THE incidents of dropouts is a common occurrence at our school levels. But a new anxiety has been added to this phenomenon in recent years. The number of absentees is gradually increasing not only in the classrooms at the primary and secondary levels but also in public exams; especially in the SSC examination after similar occurrences at JSC level. It results from the weakness of our education system, in addition to the socio-economic reality in which boys and girls from poor families lose their way for want of money or for a need to work for the family. But there is also a growing number of absentees and drop-outs who come from rich rural families who become addicts and thus abandon studies.
Many reasons may be at work but the fact is that in the SSC examination-2014 which began on Sunday, news reports said a total of 6,778 students were absent on the first day of the SSC and its equivalent examinations throughout the country. It may further rise on subsequent days. It obviously made parents worried.
Senior officials of Dhaka Education Board coordinating the different board examinations said a total of 3,326 students remained absent in the eight education boards, in addition to 2,400 under the Madrassah Board. The remaining 1,052 were under the Vocational Education Board. This year a total of 14,32,727 students including 7,33,202 boys and 6,99,525 girls from 27,489 institutions are taking part in the SSC and equivalent exams.
We know the SSC examination is considered as the gateway to future education. So the cause for the increasing numbers of absentees at the SSC level needs to be re-evaluated. Study reports said drop-outs at Class VI stands at 9 to 10 percent but it increases at every level upto Class X. Reports said many students disappear as they suffer from examination phobia. We have so many standard exams now like PSC (Primary School Certificate) exam, JSC (Junior School Certificate) exam and SSC (Secondary School Certificate) exams. Then we have Higher Secondary Certificate exams (HSC). There is a divergent view on the long list of standard exams that young students have to face and many tend to believe that the system must be reviewed to see whether or not these are necessary to grow youngsters.
The newly introduced creative method of examination at the SSC level is yet another cause of tension to students. There is a visible lack of trained teachers for the creative curriculum at schools. Students cannot grasp the questions successfully to write the answer strategically and especially in mathematics most students suffer the worst. We hold the view that the curriculum and the standard exams at secondary level must be easily comprehensible to students to make the ideas accessible. There must be a pressure on them to learn more but the environment must be supportive and teachers must be equally trained to lure students to seriously study. Otherwise so many exams may only encourage students to disappear from classrooms at every level. The high rate of absentees in the SSC exams reminds us once again of the need for more reforms to our education system at the secondary level.
