State of secondary education

As many as 87 per cent of the SSC examinees have passed this year. The rate has dropped by four per cent from the previous year. Tendencies have been noted among the powers that be that higher pass rates equals a corresponding increase in the quality of education. Common sense dictates that it is not quite true. Increasing pass rates do not always determine the standard of education. Similarly, when the pass rates fall, we cannot always say the education standard are deteriorating.
In many cases, the present system cannot properly test competency as the system is heavily dependent on memorising, The students with good grades in SSC exams are finding it extremely difficult to do well at higher levels.
In fact all the hoopla surrounding the SSC results means little as the secondary education system is in need of a complete overhaul. A recent report by the World Bank says that although Bangladesh has succeeded in providing greater educational access to its populace, 'learning is low and unequal'. Moreover, there are allegations that the teachers who check the answer scripts get tacit instructions from the higher authorities to evaluate them leniently. Also question paper leaks are a common secret.
Needless to say, to improve the quality of education is a daunting and multifaceted task. The authorities need to come out of their contentment regarding high pass rates and devise a comprehensive strategy to address the problems at schools to improve education.
According to a report published in a vernacular daily most of the SSC and HSC examinations' high achievers are not getting minimum pass marks of Dhaka University bachelor degrees' admission tests.
If this is the case then what is the significance of the huge flood of GPA-5? We need a major overhaul of secondary education to meet the country’s need for skilled, technology-savvy workers. Over the next decade, Bangladesh will have a huge working-age population and the country needs to take advantage of this demographic dividend to accelerate growth and poverty reduction.
Unfortunately currently the secondary education system is not producing student who can fit easily into a modern, information-driven economy. What the system is producing is a huge number of generalists who are often at a loss when faced with situations requiring genuine problem solving skills and critical thinking.  

Bangladesh has great potentials for rapid development if it can improve skills of the huge working-age population in the next decade. But for that to happen education quality at secondary level must improve.

 

 

State of secondary education

As many as 87 per cent of the SSC examinees have passed this year. The rate has dropped by four per cent from the previous year. Tendencies have been noted among the powers that be that higher pass rates equals a corresponding increase in the quality of education. Common sense dictates that it is not quite true. Increasing pass rates do not always determine the standard of education. Similarly, when the pass rates fall, we cannot always say the education standard are deteriorating. In many cases, the present system cannot properly test competency as the system is heavily dependent on memorising, The students with good grades in SSC exams are finding it extremely difficult to do well at higher levels. In fact all the hoopla surrounding the SSC results means little as the secondary education system is in need of a complete overhaul. A recent report by the World Bank says that although Bangladesh has succeeded in providing greater educational access to its populace, learning is low and unequal. Moreover, there are allegations that the teachers who check the answer scripts get tacit instructions from the higher authorities to evaluate them leniently. Also question paper leaks are a common secret. Needless to say, to improve the quality of education is a daunting and multifaceted task. The authorities need to come out of their contentment regarding high pass rates and devise a comprehensive strategy to address the problems at schools to improve education. According to a report published in a vernacular daily most of the SSC and HSC examinations high achievers are not getting minimum pass marks of Dhaka University bachelor degrees admission tests. If this is the case then what is the significance of the huge flood of GPA-5? We need a major overhaul of secondary education to meet the countrys need for skilled, technology-savvy workers. Over the next decade, Bangladesh will have a huge working-age population and the country needs to take advantage of this demographic dividend to accelerate growth and poverty reduction. Unfortunately currently the secondary education system is not producing student who can fit easily into a modern, information-driven economy. What the system is producing is a huge number of generalists who are often at a loss when faced with situations requiring genuine problem solving skills and critical thinking. Bangladesh has great potentials for rapid development if it can improve skills of the huge working-age population in the next decade. But for that to happen education quality at secondary level must improve.