Pry terminal exam makes students more coaching dependent: Study

Introduction of a public examination at the primary level has made the students more dependent on coaching apart from raising educational expenses and malpractices, says a recent study of the Campaign for Popular Education (CAMPE). The study shows class V students on average received 754 hours of coaching from different sources, including school-arranged coaching, throughout the year before sitting for the Primary School Certificate (PSC) examination. As part of preparation for the country’s largest public examination, examinees from kindergartens on average received highest 910 hours of coaching last year, while those from non-formal schools the lowest 374 hours, it says. But the figures were 783, 705 and 381 hours respectively for the examinees of the government, newly nationalised schools and ebtedayee madrasas according to the survey titled ‘Wither Grade V Examination?’ The survey was conducted among 5,375 students of 309 schools in 150 upazila or thanas across the country aiming to assess the Primary Education Completion Examination introduced in 2009. No significant difference was founded between urban and rural areas in terms of spending time for coaching as an urban student received 775 hours while a rural one received 749 hours. Of the total coaching time, 53.2 per cent was spent on school-arranged coaching, 41 per cent for private tutoring and 5.8 percent for help from the family members, according to the survey report revealed here on Wednesday last. It says one-third of the examinees received both school-arranged coaching and private tutoring, while another 28.8 per cent received tutoring from family members along with school-based coaching and private tutoring. It says 86.3 per cent schools offered coaching for class V students last year, but is was only 39.4 per cent in 2000. It shows 73.5 per cent of the primary schools surveyed made the school-based coaching mandatory for all grade V students. The coaching was made mandatory in 78 per cent government schools last year, while 76 per cent newly nationalized schools, 61.3 per cent Kindergarten, 71.2 per cent non-formal schools and 62.7 per cent ebtedayee madrasas. It shows on average Tk 8212 was spent by households on each examinee of grade V, while average monthly fee for the school-arranged coaching was Tk206-Tk180 for rural schools and Tk290 for urban schools. At the launching ceremony of the study findings, many guardians, teachers and experts demanded the withdrawal of PSC examination. However, Primary and Mass Education Minister Mostafizur Rahman, who was present at the programme also admitted the problems but said the revoking of PSC examination is not possible right now rather the existing problems should be solved to brining perfection in the examination, according to a news agency.
- biplab