THE secondary school certificate and equivalent examinations started on February 15, the written tests were completed on March 12, and the practical examinations continued until March 20, beginning on March 13, 2024. On May 12, the results came out, meaning that in less than two months鈥� time, the results had appeared.听
This year, the average pass rate was 83.04 per cent; last year, it was 80.39 per cent, which is slightly better than last year. The boys鈥� pass rate is 81.57, while the girls鈥� is 84.47. Only in three boards does the number of boys register a little bit bigger than the number of girls, while all other boards show the girls鈥� bigger number. In eleven education boards, 999,364 boys and 1,038,786 girls passed. Why does it happen? We have some assumed causes, but based on no real study or research that is necessary to be done.
In the Dhaka Board, the pass rate is 89.32; in Rajshahi, it is 89.25; in Cumilla, it is . 79.23; in Chattogram, it is 82.80; in Barishal, it is 89.13; in Dinajpur, it is 78.40; and in Mymensingh, it is 84.97. The highest pass percentage is seen in the Jashore Board, which is 92.32 and the lowest, 73.35, means 18.97 per cent less in the Sylhet Board. The mystery of this difference remains unknown to us, and this case repeats every year. We urge the authorities concerned to find out the real cause or causes of this difference through genuine research; otherwise, it does not carry any meaning or value for us. Interestingly, the board that obtains the lowest position in one year in pass percentage achieves the highest position just the next year. The nation and all concerned should know the magic as a case of learning for other boards.
Another thing we observe every year is that not a single student passes from some institutions. This number was 48 last year and 51 this year, even though all the infrastructures of these intuitions prevail equally. No convincing remedial steps have been taken to change this situation by the authorities concerned. We can learn some causes of the failure of these educational institutions because of the active roles of education journalists, who deserve thanks. The pass rate of the Technical Education Board is 81.38 per cent, even though we expect more practical-oriented work in these institutions. So, these results don鈥檛 tell us the whole story. Moreover, our emphasis should be more and more on technical education, which has also not been discerned. The Madrasa Education Board has secured a 79.66 per cent pass rate with 14,206 GPA-5 holders. In previous years, we used to see the highest pass rate in madrasas without any reasonable cause.
These results only tell us how much students can write, either this way or that way, on the examination scripts. Only writing tests, however, cannot ascertain the holistic development of the learners. Their attitude, behaviour, active participation in class work, homework, group work, doing effective assignments, and making presentations should be reflected in their overall performance, which never happens. In the new curriculum, all these elements
have been added, but the implementation process makes us frustrated. There should be a ranking process for the educational institutions, giving emphasis on how these effective means of education are being implemented and how far students are accruing benefits from them.
English and mathematics play a significant role in enhancing individual, institutional, and board-wise results. When the performance in these two subjects gets higher, the results also tilt accordingly. This year, we have not yet learned the overall situation in English. However, some newspapers have reported that in mathematics, students did not do well. Boards must develop such a mechanism that will tell the status of English and mathematics automatically when results are published. A question comes to mind: what are the roles of education boards? Just to make students fill out forms, conduct exams, and publish exam results? What role do they play in increasing the quality of education? Do they conduct any quality sessions for the teachers, head teachers, principals, and education administrators to exchange views and ideas among them? Do they conduct any surveys, studies, or research to gauge the cause or causes of enhancing the quality of education, to enhance the capacity of teachers, or to develop the quality of developing questions to make it a creative and global standard? Even controversy over examining scripts and awarding hybrid marks is frequently complained about by educationists, and real assessment remains elusive. Boards must come up with reasonable answers to this question as well.听
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听Masum Billah is president of the English Teachers鈥� Association of Bangladesh.