The government plans to make sweeping changes in the national school curriculum by 2025, including the scrapping of all exams up to class 3 and no public exams before class 10.
Instead of exams, students will be graded based on continuous assessment until class 3, with annual exams starting from class 4. The Primary Education Completion and Junior School Certificate examinations may not exist in their current iteration.
Education Minister Dr Dipu Moni presented the National Curricula Framework at a press conference on Monday, following the approval of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Students of classes 1, 2, 6 and 7 will get new books based on the new curriculum in January 2023, while students of classes 3, 4, 8 and 9 will get their new books in 2024.
Students of other classes will get new books in 2025.
Under the new framework, students will not be divided by subject upon entering the secondary level. Instead, all students will study the same 10 subjects from class 6-10, before being able to choose from science, humanities, business studies, and other streams of education from class 11.
Dipu Moni said the name and grading system of the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) may also change, and the exams themselves will be based only on the syllabus of class 10, instead of classes 9 and 10, from 2023 in line with the revised curriculum.
Furthermore, the HSC final results may be assessed by averaging the results of finals exams in class 11 and 12. In line with the revised curriculum, students will only have to sit for three public exams after completing the syllabus for class 10-12..
Education Minister Dipu Moni and other top education officials of the Education Ministry and education boards at a meeting at the secretariat on Monday, September 13, 2021 | PIDThe government will start working from next year to implement the curriculum completely by 2025, including piloting of the new curriculum at 100 primary and secondary educational institutions.
The new system will formally begin in phases from 2023. The new curriculum will initially be taught at class 1 and 2 in primary schools, and class 6 and 7 in secondary schools.
"This curriculum will start for classes 3, 4, 8, and 9 in 2024. It will start for classes 5 and 10 from 2025,” the education minister said.
Besides, all educational institutions will have two-day weekends.
The evaluation processes
Before class 4, students will be graded based only on continuous assessment of their classroom performance. From Class 4-8, students will get 60% of their marks from continuous assessment and the rest from year-end exams.
From class 9-10, some subjects will be evaluated based on continuous assessment while others will require exams. From class 11-12, students will receive 30% of their marks from continuous assessment and 70% from exams.
The education minister said the curriculum has been designed to create a student-friendly and joyful learning environment, so that students can understand their lessons without pressure under the deep learning method, instead of depending on memorizing.
“The students will develop their mental and physical health through play, performing creative programs, watching, community engagement, and more,” Dipu Moni added
