Pass rates and higher grades, like GPA5, in public examinations have been significantly on the rise over the past few years.
Some educationists believe that despite the improved results, the quality of education in schools may actually be falling, while others think that pass rates are increasing due to changes in the examination and evaluation systems.
Results show that the pass rate in Secondary School Certificate (SSC) exams have increased substantially in just seven years.
In 2007, the SSC pass rate was 58.36%, while the percentage rose to 91.34 this year.
The number of GPA5 achievers also increased. A total of 142,276 students got GPA5 this year, compared to 25,732 in 2007.
On the other hand, pass rates in national exams used to stand below 50 percent about two decades ago.
In 1990, the SSC pass rate was only 22.82% in the humanities group, while it was 43.63% in the science group, according to the Bangladesh Bureau of Education Information and Statistics.
There is a debate whether the increasing pass rates and GPA5 scores mean that the quality of education has improved, or fallen.
One group of educationists think that the increasing pass rates have nothing to do with the education quality, but more to do with the changing method of checking exam scripts over the years.
Some claimed that the old philosophy of not giving full marks to examinees had also changed in recent times.
Jalal Uddin, director of Dhaka University’s Institute of Education and Research (IER), said with the increasing pass rates, a question remained on whether the quality of education was improving or falling. Jalal also claimed that sometimes, political and other external factors determined the higher pass rates.
Manju Ara Begum, principal of Viqarunnisa Noon School and College, however, said the education quality was not falling, but improving.
She attributed the higher pass rates to changes in the examination and grading systems, introduced in 2001.
“In the (new) grading system, students normally get higher marks than under the old system. And the creative question style is another thing increasing the pass rates,” she said. “I do not think that the quality is falling.”
Manju Ara also claimed that students, and their guardians, were more diligent about their studies these days, and that also contributed to better result.
“The facilities in schools have also improved and teachers’ mentality to give lower marks have changed,” she added.
Rasheda K Choudhury, executive director of Campaign for Popular Education, said it was logical to make a student pass after 10 years of schooling, but the issue of quality should also be addressed as it affects higher education.
‘I want that every one passes in the examinations,” she said, adding, “However, students with good results in public exams are not doing well in university admission tests. We must find the reasons.”
A former director of IER, who did not want to be named, opined that there should be an independent evaluation of students’ skills other than public examinations.
Meanwhile, Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid said the government was working on improving the quality of education in the country.