The results of the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and equivalent examinations published on May 17 evoked a mixed reaction from all stakeholders. Whatever the type of reaction is, the young learners, who passed and all those who contributed to the national achievement directly or indirectly, deserve thanks. But the public perception about the results is unpalatable. People raise questions about the credibility of the results because of some factors that lead people to think that the improved results of a good number of students are not the full reflection of their merit and hard work. The factors such as question leaks, solving problems in the exam halls with the help of invigilators or fellow examinees, examiners' generosity in giving marks and so on give rise to doubt about genuineness of the high level of success of students in public examinations. Personally, this scribe does not underestimate the students' ability, because this scribe believes firmly that they possess immense power to do many good things, if they have proper guidance.
The Education Minister claimed that both the pass rate and the number of the students who passed were high because of the successful implementation of the creative question system, holding extra classes in about 8,000 schools by providing extra money to the teachers under the government project SEQAEP, use of technology in teaching and learning and extensive teacher training under different projects. All these certainly contributed to better the results of the students. Apart from the initiatives of the government, the guardians are also more careful about their children's education. Their ability and willingness to invest money in their education and a far different approach of trained teachers have contributed to the improved results, no doubt.
There is a question mark on the high pass rate and the large number of GPA-5 holders, but the better results are not unexpected. It happens, when a nation improves in the area of education. A gradual improvement in results is natural. The improved results seem unusual when there is a public perception that primary and secondary educational institutions are not functioning well and as a result, guardians have to buy education for their children from coaching centres and individual teachers to satisfy their children's needs, which could not be met by the educational institutions. Above all, there are rumours of leaks of question papers that cast a shadow on the brilliance of the students who fared quite well in the exams. The administration can take the allegations into cognizance or just ignore them by saying that there is no proof that the questions were leaked out. If the authorities take the second view, it will in future bring more disgrace to those who will pass the examinations and those who will be in charge of holding the examinations. Why will the authorities wear the crown of discredit, when they can easily avoid it?
It is easy to stop the anomalies in an examination hall. But it is difficult to fight the question paper leaks because of the deep-rooted corruption at all levels from the top to the bottom. Still there are people who are honest enough. Sometimes they remain honest even at the risk of their lives.
The leaks take place, when the questions are set. They can also be leaked out by moderators, composers, printers, distributors or packers. Probably it is not difficult to find out who are involved in the process. They must be identified and punished for the sake of establishing an improved culture of education in the country - for the sake of building a better nation.
The purpose of education is to humanise all the systems. But knowingly or unknowingly we are leaving dehumanising effects on our new generation involving them in stealing, cheating, fraudulent practices, corruption and many other unethical activities. Sometimes we, the parents and the teachers, create pressure on or encourage the learners to have a look at leaked questions or to adopt unfair means in examinations. Thus every day we are weakening the moral base of the younger generation, these practices make some offences quite normal to the children.
We, who work in the arena of education holding high or low positions, cannot avoid our responsibility. If we fail to solve the stated problems, the future generation will not forgive us. It is time to search for the honest employees to work in the important positions. It is time to rethink about some postings. Most of the people, who abuse their power for holding particular posts, do it with some ill motives. Some of them target such posts to earn illegal money or to achieve something else. Because of the connection of corrupt employees with power quarters, the administration cannot bridle them. Otherwise, how do the corrupt get saved? Are the corrupt people more powerful than the ministry of education or the government? Of course, not. They must abide by the law of the land. They have no right to destroy an established governance system and to buy infamy for the government as well as the nation.
Alternative ways can be explored to stop the question leaks. The education boards or other organisations concerned can prepare several sets of question papers and send them secretly to the examination centres just before any exam. If there are five or six sets of question papers, then in the event of any leaks the students will be confused about which one is the original set. The corrupt people then will not be able to cash in on it. The second option can be the open book examination. Students will be allowed to bring in their textbooks and other reference books. In that case, if they use the books to answer the questions, they will not get the time to answer all the questions. Thus only those who study well throughout the year will get better results and the others will just pass. The third option is assessment of the students' merit at schools. Educational institutions can be directed to assess the students' merit continuously and then send the results to the boards for tallying up the final results. The education boards can take only a comprehensive test on the whole syllabus. If students are assessed in the educational institutions, their performances in the areas of sports, music etc. can also be assessed. Of course, the options have some negative sides but we will have to have a way out.
The writer is an Assistant Professor currently posted at the Government Teachers' Training College in Faridpur.
ranjitpodder67@gmail.com
Improving standard of public examinations
Ranjit Podder | Published: May 24, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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