HSC success rate, too, takes a hit for 'standardisation of examination method'

The effort to standardise the evaluation of answer scripts and students' bad performance in English papers have compounded the poor pass rate in this year's HSC examination, according to the experts.

Shahidul Islambdnews24.com
Published : 23 July 2017, 09:49 PM
Updated : 23 July 2017, 10:28 PM

The HSC pass rates dropped to 68.91 percent this year from last year's 74.7 percent.

The number of students who have secured grade point average or GPA 5 has also fallen by 20,307 to 37,969.

Poor grades in humanities, arts and business administration subjects have also been blamed for the fall in total pass rates.

In reply to a question about what changes have been brought in the evaluation system this year, the education minister said, "The same method was used in the last SSC examination."

The new method ensures that the chief examiners check the scripts, according to Nahid.

As part of the new evaluation method, the government trained chief examiners, who then trained the examiners.

"The chief examiners set a guideline for evaluating answer scripts before forwarding them to the examiners," Nahid had said after the publication of SSC results in May.

Inter-education board coordination subcommittee Exam Controller Tapan Kumar Sarker spoke to bdnews24.com about the fall in pass rate after the results were published on Sunday.

According to him, the overall pass rate has dropped due to the new method to examine answer scripts and the rise of failing grades in English and some other subjects in all the education boards.

The education ministry, however, is not surprised with the drop as it had assumed the change in evaluation system could lead to a fall in the pass rate.

"We were ready for this after the steps were taken to change the evaluation method. The scripts should be examined properly…Our target was the proper evaluation," Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid said.

Professor AM Masudduzzaman at Dhaka University Institute of Education and Research (IER) says it seemed to be a sudden result debacle, but this year's results are providing the 'real standard'.

The university's Professor Emeritus Serajul Islam Choudhury said what happened previously was a 'very bad job'. He emphasised increasing the standard of English teachers.

The pass rate in English dropped in eight of the 10 boards.

'Proper evaluation'

Education Minister Nahid has admitted that there had been negligence on the part of examiners and faults in the evaluation method beforehand.

What he said is that the difference between scores was more in the past because the examiners cared less to check the answer scripts, hurting scores of some students while some others got higher scores than they deserved.

"We want the proper examination of scripts. The pass rate will depend on the activities of the students. But giving numbers without checking scripts cannot be accepted in any ways. And such practice cannot bring a good future," he said.

After receiving the results from Nahid, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said what percentage of examinees have passed is not as important as providing ‘guidelines’ to students at this stage of their academic career.

She also backed Nahid's claim that change in examination method caused the drop in the pass rate.

"I hope we will overcome this situation," she said.

Inter-education board coordination subcommittee Chairman Professor Mahbubur Rahman told bdnews24.com: "There is fear of getting caught of bungling work of script checks among the teachers after toughening the evaluation system. Because 12 percent scripts had to be re-evaluated and the examiners were held accountable."

He hoped the students and their guardians will be alert from next year and the results will be 'alright'.

Prof Mahbub said English and math grades determine results in Bangladesh.

According to him, the pass rate in Dhaka board would be 73 percent if the success rate in English did not drop by 10 percentage points. The overall pass rate in the board was 69.74 percent.

Dhaka University IER teacher Prof Masudduzzaman said when something like the drop in pass rates happens suddenly, it has to be understood that there had been problems beforehand.

"It seems that the government has moved away from the policy of showing good pass rates by giving more numbers. Now it is instructing the teachers on examining scripts properly," he said.

"It seems to be a debacle, but actually this is the real standard," he added.

He also said this method should continue.

'Need for quality teachers'

Prof Serajul Islam Choudhury of Dhaka university's English department told bdnews24.com that the high number of failing grades in English in this year's HSC exam can not be rationalised as the system of English education has not been changed.

"Then why has the pass rate dropped?"

Prof Serajul said: "Why the pass rate was too high previously? Because the evaluation system was different. That was a very bad job."

He said the standard of teachers will have to be raised through training and appointment of competent teachers.

In his words, "the results get priority now; no one thinks about what the students are learning."

"The learning method has shifted from classrooms to private coaching centres. Learning other than in classrooms is never proper. And it's not happening now," he said.

According to Prof Serajul, "only the rich are buying education now."

"Creating hullabaloo over results is a matter of shame. The exam is a continuous process...why should we create hubbub over this?" he asked.