Govt to announce scrapping of exams up to class three

The government will announce the scrapping of examinations from first to third grade in government primary schools as soon as an alternative method of assessment is finalised, reports bdnews24.com.

Primary and Mass Education Secretary Md Akram Al Hossain informed reporters of the matter on Sunday at the Secretariat.

"The prime minister informally announced there will be no exams up to third grade. However, no instructions have been given to the grassroots level yet," he said.

National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) has been instructed to prepare a recommendation letter about the method of evaluation for students from first to third grade after the removal of examinations, said the secretary.

"The assessment method will be set up by conducting a workshop comprising teachers, officers, academics and guardians in light of the recommendation letter by the NCTB."

"Those at the grassroots level will be instructed about when to stop the tests once the assessment method can be set up."

"We are working on the matter and the NCTB is also working on it. I will talk more on the issue after the finalisation of the assessment tools," said Secretary Akram without providing clear indications about when the announcement about the cancellation of examinations could be expected.

The public education secretary said whether or not the students will be advanced from one grade to another will be determined in the light of the assessment method.

Even after the cancellation of examinations up to the third grade, final examinations will still be held for the fourth grade and the Primary Education Completion examinations (PEC exams) will be held after the fifth grade, he said.

The government has long ignored calls from education experts who had suggested it should scrap the fifth Grade PEC examination.

Another official said that a process was underway for raising the pre-primary period to two years in order to attract children to government schools from kindergarten.

An instruction will be issued soon, he said.