Bangladesh experimented with its education system many times in the past. Every time it found faults with the old system and adopted a new one with many changes. But the reality is that those changes did not bring any good to education at all.
The mess has piled up, especially, in the mainstream Bangla-medium education system. Students are being asked to read more books and sit for more examinations. They are virtually being tortured in the pretext of imparting more knowledge to them. Merit is judged on the basis of what students get in the examinations as grades.
In the primary classes also, students are being asked to appear in one kind of public examinations. They are being graded as good or bad depending on what they get in the centrally-conducted public examinations. Up to the 12th class, the students are to sit for a minimum of four public examinations, starting with one in the fifth class and ending in the 12th class - with two examinations in between class eight and class ten. This type of exam-dependent education system is keeping students always under pressure. They only memorise lessons that they expect in the examinations. Good grades depend on what they can write from the so-called textbooks they are taught in the classrooms.
Classroom teaching has taken a back seat and given way to private coaching that is conducted for money by the very teachers who are supposed to teach the students in the schools. The present education system has led to two things: students memorise books or lessons for examination and get tutored by private teachers by paying money.
Schools and colleges have lost their past glory and they are no longer in a competition to earn name and fame. Almost all schools and colleges are being funded by the government in one way or another.
In our student days, the government assistance to schools and colleges was very little, but they competed against each other for imparting quality education. Each of them excelled in its own way. There were many famous schools and colleges.
Academic results based on scoring percentages have been changed to alphabetical grades like A, B, and C. Getting 'A' grade seems to have been made very easy. Every year, thousands of students are getting so-called 'Golden A' or 'A+', but these results are taking them nowhere. It has become difficult to identify who are really better students among the so-called 'Golden A' holders. Now everyone seems to be a good student but few are really good.
Many more students are being enrolled in schools and colleges, but the irony is that quality of education has gone down. Our schools and colleges are producing more so-called educated persons, but unfortunately they are not producing good human beings. People's perception is that more a person gets educated the more crooked he becomes.
Bangladesh is one of the most corrupt countries in the world. Who are the corrupt persons? It is observed that the so-called educated persons are more corrupt than the ordinary people. It all means, our education system has failed to infuse moral values into students which would inspire them to stand against or fight corruption.
As the Bangla-medium education system is overburdening the students with too many books and too many examinations, many guardians are now opting for English-medium education for their sons and daughters. In Bangladesh, English-medium education means foreign academic institutions prepare syllabus and conduct examinations. Every year, increasingly a large number of students from Bangladesh are appearing in the British academic institution-conducted 'O' and 'A' level examinations. But this education is available in urban areas and for the rich people's wards only. That is, the scope of escape from the Bangla-medium education system is limited. In the last two decades, dozens of English-medium schools have come up and the demand for this system of education is still there. The English-medium schools are choosy in selecting students for admission. The wealth of parents or guardians is the deciding factor for getting admission into these schools. Some English-medium schools in the Dhaka city charge unbelievably high admission and tuition fees. But there is no regulation for these schools with regard to monthly tuition fees.
The writer is Professor of Economics, University of Dhaka. abuahmedecon@yahoo.com
The messy education system
Abu Ahmed | Published: November 06, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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