JSC exam system needs modifications to strengthen effective role

Nishat, a student of class eight was preparing herself for her first public examination - Junior School Certificate (JSC) for the first time in 2010. She did an excellent result in class 7 terminal exams even though her maturity level was not high enough to understand the importance of studies. But this time in class 8, she faced a grave pressure on her shoulders taking a lot of pain to complete a big syllabus-- understanding the full text of all subjects within 67 months of short preparation period. After the JSC exam result, Nisha faced a nervous breakdown as she couldn't secure GPA 5 lacking only 5 marks in Social Science, having no optional subject (40+ marks) for additional help. The bottom line is that many students like Nishat have to bear with such agony before and after the JSC examination. Nightmares of such students change into its devastating form if due expectations do not meet with success. Bangladesh has improved in the education sector over the last one decade immensely. The creative question-answer method has been proved to be blessing for the students as it gives retirement to the rote learning and short-cut strategies for the learners. However, many educators, parents and students have laid too much emphasis on the drawbacks of JSC exam preparation and its system. At first, our eyes are fixed on the insufficient time span for a public exam at junior level. While writing this article, the JSC and JDC have been taking place throughout the country as scheduled from November 01 to 21, 2011. The students had only 67 months to get prepared for this exam. The time is curtailed by delayed textbook handovers, public holidays, political strikes, SSC and HSC exam centre interferences and so on. The problems with JSC begin with the time of an academic year. As students don't get enough time to complete a vast syllabus of 9 subjects, it is also difficult for teachers to complete syllabus on time. For example, Bangla First Paper has 32 lessons whereas English First Paper has 80 lessons. Students attend classes at coaching centres in order to complete the syllabus. Moreover, students of this level do not grow up with maturity. Even though they have the full potentiality, they face drop out curse or poor mark scar in the certificates for life. Besides, this year JSC students of 15,37,422 from schools and JDC students of 3,23,691 from madrasah are appearing in the exam in the uniform question papers throughout the country. This will a big challenge for the underprivileged students of remote areas even to pass the exam as we haven't got uniform teaching standard in Bangladesh. Government should come up with immediate solutions. To create ample time for the preparation of JSC, the academic year should follow the system of SSC and HSC where students get two-year academic year each even though their maturity level is higher than JSC level. In addition, the education ministry retreated from applying the school based assessment (SBA) in JSC level fearing the corruption of teachers, instead of introducing regular external school inspections system. The marking system under this assessment was 30 marks : 5 on Class Test, 5 on Home Work, 5 on Class Work, 5 on Assignment, 5 on Oral Test, 5 on Attendance. Many educators also propose to add more 5 on the behavioral aspects. Another important concern that has not been yet given priority to junior level is optional subject. In the case of SSC and HSC, a student can ensure his CGPA even if any of their subject scores has run short of few numbers by adding the marks of optional subject. The idea of optional subject marks could be helpful for the students like Nishat. Last but not the least, teachers are asked to evaluate 18 lac + examination copies within one month which is nearly impossible if justice has to be maintained. We should not forget that our teacher-student ratio is still 1:50. So stipulated one month time will do nothing but injustice to students to a great scale. Few years ago students had to depend on their teachers. They only learn those issues that were selected by teachers. So they were habituated to shortcuts and rote learning. However, the total scenario has changed greatly. Now students are reading the textbooks thoroughly so that they can answer any question under creative question-answer method. Moreover, regular taking of external examinations has made the students' minds at ease. Many students are no longer afraid of exams. There is no alternative to public examinations but to improve quality of education. But the goal of this kind of examinations can't be achieved if we fail to ensure good teaching staff with proper application of assessment for learning reducing the poor teacher-student ratio. Every certificate exam, no matter what level it belongs to, is capable of bringing about a great success in anyone's life. So the JSC examination system should be among the priorities of the government during the revamping our education system. The writer can be reached at jamdani85@yahoo.com