An HSC (higher secondary certificate) examinee under the Dhaka education board posted a copy of the leaked question paper (objective part) of accounting on his 'facebook' page at 2.33 a.m. of Sunday night.
Next day at the examination hall he and many other examinees found the leaked question paper to be similar to the one made available to them by the board authorities.
When a newspaper reporter sought comments on the issue from the controller of examinations of Dhaka Board, the latter posed a question: why should an examinee search the leaked question paper on the facebook in the previous night of his/her examination leaving the necessary preparations for the next day's exam aside?
Putting the blame on the examinee concerned, he tried to hide the board's failure to hold the examination cleanly.
Prior to the start of the HSC examinations this year, the authorities, reportedly, took a number of measures, including installation of more than 100 close-circuit cameras at the Bangladesh Government (BG) press, to stop the leaking of question papers. The Bangladesh Telecom Regulatory Commission (BTRC) was also requested to be vigilant against the leaking of question paper through the facebook. Nothing has worked.
However, only a couple of vernacular dailies carried the news about the question paper leakage and most others ignored it. Maybe the latter have found the leaking of question papers of public examinations in recent days a very common and recurring event and it does not stir up any interest among their readers.
The authorities concerned might feel aggrieved by the observation made above. But it is a fact that unpalatable events surrounding the public examinations have been taking place at a greater frequency these days. Most students and their parents and guardians are increasingly losing faith in these examinations.
Recurrent leaking of question paper and very high percentage of pass in public examinations up to the higher secondary level have raised some serious doubts about the quality of most public examinations.
These days, stories are galore in the air about the high percentage of pass in public examinations and thousands securing A-plus grade in those. Not all the stories are concocted.
But the fact remains that the circulation of the stories, true or not, does demonstrate the erosion in people's faith in the public examinations. Unfortunately, the erosion has gathered pace in recent years.
The extremely poor showing by the great majority of students in admission tests of public universities and job-seekers in competitive examinations organised by the Public Service Commission (PSC) as well as written tests conducted by the business entities or corporate bodies for recruitment of their manpower at different tiers, has been prompting many to question the quality of education at secondary and higher secondary levels or even at that of universities.
The questions about the quality of education are coming up at a time when the students are being subjected to an 'unbearable' load of curricula. Even primary level students and their parents, particularly those who live in Dhaka city, remain on their toes from morning until evening attending schools and coaching classes.
The policymakers do often talk about the poor quality of education. But they hardly take any prudent and effective move to correct the situation. What they prefer to do is experimentation. For the last two to three decades, the education authorities have been trying many schemes or programmes to 'improve' the quality of education. But overall the situation, instead of improving, has deteriorated.
Besides the weaknesses in the curricula, the quality of teaching is considered poor at all levels of education in the country. The process involving appointment and transfer of teachers, particularly at primary and secondary levels, is now terribly graft-ridden. Most private universities do not have a miniscule of full-time faculty members.
One is, reportedly, required to pay a bribe up to Tk. 0.4 million (four lakh) for a teacher's job in a rural secondary school. The monthly payment order (MPO) has made the job of teaching in a private school attractive these days. Many incompetent people have been taking up jobs in private schools by bribing some influential members of the managing committees or using his/her connections with powerful people in the locality or beyond.
One can hardly expect quality teaching from the teachers who have got jobs by bribing. The situation at the higher secondary and tertiary levels is the same, if not worse.
The quality of education now being imparted to students at different levels of education is in fact a serious issue and it deserves urgent attention of the policymakers.
There is no denying that the performance level of a section of the country's students is almost on a par with that of many developed and developing countries. But their number is not that much.
Just because of poor quality education, the country has been paying a heavy cost. But the policymakers, apparently, are not serious about taking the right and definitive steps in this connection.
Without right policies in place, the propensity among the students to leak question papers or resort to copying in examination halls or other foul means would only rise in the future. So, time should not be wasted anymore to bring about the right kind of changes in the country's whole education system.
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