Wit the Eid days coming to an end, I finally decided to pay my choto khala a visit last Monday. Traveling always makes me weary and cranky, and I hesitate visiting relatives who live far from my home. “As the eldest son in our family, it is your responsibility to keep in touch with everyone,” scolded my mom as she kicked me out of the house.
The two little 16-year-olds at my choto khalas place always cheer me up and greet me in the warmest of ways. They shower me with stories of what happened at school, at cricket practice, what the neighbors did and what they are planning to do in the next few days. During my last visit, I got to spend more time with them as khala and khalu weren't home. What I didn't expact was how they astounded me with saddening tales of our national education system.
To those who have followed the British (British Council) or American (GED) curriculum, you have had a much safer and stable education life, being well guided and under strict supervision. The national curriculum, on the other hand, is compromised in so many levels that it is incomprehensible from head to toe.
I could see the stress and tension in my little brothers' eyes, a clear sign of exhaustion imprinted on their faces, and upon asking, they opened up to me about what's been happening in their school lately. The teachers, almost all of them, provide private tuition for the students, and the students join in flocks for they have no option but to. “I failed in the first term in physics. Ammu was really mad at me for weeks so I studied hard for the second. But no matter how much I tried, I failed at my second attempt as well” said the youngest. “I recently joined my physics teachers coaching center and I've been doing well in the class tests.”
The students, who were yet to join the coaching centers, kept suffering. But no matter how many times they drastically fail in the first two terms of the year, the teachers miraculously train them so well during private tuition sessions that they are bound to pass. “Last year, 46 students, who barely passed in Bengali in the first and second term, passed with a grade of 'B'- all at the same time” said the eldest of the brothers.
The whole structure of the national curriculum is unstable. The teachers, despite annual training workshop in specialized training centers provided by the government, are still fail to bring in the improvement in practice.
With this going on, the students on the other hand, are losing interest in learning. With their focus entirely concentrated on passing and qualifying to the next class simply by joining the coaching centers, all they are learning is how to use vulnerable situations to their advantage. This not only creates less effective batches of students graduating every year, but those who come from an economically deprived family but have exceptional talent, will die in the stampede as the competition stagnates.
Even though the night ended on a different note, a much more jolly and suitable a conclusion that day, I still couldn't stop thinking about it on my way back. I asked my choto khala when she returned home, why she supported and encouraged this and doesn't take this to the school authority. To this, she replied, “The school does not take responsibility for anything that happens outside the premises. And the teachers have always received some some form of an offensive statement when questioned of their responsibilities. As far as I can see, I don't have many options at hand.”
This structure, developed over years of dishonest practices, has embedded itself in the very core of our curriculum. And now this unstoppable infection is affecting the future of our nation. A majority number of students in our country are studying under the national curriculum and they are all victims of this negligence.
Every nation hopes to see a better future through the following generation which is entirely in the hands of the students. After this, I think I'll be happy just to see some light at the end.
