Bangladesh mulls auto-promotion for primary students amid pandemic

Primary schools students will be promoted to the next grade without taking any examination if schools and educational institutions across Bangladesh cannot be reopened by November, Primary and Mass Education Secretary Akram-Al-Hossain has said.

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 6 Sept 2020, 09:05 AM
Updated : 6 Sept 2020, 09:05 AM

The government has drafted two plans on how to proceed with primary education amid the pandemic, he told bdnews24.com on Sunday.

"If the schools are reopened by October or November, students will have to take their final examinations. Otherwise there won't be any final exams," the secretary said.

“You know how a student's progress is evaluated. But we can’t do any evaluation if the schools are not opened,” he added.

He referred to his own experiences as a sixth-grader in 1971 to explain why there shouldn't any problem if the government decides to automatically promote students.

“I was a sixth grader in 1971. We used to get our new books by March every year. But Bangabandhu ordered the closure of all schools and colleges in March 1971. We could not get any books. When we rejoined school in January 1972, we were promoted to the next grade automatically, it wasn’t a problem.”

State Minister for Primary and Mass Education Zakir Hossain also confirmed that the students will be promoted automatically if the schools do not reopen by November.

But the government cannot announce any decision on the matter right now as that would discourage students from continuing their lessons, he said.

Earlier, the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education decided to cancel the central Primary Completion Exam and hold annual exams for fifth graders in their respective schools instead.