THE education ministry has decided not to hold the remaining Higher Secondary Certificate and equivalent examinations deferred in the changed reality that had emerged in the middle of July out of the student protests seeking reforms in civil service job reservations. The examinations were scheduled to begin on June 30 and end on August 21. But no examinations could be held after July 16 when the government closed all schools and colleges at night after the death of at least six protesters in attacks by armed Awami League front people and law enforcement units earlier in the day. After the overthrow of the authoritarian Awami League government on August 5, the interim government, installed on August 8, decided to resume holding the deferred examinations on September 11. The ministry in the morning on August 20 finally decided to further defer the examinations by two weeks and halve the examinations marks in the interests of the candidates who have been busy for more than a month and a half taking part in the student protests which brought about the downfall of the Awami League government and managing post-August 5 situation in many cases.
Several hundred candidates who rejected the plan for two weeks鈥� deferral of the examinations entered the secretariat and demanded that the authorities should, rather, not hold the remaining examinations. The students had held protests at places for a few days to press for the cancellation of the remaining examinations. They were unwilling to take the remaining examinations because they took part in the protests, which had kept them off studies for a month and a half. Many of them became wounded and were still being cared for in hospital. Many of them had a vision loss or were still at risks of losing their vision after being hit in the eyes with bird short. They were busy managing road traffic and conducting market oversight. The students who have gone through such a bad time could naturally be unwilling to take the remaining examinations. But, the authorities giving in to the students wanting a half of the higher secondary examinations cancelled is unfortunate. The students not willing to put their merit to test in public examinations contradicts the spirit of the student protests that wanted to put merit above anything else in public service jobs. The government leaders should have been able to impress on the students that what they were arguing about was going against what they had fought for. Besides, the voice that they raised hardly represents the voice of about a million and a half students taking higher secondary and equivalent examinations this year. Many students are reported to have lamented the government decision as this would leave a bad mark on their academic life.
The government decision on not holding deferred examinations appears populist and such decisions can hardly improve any governance, let alone education governance. This is a bad sign.
