WHAT could be better than a welcoming sunny afternoon being a harbinger of success and hope -flooded with GPA 5 everywhere and a more than ninety percent pass rate in this year’s SSC examinations. It was difficult to find someone who has not had a success story of her or his own. But as journalists it our job to uncover the behind the scenes reality even though it may be obscured in the midst of cheers and laughters.
There are serious allegations that while achieving quantity, quality is seriously compromised. Nowadays, public examinations are contaminated and tempered by widespread question leakages and corruption which we thought we said goodbye to a decade ago. But, alas, the old not-so-good days are back again and many students are anxiously hunting for the latest leaked questions over facebook or via SMS. One could ask if this is not a disaster for a nation then what is it?
Meanwhile, some teachers from the grassroots levels observed that English and Mathematics questions were set in a way so that most of the students could answer them and lenience in answer script evaluations were instrumental in the high pass percentage. Even a few veteran educationalists have revealed their doubts in the media that in their view the increased pass rate is a political stand.
While the Education Ministry keeps shrugging off the fact, urban-rural disparity continues to persist in the education system, as reflected by the results. The gaps between rural-urban schools is said to be diminishing but some 22 urban schools remain the most high-performing ones. Only two schools that earned places among the top five institutions under respective boards are in rural areas. No schools in the rural areas could earn a place in the top five under any of the remaining six general education boards and the technical education board. The only madrassah that earned a place among the top five under the Madrassah Education Board is Sarsina Darussunnat Kamil Madrassah at Swarpukathi in Pirojpur. It has been reported that many rural schools evaluated the scripts leniently so as not to lose MPO status.
Educationists and education campaigners say that the disparity continues as urban students have access to coaching, private tuition and better guidance. Guardians in urban areas also spend more on students than guardians in rural areas do. Almost all rural schools lack physical infrastructure, educational infrastructure, laboratories, libraries, efficient and trained teachers and other facilities. There is also a lack of funds and proper management in rural areas. These all results in poor education quality. Most of the higher and higher-middle class families in rural areas were sending their children to institutions in urban areas, which is another reason of the poor results of rural institutions.
It would be unfortunate for a nation if it is indeed true that its backbone is being used for political maneuvering. Also, our nation was built upon the very ideals of equity and equal opportunity for all. The appalling scenario of urban rural disparities gives a severe blow to the very idea of equal opportunity. If a disparity of the existing magnitude continues then there will no longer be one united Bangladesh in terms of basic human rights which includes ‘Education for All.’
