies for the Muslims, there is a Mosque located at the entrance of the college campus. It is a two-storied building with a beautiful architectural look. About 250 people can say prayer here. There is a committee which arranges programmes on different religious occasions, including the national days. There is also another Mosque in the Kamal Uddin hostel.
There is a separate hostel for the students of Hindu religion. It is located at the end of the degree campus. It is named after Gopal Chandra Lahiri, the founder Principal of the college. Different religious rites and ceremonies, especially Sarashati Puja is observed in a grand manner in this hostel.
The Guardian: Please inform us about the publication of your college.
Principal: We have a College Magazine which is published annually on the regular basis. Students as well as teachers contribute to this. Poems, short stories, articles, essays and research papers are published in it. This year we are going to bring out a journal named Edward Review. Some Departments also publish little magazines.
The Guardian: Language Movement and Liberation War are the inseparable parts of our nation. Would you please tell us about the involvements of your college in upholding the values of the two national events?
Principal: Shaheed Minar and Independence monument bear the heritage of college’s participation in the Language Movement and Liberation War. Shaheed Minar, located near administrative building, asserts the glory of Language Movement. On 21 February it holds a spectacular view for the public.
A good number of students and teachers have a significant role in the liberation war. Edward College has felt the urge to build up Independence Monument to embody the spirit of liberation war. Independence Monument in Edward College stands at the south-east corner of science faculty. The grand fresco of the Independence Monument draws public attention. This monument is a pride of Govt. Edward College.
I am proud to point out that Shaheed Minar is being reconstructed with a new design and independence monument has been newly constructed under my supervision. I am really proud to be a part of this history.
The Guardian: Would you mention the names of some prominent academicians who taught in this institution?
Principal: Edward College has a proud history of enlightened teachers who have made a commendable contribution to the making of a glorious generation. We feel proud to remember some erudite personalities who have become a luminous legacy for Edward College. A few of those glorious names are Ananda Prashad Vattacharia, Kali Prosho-nno Bandopaddhay , Atul Chandra Sen, Azim Uddin Ahmed, Kabir Chowdhury , Abu Hena Mostafa Kamal, Rashidul Hasan, and Anwar Pasha.
The Guardian: Would you comment about the academic performance and results of the college?
Principal: Blessed with such eminent scholars, Edward College has become a fertile breeding ground of innumerable talented students who have been contributing with their brilliant performance at home and abroad. The results of Honours and Master’s Examinations are quite satisfactory. A good number of students from different disciplines obtain first class and a good GPA every year. Occasionally, students of some departments secure positions in the merit list of National University.
The Guardian: We have come to the end of interview. We really had a very pleasant session. Now to conclude, what message would you like to leave for the teachers, students and the next generation?
Principal: I do believe that education is not just an accumulation of informative knowledge; the true education instills visionary and moral attributes into an individual making him capable of meeting the challenge of the practical life. I am optimistic that the students of Government Edward College will engage themselves to be illuminated with the spirit of true education and competent to face the challenges of the 21st century.
Government Edward College has academically brilliant and well-trained teachers. I hope they will exert their whole hearted devotion to the building of a prospective generation for the nation.
The Guardian: Would you mention the names and tenures of the Principals of Govt. Edward College till to date?
Principal: Of course, here are their names and tenures.
Profile of Principal Dr. Huda
Professor Dr. Naied Md. Shamsul Huda is the 46th principal of Edward College in chronological order of the principal. He has ornamented the position of Principal of Govt. Edward College from the 5th of February 2011. He was born in Sonatola village under Pabna district in 1957. Educated on Botany with distinguished results, he started his teaching career as lecturer in Botany at Patuakhali Govt. College.
Side by side teaching in different colleges, he held some important positions in education administration on deputation. He worked as the founding principal of Rajshahi Model School & College. Professor Dr. Huda obtained MS in Botany with thesis titiled ‘Physiological Basis of Struggle with Rice Vermin’ under the condition of Krasnoyarsk Region in USSR. He completed Ph.D. Degree titled ‘In Vitro Propagation and Somaclonal Variation in Chickpea (Cicer Arietinum L)’ from Rajshahi University.
He has written 5 abstract articles and more than 20 research articles, which are published in different nationally and internationally recognized journals. His publications made substantial contribution to different critical branches of Botany. He participated in a good number of seminars at home and abroad.
Dr. Huda has already visited almost 30 countries including Russia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Poland, Rumania, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Sweden, Italy, Germany, India and Malaysia.
He is happily married to Morsheda Begum who is also a teacher. He is blessed with two sons. His elder son, Md. Monjur Morshed PHD, is a Lecturer in Economics at Comilla University. His younger son, Md. Nazmul Morshed is an MBA and currently running a business enterprise.
