Abraham Lincoln's letter to his son's teacher

He will have to learn, I know,
that all men are not just,
all men are not true.
But teach him also that
for every scoundrel there is a hero;
that for every selfish Politician,
there is a dedicated leader...
Teach him for every enemy there is a
friend,

Steer him away from envy,
if you can,
teach him the secret of
quiet laughter.

Let him learn early that
the bullies are the easiest to lick... Teach him, if you can,
the wonder of books...
But also give him quiet time
to ponder the eternal mystery of birds in the sky,
bees in the sun,
and the flowers on a green hillside.

In the school teach him
it is far honourable to fail
than to cheat...
Teach him to have faith
in his own ideas,
even if everyone tells him
they are wrong...
Teach him to be gentle
with gentle people,
and tough with the tough.

Try to give my son
the strength not to follow the crowd
when everyone is getting on the band wagon...
Teach him to listen to all men...
but teach him also to filter
all he hears on a screen of truth,
and take only the good
that comes through.

Teach him if you can,
how to laugh when he is sad...
Teach him there is no shame in tears,
Teach him to scoff at cynics
and to beware of too much sweetness...
Teach him to sell his brawn
and brain to the highest bidders
but never to put a price-tag
on his heart and soul.

Teach him to close his ears
to a howling mob
and to stand and fight
if he thinks he's right.
Treat him gently,
but do not cuddle him,
because only the test
of fire makes fine steel.

Let him have the courage
to be impatient...
let him have the patience to be brave.
Teach him always
to have sublime faith in himself,
because then he will have
sublime faith in mankind.

This is a big order,
but see what you can do...
He is such a fine fellow,
my son!

Bangladeshi Students: Understand HNC and HND properly

In Bangladesh, most of the students don't understand HNC and HND clearly. That's is why, I am writing this blog to clear the concept about HNC and HND.   

What is HNC and HND?

• Higher National Certificate (HNC)  and Higher National Diplomas(HND) are higher education qualification in the United Kingdom.HNC and HND are BTEC(Business and Technology Education Council) qualification awarded by Edexcel.
• HNC and HND are work-related(vocational) higher education qualifications.While bachelors degrees tend to focus on gaining knowledge, HNCs and HNDs are designed to give you the skills to put that knowledge to effective use in a particular job.
• HNC & HND are highly valued by employers both in the UK and overseas, and can also count towards membership of professional bodies and other employer organisations.
• HNC and HND are provided by over 400 universities and further education colleges in all over the world. 
• There are many institutes available in Bangladesh who are providing HNCs and HNDs also.

Advantages of HNC & HND

• These are an International and Popular Degree in all over the world. As I mentioned earlier - HNCs and HNDs are provided by over 400 universities and further education colleges in all over the world. 
• If you want, you can take a gap after HNC or HND. 
• HNCs and HNDs are designed to give you the skills for a particular field of work,they can lead straight to a career.You can also use the qualifications to progress within your current career, for example as a stepping stone to gaining professional status.
• You can also convert your HNC or HND to a bachelors degree with extra study. Once you complete your course, HNCs can allow entry into the second year of a degree, while HNDs can allow entry into the second or third year.
• If you want to go on to higher education and gain a recognised qualification to do a specific job, a BTEC HNC or HND could be for you. HNC and HND focus on 'learning by doing' and can lead into a new career, or help you progress in your current line of work.

Qualification levels

• HNC and HND are at level 5 on the National Qualifications Framework of UK.
• On the Qualifications and Credit Framework, HNC is at level 4 and HND is at level 5. In Bangladesh, we can compare HNC with first year of Honors Levels and HND with second year pf honors level. (In UK, you can complete graduation in 3 years.So you will need extra 1 year after HND to complete your graduation.)
• These frameworks show how different types of qualifications compare, in terms of the demands they place on learners.

Admission Requirement

• To study for an HNC or HND, you will need some previous qualifications. Most HND courses require one A level (or equivalent).
• Search for a Institute who are providing HNC and HND and take admission. In Bangladesh, BAC, BiMS and Pardana College are providing HNC and HND.

Duration of HNC and HND?

• HNCs can take one year to complete full time and two years part time (or in other situations such as distance learning). 
• HNDs take two years full time and can also be taken part time (which takes longer).

Subjects available
HNC and HND are available in a wide range of subject areas, including:

• Agriculture
• Computing and IT
• Construction and civil engineering
• Engineering
• Health and social care
• Business and management
• Sport and exercise sciences
• Performing arts
• Retail and distribution
• Hospitality management

Obviously all the subjects will not be available in a Institute. First choose your subject and find out the institutes which are offering your selected subject.

Assessment Criteria:

• HNC and HND are mainly assessed through assignments, projects, practical tasks, VIVA and presentation that you complete throughout the course.
• Retakes: If you are not happy with how you did in a particular project or practical task, there are opportunities to improve your performance. Speak to your teacher or tutor in the first instance.
• Appeals: If you are still not happy with the mark or grade you got, there are appeals procedures you can follow. Again, speak to your teacher or tutor for more advice.

Conversion
You can also convert your HNC or HND to a bachelors degree with extra study. Once you complete your course, HNC can allow entry into the second year of a degree, while HND can allow entry into the second or third year.

Certificate of higher education
Certificates of higher education are academic, rather than vocational qualifications. There are broadly equivalent to an HNC, and usually take a year of full-time study to complete. They are at level 4 on the FHEQ.

Diploma of higher education

• Diplomas of higher education are similar to HND. They are accredited professional qualifications and are highly respected by employers both in the UK and overseas.
• They usually take two years to complete and offer subjects such as accounting, construction, engineering, nursing, science, technology and textile design.
• You can normally convert your higher education diploma to a degree with an extra year of study. The diplomas are at level 5 on the Framework for Higher Education Qualifications (FHEQ).

Confusion regarding Engineering Degree of Private University

In Bangladesh, many people has confusion regarding following question.

• Can a engineering student of CSE/CE/EEE/ETE/TE of private universities write 'Engineer' in front of their name after completion their graduation? 
• Are they Engineer?
• Can they call them-self Engineer?

Answer is - Yes, they can write "Engineer" in front of their name if they have IEB (Institute of Engineers Bangladesh) accreditation. IEB is the the association of profession engineers in Bangladesh.

IEB has a list of requirements when a university applies for accreditation. IEB team comes and sees course outlines, books, talks to faculty members, then decides to give accreditation. For example, Computer Science & Engineering(CSE) department of BRAC University has got IEB accreditation in 2007. So CSE student of BRAC University can introduce themselves as Engineer. But to write "Engineer" in front of their name, they have to join IEB as a member after getting IEB accreditation by his/her department of the university.

Conclusion is –

• If the engineering degree of a university has IEB accreditation, then the students of that degree can call themselves as Engineer. And they are Engineer.
• But if you want to write Engineer in front of your name, then first you have to check whatever your engineering degree has IEB accreditation or not? If yes, then in second step you personally have to join IEB as a member. After that you can write engineer with your name. 

Conversation Decorum and Mechanism

We, human being are use to live by following the rules of Allah(God) or Natures. Rules are everywhere. To live, we follow the rules of Allah. We follow many rules in our educational and professional life as well as every family has their own set of rules.

There are some rules during conversation also. I have seen my few students who don't know the conversation decorum correctly.They are students, so this is acceptable. But how can I ignore those professional people who has more than 5 years of experience, but they don't know about conversation decorum.  

Conversation decorum or mechanism are,

• When you talk to someone, let other to talk also. (There are some people who like to talk much rather then listening to others which is very bad practice)
• Don't stop or interrupt when someone is talking to you. Give opposite speaker equal chance to explain his/her point of view.
• Maintain eye-contact when someone is talking to you so that he/she feels that you are giving importance to him/her. 
• Try to understand others point of view. If you have separate point of view, then explain it properly to others during your time slot.
• Don't follow same conversation mechanism for all type of people. (Obviously conversion mechanism with my employees will be different from the conversation mechanism with my students. If I maintain same conversation mechanism for my employees and Students, then it will not work properly. Because my employees has crossed their student life before and they have professional experience also. So conversation decorum or mechanism will be different)
• Show proper respect to your senior and junior colleague during conversation so that you can receive same respect in return.

Lecturer Vs. Software Engineer

I have experience as a Lecturer and Software Engineer. So I will be able to describe their differences properly.

Lecturer is a respectable and noble profession where we get chance to create new generation according our point of view. On the other hand, we get lots of respect from students. To them we are everything and has played very important role of their life.

Software Engineer is a profession where we build system for organization. We are the people who direct them in a digital world. We show them way to do impossible task in a single click.

The differences are -

• In our society, lecturer has more respected then Software Engineer.
• Lecturer can manage people properly compare to a Software Engineer. Because as a lecturer, we manage lots of students together. But a software engineer doesn’t manage people such a way.
• The income of Software Engineer is more then Lecturer in most the cases.
• You will not able to go to top-level position without Masters and PHD degree where as degree does not matter to go up in software companies. You just have to show your skill in software companies.
• As software engineer you are continuously learning new technologies or doing new projects which is making you mature day by day. On the other hand, we teach student depend on what we have learnt in our educational life. 
• Task of a Software Engineer is very much challenging then a lecturer. 
• A fresh graduate can be a lecturer, but a fresh graduate can’t be a Software Engineer.
• Many women are working as a lecturer, but very limited (1%) women are working as a Software Engineer. Because software engineer is complex profession.

I do respect both professions. In summary, I can say - Lecturer is a noble profession where people respect lecturer’s lots which are incomparable. On the other hand Software Engineer is a challenging profession.

Vs.

Become rich by grabbing lots of knowledge from my class

I hope most of you have seen the Indian movie named "3 Idiots". This movie was an example of receiving real knowledge from environment. I also believe in almost in same concept.

Whenever you come to my class, try to learn something from my class. Don't just focus on getting marks. Receive knowledge from my class as much as you can. A real education is making your self rich by gathering lots of knowledge. There are some students who focus on their area related courses only. For example - IT people focus on IT related courses and Business students focus on business related courses only. But to run business successfully, you need knowledge of both IT and business. So you should take knowledge from others area also. Lets take my case - I am completed my graduation on Computer Science and Engineering. So I am expert in the area of computer, IT, software and web development. Beside I have interest in HRM, Marketing, Physics, Mathematics, Astrology, Egyptology, Traveling, Photography etc.

So concentrate in the class properly, ask question if you are not clear and learn something from me. By sitting in the corner without understanding anything of my class will be the wasting of your and my time. I always try my best to provide you as much knowledge as I can. Thus I always provide you real life example. Sometimes I share my experience from my real life so that you can understand it in a better way.

One day, you will your educational institute after completed your degree. After that none will ask you about your marks and people will rarely check your certificate. You can express yourself by your knowledge only. During conversation people will understand how knowledgeable you are? So learn as much as you can and implement it in your real life. Remember one thing "Your body and knowledge is such a wealth which none can steal from you"

Late assignment submission tendency of students

I have given an assignment on Feb 2, 2011 to my students and deadline of assignment submission was Feb 08, 2011. Today is Feb 12, 2011, but still some of my students are submitting assignment.

I have seen this earlier also. Most of the students has tendency of doing their assignment just before the deadline. And they submit assignment on the deadline or after the deadline. I have seen the same practice in the software companies also. Web developers or Software engineers give more time just before deadline and take lot of load before deadline. But why so?

Why don't you do the exactly opposite which is my practice in my regular life. Whenever I am assigned for a task, then I give full effort at the beginning and try to complete the task many days ago of deadline. And at the time of deadline, I take rest by saying my top management that I completed the task in advance. In this case, they are also happy and I am also happy because of avoiding the load of last days.

I have followed same strategy during studying in my university and working in different software companies. So according to my understanding, the way I follow is much better and safe way. Try to follow this.