A 70% attendance in class will be enough to earn a student the right to appear in public examinations that are equivalent to the SSC or the HSC, the government has decided.
The Education Ministry issued a circular in this regard, saying even if a student fails in their test exams, which are held by schools or colleges as a qualification exam prior to the SSC or HSC exams, the 70% attendance would make them eligible to sit in the exams.
The circular was sent to schools, colleges, madrasas and technical training institutes across the country yesterday.
In the circular, the government also noted that some institutions often barred its under-performing students from appearing in Secondary School Certificate (SSC) or Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) or their equivalent public exams, in order to produce a 100% pass rate or ensure good results for the institution.
“Some students are not able to sit for the test examination due to illness, accidents or other causes,” the circular read, also advising educational institutions provide special care for students with “unsatisfactory performances” in test exams.
The circular also instructed institutions to evaluate teachers’ performance within a month of the publication of the public exam results.
The Education Ministry further directed education officers in upazilas and districts to report on teachers’ performance to the education boards.
Commenting on the government move, Serajul Islam Choudhury, an eminent educationist, told the Dhaka Tribune: “I think attendance is most important; if a student attends the classes regularly, then he/she should be able to appear in the exams.”
Guardians of schoolgoers also welcomed the decision, claiming that students often suffered when some institutions gave more importance to their own success rate instead of giving priority to the students’ interest.