Editorial
Education system at junior level
Schools must have all manner of support
At a pre-examination briefing a few days ago, Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid explained that in earlier times, a small percentage of class VIII students used to sit for scholarship exams. As the junior scholarship exams and final exams for class VIII students will not be held separately any more, teachers do not have to remain occupied with selected students without giving attention to others. The uniform exam and evaluation system will also reduce the pressure of double exams on the students.
An important economic issue is linked with this statement, that is, the government is yet to declare the number of students who will be given scholarships. The government needs to affirm whether it has decided to spend less or more money than for the previous system of primary and junior level scholarships. Besides providing scholarships the students should also be rewarded with books and other relevant materials to encourage them to enhance their reading habits. An additional matter is that students must pass the exam to get enrolled in class nine. This is a good initiative in terms of enrolling quality students for the next class, those who can perform better in further public exams.
The evaluation system must be very fair and accountable. The government should encourage students to produce answers in their own expression rather than persuading them to learn lessons by rote. It is worthwhile to mention that Training for Teachers (ToT) is a prerequisite for this. If the teachers are not properly trained they will not be able to assess exam sheets in a competent manner.
The number of students participating in the JSC and JDC shows that the total percentage of girls' participation is higher than that for boys. But the ratio should be considered separately for rural and urban areas. It is assumed that girls' participation is higher in the urban areas. In this regard, the government needs to identify gender aggregated data and initiate an advocacy campaign in the villages, where girls' participation is less. The government can also launch free education up to class VIII both for boys and girls to minimize the dropout rate. But if parents are not provided with alternatives that will make it possible for them to send their wards to school and offences like eve teasing or sexual harassment are not stopped, the dropout rate will continue to rise in future.
Students were evaluated under first, second and third divisions at the primary school exam last year. To encourage students at the lower divisions a reward system may also be launched. A student can be poor in maths but s/he can be brilliant in essay writing or vice versa. Identifying those students in a short time will not be a problem in the digital era.
The coaching business will be bolstered more as many of the students will be desperate for better results. To minimize the malpractice, the government needs to support every school through training and sufficient logistics and library facilities, even in the hard-to-reach areas, so that a massive participation of students and quality education can be ensured.
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