The Junior School Certificate examination, which is being held across Bangladesh, has gotten embroiled in controversy due to several reports of question paper leaks.
A new addition to the debacle is the English version of the question paper that is full of inconsistent sentence formation and numerous spelling errors.
On Tuesday, the examination on Domestic Science was held in centres across the country. The question paper for the subject was found riddled with at least ten spelling errors, and a number of inconsistent sentences.
Under the Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ) section of the question paper, the spelling of “Ovaries” is incorrect in question 12, and the spelling of “Deficit” is incorrect in question 13.
In question 19, “Baking” was misspelled as “Backing,” while “Salt” was misspelled as “Salf” in question 23.
Some of the errors found in the question paper
The names of medicines were misspelled in question 27. Several inconsistent sentences can also be found in the question paper.
The quality of English in this question paper has drawn a hail of criticism from students, guardians and teachers.
A parent, on condition of anonymity told the Bangla Tribune: “The JSC examination this year has become a quagmire. Those who cannot differentiate between baking and backing, and misspell a common word such as salt, are not qualified to evaluate the students.”
The parent added that people responsible for this blunder must be identified and given exemplary punishment for toying with the future of these students.
Also Read- What would you do to get leaked JSC questions?
Assistant Professor in the Department of English at University of Dhaka, Neelima Akter also criticized the quality of English in the question paper.
“A good question paper will have validity, and it should be able to evaluate the students properly. A question paper full of errors can lose its validity. The students were surely confused over the numerous errors in that question paper,” she added.
Some sentences have inconsistent formation
The DU professor pointed out that moderators tasked with checking the question paper should be held responsible for the blunder, and officials concerned should have been more careful.
“Errors in the question paper of a centrally held exam are completely unacceptable,” she said.
The Bangla Tribune made numerous attempts to reach Chairman of the Dhaka Education Board Md Mahbubur Rahman over mobile phone for his comments on the issue, but he was unreachable till the filing of this report.
This report was first published on Bangla Tribune
