Politicisation of education won\\\'t help

The results of this year's Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) and equivalent examinations have evoked a critical reaction among different quarters. Most of the critics blamed the political turmoil triggered in the country during the exams. Others quite correctly attribute it to the new system of preparing question papers in order to contain leakage.   

The success rate in this year's exams dropped to 69.60 per cent from last year's 78.33 per cent. A total of 42, 894 students scored GPA-5 against 70,602 in 2014. The results showed interesting features: male students outnumbered their female counterparts in terms of achieving GPA-5, the percentage of pass of female students being 70.23 and that of the male students, 69.04. It means female students in the HSC and its equivalent examinations have outnumbered their male counterparts, in terms of pass rate this year.

What is really painful is that there has been a tendency to politicise everything in the country without going into deep soul-searching. Even the HSC results this year were not spared. Whenever percentage of pass falls, there is always a hue and cry over it. Is cent percent pass an indication that our education system has improved? It may even be the reverse.

All who crave for quality education in the country will agree that the nation badly needs quality students for producing quality leaders in different fields to spur the process of development. Cent percent pass may make some quarters happy but at a heavy cost. Not long ago, the education authorities were directed to be liberal in getting students passed in exams. But sadly, this had been suicidal for the nation. We had seen how students getting GPAs miserably failed to pass even university admission tests, let alone pursuing higher studies.     

What're really behind the drop in percentage of pass in the HSC and equivalent exams this year? The ministry of education for the first time adopted a strategy this year to hold in check leakage of question papers just before the exams.  Officials related to the process say it was possible that one education board's tests being taken on the set of question papers prepared by another board contributed to the fall. The set of questions for a specific board was selected from 32 sets of question papers through lottery.

Exam controller of the Inter-Board Coordination Subcommittee Srikanta Kumar Chandra told newsmen: "Thirty-two sets of questions were prepared for 21 subjects. We were concerned that questions of these subjects will be leaked. Eight boards prepared four sets of question papers for each subject. Then the lottery decided which board will get which set."

Usually, the sets of question papers are prepared centrally. Chandra said the challenge for the students was tougher as they faced unique question paper sets, different from what they were expecting. "This has impacted the results directly," he added.

Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid, however, appreciated students' success in mathematics, science and technical education this year though the overall results registered a decline in pass rate.

The prime minister was also correct in assessing relatively poor results this year. She, while extending greetings to students who passed the HSC and other equivalent exams, attributed the fall in pass rate to political violence during the period.  The overall results would have been much better had the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)-Jamaat nexus not unleashed destructive acts during the exams, she added.

In fact, the BNP-led alliance had enforced a countrywide blockade of roads, railways and waterways since January 05. It had also called for shutdowns almost daily in February and March except on public and weekly holidays. There was no shutdown on April 01, the day the HSC exam started, but the blockade created anxious moments for students and parents. The political agitations had forced the government to reschedule this year's Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and equivalent school-leaving exams. These had to be held on Fridays and Saturdays, the weekly holidays. In fact, holding of, and participation in, examinations under such adverse circumstances were very painful and risky. But then boys and girls appeared and became successful in the exams, defying all these obstacles. This was indeed a big achievement.

It is now time for all, particularly those who preside over the destiny of students, to ensure that only really good students pass the exams to pursue higher studies in universities. For this to happen, teachers must be recruited strictly on the basis of merit, not on their political links.

Moreover, the government must stop coaching business. Schools and colleges where teachers, for making money, ignore classroom teachings and organise only coaching classes, should come under a close scrutiny and some institutions where such practice is pervasive, be closed down. There is no use of students paying twice -- once in schools and colleges and then for coaching classes. Let the education sector be run by really qualified persons. As long as it is in the grip of the corrupt, education will continue to bleed as it does now although the government spends a sizeable  amount of tax-payers' money on this sector.

arjayster@gmail.com