THE government is considering holding public exams without any gap excepting public holidays in efforts to check question paper leaks. The committee formed by the Education Ministry to investigate the question paper leaks during this year’s Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) examinations suggested changing the system of holding public exams over a long period with significant gaps between two exams, as per a report of a local daily.The Education Boards should plan two exams a day or at least one without any interval excepting public holidays, it said in a report submitted to Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid on Sunday.Meanwhile, some guardians expressed concern over the recommendations.” It would be a huge pressure on them,” said Nasima Akhter, whose child is studying in Class-VIII in a city school. Even if the government considers this a way to check question paper leaks, it will not end the problem as the committee failed to identify who had leaked the question papers and how, she said. “The students would be in trouble.”The probe body could not find out the specific source of the leaks or identify the people involved. It, however, found leaks of Mathematics Part-II question paper of the Dhaka Education Board. It suggested printing the question papers in presses other than the Bangladesh Government Press, increasing the penalty in the Public Examinations (Offences) Act 1980 (Amended 1992) Act, and lessening the number of subjects in the public exams.The probe body does not have the courage to identify those responsible for leaking question papers, because they are powerful persons and education is one of the most corrupt and ill managed ministries. It is a big disappointment that the Education Minister Mr. Nurul Islam Nahid does not know what is happening in his Ministry. He defends the indefensible. Everybody knows that some private universities exist only in name. There are no competent teachers and these universities are good for selling degree certificates. But the Education Minister had no difficulty in questioning the findings of the Transparency International of Bangladesh that the degree certificates are sold by some private universities.We ask the Education Minister, if we may, to visit some of the private universities and he will see for himself that some such universities simply do not have facilities to provide graduate level education. These universities were allowed under political pressure for running money making business feeling unconcerned about the future of the students. We hope next time TIB will undertake special investigation into the situation at government or public universities. They have good teachers but most of them are political activists. The government also use these universities for recruitment of students as musclemen of the party. So our education system is being ruined by politics of the unprincipled and incompetent persons. The politics is at the root of all our problems. Yet all of us cannot betray with the people.
