Calls to improve quality of education after satisfactory results

With no major fall or increase in success rates and no allegation of question paper leaks, teachers, students and parents are happy with the results of school certificate examinations for fifth and eighth graders.

Shahidul Haquebdnews24.com
Published : 31 Dec 2019, 09:27 PM
Updated : 31 Dec 2019, 09:28 PM

Educationists say ensuring quality education should be in the focus now and the government agrees.

Education Minister Dipu Moni sees some “positive sides” of the results released on Tuesday. The government is trying to bring a qualitative change to the education system and improve the standards, she said.

The education minister accompanied by Deputy Education Minister Mohibul Hassan Chowdhoury shared the results of the Junior School Certificate and Junior Dakhil Certificate exams for the eighth graders at a media briefing at the Secretariat after handing a copy of the findings to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

The pass rate in JSC-JDC exam is 87.9 percent this year with 78,429 students bagging GPA-5.

The pass rates in Primary Education Completion and Ebtedayee examinations have declined to 95.5 percent and 95.96 percent respectively - slight falls blamed on changes in the evaluation method.

In the PEC exams, 326,088 students have secured GPA-5, while 11,877 Ebtedayee students have achieved GPA-5.

State Minister for Primary and Mass Education Zakir Hossain presented summaries of the results to Hasina.

The prime minister congratulated the students on their success. “We want to serve modern technology-based education. Our goal is to have such an education system that will enable our children to keep pace with the era,” she said.

Dipu Moni urged everyone to assist the government in ensuring the students nurture their merit rather than celebrating GPA-5, the maximum grade point, in public exams.

The “madness” for GPA-5 is ruining the students’ lives, she said and added: “In fact, we should not think about GPA-5 at all. We should ponder if the students are learning with fun and are able to tap their potential."

The decision to evaluate eighth graders in JSC, JDC exams on a scale of GPA-4 instead of GPA-5 is likely to be implemented in 2020, she noted.

Educationists have for years also pointed to the competition the students are facing in class five. Many have called for scrapping the PEC and Ebtedayee exams altogether.

State Minister Zakir blamed the guardians for being too anxious about the results. He said Hasina wanted to retain the public exams for the fifth graders, but she has asked that the tests be relaxed.

“We are looking for ways to ease the exams so that there can be no anxiety,” he said.  

Rasheda K Choudhury, executive director of Campaign for Popular Education, said Bangladesh has made progress in pass rates, but now it was time the government worked for improving standards of education.

She also called for more investment in education and a legislation to ensure quality education.

Ziaul Kabir Dulu, chairman of guardians’ organisation “Obhbhabok Forum”, also pitched for investment and a separate law on education to ban guide books and ensure that the students need not learn their lessons outside the classrooms.

“Steps must be taken to put an end to corruption in the education sector. The entire budget allocation for education must be used for the sector,” he said.