Why SSC exam should be left alone

A looming fear confronts the 1.4 million examinees of the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examinations scheduled to be held from Monday, February 2, next. Over the past few years public examinations like the Primary School Certificate (PSC) examinations, the Junior School Certificate (JSC) examinations, the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) examinations have all become a casualty somehow or other on account of political programmes. The O level and A level examinees, in particular, had to bear the brunt even more than their counterparts in the Bangla medium.
The time now, though, is different from the past when hartal (strike) was enforced. This time it is non-stop blockade and both examinees, their parents or guardians, teachers, invigilators and others responsible for conducting the highly important public examinations have been keeping their fingers crossed. The lurking fear that any examinee on way to the examination centre or back home can fall victim to the senseless arson or petrol bomb attack anytime is always there.
In the past exam schedules had to be rescheduled, not once but several times, because of repeated hartals. This is no ideal environment for holding important examinations like these. But at least the exams could be completed, albeit in a staggered process. This time, there is no such luxury because the on-going political programmes are marked by surprise attacks mostly on moving vehicles. When there is no knowing who the passengers are inside a public bus, those are unleashed without prior notice and thus anyone runs the risk of falling victim to arson and bomb attacks.
At a time when candidates are supposed to be busy completing their last-minute preparation or revision of lessons, they are now worried about the security of their lives. A journey of some distance or a bus or any other vehicle ride on roads or highways is fraught with danger. Already a college student has lost his life following the injury he sustained in an attack on the vehicle he was travelling by. No wonder, impressionable minds are haunted by a fear psychosis. In such an abnormal time it is very difficult for anyone to stay normal. When the anxiety and pressure are at their heaviest on students who are going to appear in the most crucial examinations of their life so far, this extra psychological burden can take a heavy toll on them.
Now the political parties enforcing the blockade interspersed with occasional hartals are likely to announce exemption of the examinations from the purview of the political programme. This they did when as many as eight papers of the O level and A level were scheduled for January 22. Compared with the SSC examinations, those of O level and A level are concentrated in a few select places. In their range and scope, SSC exams are a countrywide phenomenon involving millions of people and a range of activities such as getting temporary lodging for examinees in a small town for about a month.
Notwithstanding the casual declaration of exam exemption, the paranoid political programmes proved too much for taking it into confidence. The British Council cancelled the examinations of all eight papers scheduled for Dhaka and Khulna divisions on January 22 last. Understandably, O and A level exams, because of the limited number of examinees, may be manageable in an emergency. But this is not true for SSC or HSC examinations. Who will guarantee that the vehicles carrying SSC examinations will not come under attacks?
Well, examinees can prominently display their admit cards but that too is of little effect if they travel by public transports. In short, even if examinees were given special treatment, their identification amidst the crowds is not a simple and easy job. In that case, common sense should dictate the terms. Better it would be to lift the blockade on all exam days. If the motive is to spare the examinees, let them breathe freely not only on the day they travel to their exam centres for exams but also when they are preparing for the same. If students know that they have been granted this much concession that on every exam day there will be no political programme, they will heave a sigh of relief.
Sure enough political programmes may wait, but not examinations which students appear at after 10 long years' arduous preparation. In the exam schedule, there are gaps and the political programmes can continue on those days. If this is followed, it will be a great favour for the SSC examinations. Now that political programmes are hurting the country's economy, let it rather than the future of students be used as a political pressure tactic. The country's education still has some way to move up the ladder before it matches the very best in the world. It should be kept above politics.
Since there is little sign that politics will overcome its backwardness in the near future, such negative programmes are likely to prevail. But education should not be fettered with such bizarre politics. After SSC, there will be HSC examinations. If the same principle of leaving public examinations alone is followed, examinees and their parents will not be required to spend sleepless nights over how they will negotiate the adverse situation during exams and the nation too will come clean on a very important issue ensuring the future of the young generation.
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