THE Dean’s Committee of Dhaka University (DU) yesterday at a meeting held at the Vice-Chancellor’s office decided to hold the controversial “Gha” unit entrance exam again, Vice-Chancellor Dr Md Akhtaruzzaman said, according to media reports. The VC said 18,463 students, who have passed the test could take part in the new exam. Such a decision came following widespread students’ protest demanding cancellation of the exam held on October 12.
It was widely alleged that the entrance test was marred by question paper leaks – acknowledged by the DU. Six persons, including an admission-seeker and his father, were arrested in connection with the incident. The “Gha” unit admission test saw a surprising pass rate of around 26%, which is the highest pass rate for this unit in the last five years. As an example , the pass rate was 14.58 percent in 2015. The DU authority was also compelled to reassign a probe body on Monday to investigate the question leaks amid huge criticism. The DU authority has not yet been able to bust out the racket involved in the crime.
The law enforcement agencies found evidence that hand-written question papers for the “Gha” unit admission test was leaked 43 minutes prior to the exam, and was circulated by two admission information centres in Bogura. We have no such word to condemn the failure of the authorities concerned as they have proven themselves totally unfit to arrange a public exam smoothly.
A meeting presided by Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid in February identified six major reasons behind the leaking of question scripts. It was held a day after an investigation committee submitted its report on question paper leaks and spreading of questions on social media sites including Facebook. But so far we know, the government has not yet taken appropriate initiatives to implement its recommendations. It is widely alleged that a big amount of money transactions is involved with the question paper leakage.
We are also surprised as to how the DU has taken the decision to allow 18,463 students to appear in the entrance examination again when the overall examination process was faulty. Over 95,000 students took part in the “Gha” unit entrance exam. Why will all of them not get a chance again?
