Educationists worry over exam load of young students January 12, 2015 12:16 am · 0 comments Mohiuddin Alamgir Academics are of the opinion that the government should scrap the Primary Education Completion Examination and the Junior Secondary Certificate Examinations as it is creating unnecessary mental pressure on children. It is important for Bangladesh to rationalise the number of public exams as students need to face four high-stake examinations — in Class V, VIII, X and XII — before they complete secondary education, and the number is more than in any other South Asian countries, a World Bank study released in March 2014 said. Dhaka University professor emeritus Serajul Islam Choudhury termed the primary and JSC examinations unnecessary that are putting huge mental pressure on children. ‘These exams just torture children. We should send children to schools to gather knowledge, but they are put through unnecessary and unfair competitions,’ he added. ‘Only seven and eight per cent children get GPA 5 while the rest retain a feeling for life that they are not capable of doing better results. Guardians also put pressure on children for higher marks,’ said Manzoor Ahmed, adviser to the Institute of Educational Development in BRAC University. Education minister Nurul Islam Nahid and primary and mass education minister Mostafizur Rahman both said that they would not scrap the exams as primary and JSC examinations in the country is boosting confidence among students about succeeding public examinations. Educationists and the World Bank study said as most examinations in Bangladesh measure memory recall of textbook contents, they neither provide a clear indication of student competence nor an incentive to develop improved teaching, nor learning practices in classrooms. The unreliability of markers and administrator also raises concern about the credibility of public examinations in Bangladesh. Marker unreliability can take many forms, including the differences between scores by the same scorers on two occasions and differences in scores for the scripts marked by different scorers, the WB study said. Bangladesh’s education system is heavily reliant on examinations to assess students. They take the primary exam on completing Class V, the JSC examinations on completing Class VIII, the Secondary School Certificate Examinations on completing Class X and the Higher Secondary Certificate on completing Class XII. In Bangladesh, the Primary Education Completion Examinations was introduced in 2009 by replacing the Scholarship Examinations and the JSC Examinations was introduced in 2010. The combined pass rate in JSC and JDC exams stood at 90.41 and pass rate in primary school exams stood at 97.92 per cent this year, according to results published on December 30. Additionally, primary and secondary schools and institutions also regularly hold mid-term and yearly exams. Some kindergartens have monthly exams as well. In Sri Lanka, according to the World Bank study, students take public examinations after Class XI and XIII, in India, Pakistan, the Maldives and Bhutan, students take public exams after Class X and XII. Nepalese students take public examinations after Class VIII, X and XII. Over the past decade, other South Asian countries have reduced the number of examinations. Bhutan has reduced the number of examinations by delegating responsibility for primary and lower-secondary examinations to schools. In India, many states previously conducted annual board examinations at the end of Class V and VIII to determine who would be promoted. All Indian states have since banned board examinations until Class 10. Serajul Islam Choudhury, Manzoor Ahmed and Dhaka-based Abhibhabak Oikya Forum president Ziaul Karim Dulu all demanded the scrapping of both exams. They said guardians are chasing results as a result of which private tuition and coaching has significantly increased in the country. Serajul Islam Choudhury and Manzoor Ahmed both said there should be school based assessment for children on completion of class V and VIII. There should a test on the competency of students on numeracy, math and language assessment, said Manzoor. The Campaign for Popular Education executive director, Rasheda K Choudhury said high pass rate in primary and junior secondary levels do not ensure competence and quality of education. Quality of classroom teaching is still a concern, she added. The education minister and primary education minister both said the introduction of primary and junior secondary examinations had actually decreased the total number of exams for students. Earlier students of Class V and VIII had to take two exams — annual and scholarship — but now take only one.
Posted on: Mon, 12 Jan 2015 09:56:36 +0000