Alaul Alam :
It is really good to see every year the number of students obtaining GPA- 5 in the public examinations is surpassing the record of the previous years. Recently, the result of Higher Secondary Certificate Examination (HSC) has published. This year, the number of students who obtained GPA-5 in HSC exam has jumped significantly. Sources say that around 1.89 lakh students achieved GPA-5 this year. In comparison to the previous year result 27,362 more students have achieved GPA-5. In 2019, the number of students who got GPA-5 in HSC was around 47, 286 which saw a significant jump in 2020 as some 1, 61,807 students got GPA-5 in HSC exam. However, the question is very pertinent that can the unprecedented pass rate along with a huge number of GPA-5 guarantee the quality of the country’s education? Debates are all around how far our education is contributing to enhancing students’ efficiency.
Many of us often criticize that our education sector is not making learners; rather it is producing examinees and certificate holders. In the whole education procedure students are prepared for examination and there hardly remains any headache to ensure quality education for students. Students, teachers and guardians are all emphasizing good grades. It seems that the true meaning of education lies in achieving good grades. Certainly, none can deny the importance of achieving good results in the examination. But can it be the sole aim in receiving education?
It is obvious that Bangladesh has made remarkable progress in education sector over the last some decades. The number of students receiving education in all education levels has increased significantly. The government has achieved tremendous success in case of student enrollment in primary and secondary levels of education. Apart from public universities private universities and colleges affiliated with National University are contributing to expanding tertiary education in the country.
More often there raises a huge criticism from different angles that the quality of the country’s primary education is not satisfactory yet. Studies show that more than half of primary school students do not have the desired level of competence. Many students cannot read out Bengali uninterruptedly. In most cases, they show the poor competence in English and Mathematics. According to many experts, lack of proper classroom teaching, high student-teacher ratio, shortage of teachers, lack of infrastructure, and insufficient budget are the prime causes for such a gloomy picture in primary education.
Though theory and memorization-dependent education is highly discouraged in most of the countries, insignificant memorization-based learning approach is still pervading in our education. Most of the teachers encourage students to memorize the answers of some selected questions in the name of their preparation for the examination. In most cases, teachers, students and guardians center round the rat race of GPA-5 culture.
A few years back when the creative approach in secondary and higher secondary education was adopted, it was supposed that this approach would enhance students’ creativity and grow their free thinking ability. But things have not been proved in line with our expectation. Usually, students are found to go through guidebooks and memorize the answers of the creative questions. Guidebook- dependent education interrupts to discover the potential of the students. Not only that, it affects the creative faculty of the learners negatively.
It is no denial that tertiary education of the country is expected to play a pivotal role to turn the graduates into human resources. But what we see in reality that in most cases tertiary education system is unable to meet the needs of the society and the state. Public universities are busy with opening many departments to teach subjects that hardly equip students with the skills required for job market.
Certainly, producing a huge number of graduates and post graduates is not enough, unless they turn into skilled manpower. There is a gap prevailing between education and employability. The existing education gives priority to the generalization of education which hardly addresses to equip students with skilled-based knowledge.
Studies reveal that most educated youths bear much more hurdles than the uneducated or little educated that make them vulnerable and frustrated. According to a recent survey of the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), 66 per cent or two-thirds of the students who pass out from colleges affiliated to National University, remain unemployed. Educationists opine that mismatching between education and employability is the major cause for this.
However, it is time to take pragmatic initiatives to enhance education quality in all educational levels. Obviously, it will be a mammoth task unless we can ensure global standard education for our students. To this end, emphasis should be given on implementing policies than introducing more action plans.
(Alaul Alam teaches at Prime University. He is also a research
scholar at the IBS).
