Dear Editor,
When we spoke with the teachers who examined the SSC papers, they said that they had to give exorbitant marks on the papers, and now it is an open secret.
There is hardly a family that has not heard as much from a teacher, and some from more than one teacher, and examiners as well.
I have two sons and both are studying in a reputed secondary school in Rajshahi. Last year, there were three terminal examinations held in their school. The younger one did very well in all of the examinations, but my elder one did not do well in the third terminal exam, which is an annual examination.
Yet, the incumbent government apparently wants to show what tremendous progress has been made in education, and that the pass rate has been increasing significantly every year. However, nothing substantial has been done to increase progress in the education sector.
Napoleon Bonaparte once said, “Give me an educated mother; I will give you an educated nation.” But I would like reply with: “If you give me meritorious and committed teachers, I will give you a good nation.”
Then again, has anything been done by the incumbent government regarding the recruitment of meritorious students to teaching positions in secondary education, for instance establishing PSC?
Guidebooks hinder our students from being creative and building on skills such as critical thinking and adjusting their thinking. The same is true for coaching centres. The government, however, has not taken any initiatives to stop these measures. Regarding creative questions, students are told to buy a good number of guidebooks and questions are selected from the guidebook for the SSC examinations. Students have to create nothing and they had to spend a handsome amount in this regard.
Last year, a good number of A+ holders did not even get passing marks on the Dhaka University admission test.
I, like many others, have been going to bed every night anxious about these developments in the secondary education sector.
Mawduda Hasnin Raninagar, Rajshahi
