THIS is alarming that the central library of Jagannath University, a space envisioned for research, intellectual growth and academic inquiry, has now turned into a breeding ground for seekers of public jobs. What should have been a sanctuary for learning has been overtaken by the race for job security, social prestige and financial stability promised by public service employment. Every morning, long before official hours begin, students queue outside the library to claim a seat, not to study academic texts or research papers but to memorise guidebooks, rehearse old civil service question sets and leaf through monthly magazines on general knowledge. Although the library holds about 30,000 printed volumes and extensive digital journals, the resources remain largely underused. Many students who seek space for genuine academic reading are pushed out, unable to compete with the job-seekers鈥� early arrival. The librarian admits that while resources are sufficient, the lack of space and direction has allowed the library鈥檚 purpose to drift. Academics, meanwhile, caution that this transformation reflects a deeper malaise, an education system that rewards rote learning and conformity over knowledge creation and intellectual engagement.
The situation at Jagannath University is far from being unique. It mirrors a long-standing reality across most public universities, including the University of Dhaka, where central libraries and study spaces have gradually been taken over by government job aspirants. For years, this has been accepted as an unspoken norm, a reflection of both students鈥� anxiety over employment and the institution鈥檚 failure to connect education with employability. At a surface level, the problem begins with students who, rather than deepening their academic understanding, spend their university years memorising facts to clear competitive examinations. This reduces higher education to a preparatory phase for an entry to bureaucracy, draining curiosity and academic motivation. But the larger crisis lies in how this trend hollows out the very function of universities: instead of producing thinkers, researchers or innovators, they are turning into feeder institutions for clerical roles. The resulting knowledge gap is profound, a generation of graduates who may pass examinations but lack the analytical and practical skills to contribute meaningfully to national or global progress. The solution demands more than disciplinary reform. Universities should reorient curriculums towards research, problem-solving and field-based learning while recruitment systems should diversify beyond the public sector to value specialised expertise. Without such shifts, higher education risks becoming a conveyor belt of conformity rather than creativity.
Universities should urgently confront this distortion of purpose. Libraries need to be reclaimed as spaces of learning through structural reform, stronger academic guidance and renewed research incentives. At the same time, national employment policies should expand opportunities for skilled graduates beyond public service. Unless higher education reclaims its intellectual focus, the country risks losing a generation鈥檚 capacity to think critically, innovate and lead in a changing world.
