Not issuing mark-sheet

Dhaka board faces contempt charge

In November last year, the apex court had ordered the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE), Dhaka, to provide a higher secondary student with his mark-sheet within a month. But it is yet to do so. The matter has now become a case of contempt of court.
The aggrieved student had earlier this year filed a contempt petition in the High Court against the BISE. On May 8, the HC issued a rule and a show-cause notice, and asked the BISE to appear before it within two weeks with a reply.
BISE officials said they would honour the court’s order and provide the mark-sheet, which is only a matter of time now.
“We have got the court’s order and would answer it. The matter is taking some time to be settled because if we provide the aggrieved student with his mark-sheet, others may also ask for theirs,” BISE controller Srikanta Kumar Chanda said yesterday.
“We have held meetings with other education boards and sent a proposal to the ministry of education to take further action to provide the mark-sheet. A decision has to be taken on how the mark-sheet should be given,” he added.
He expects the final decision to come within a week on how to provide students with the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) mark-sheets. The controller said they would appear before the HC with the show-cause notice within two weeks.
SSC and HSC students have been under the grading system since 2001 and 2003 respectively. According to the system, if a student scores between 80 and 100, he/she gets ‘A+’. Similarly, ‘A’ stands for 70-79, ‘A-’ for 60-69, ‘B’ for 50-59, ‘C’ for 40-49, ‘D’ for 33-40, and ‘F’ for 0-32 marks. Finally, each student gets a grade point average (GPA) according to his/her overall performance in all subjects.
Before 2001, students used to be marked according to the division system. Under that, a first division would stand for 1,000-600 marks, second division for 599-450, and third division for 449-330. A score of 750 would stand for ‘star marks’. The score of 80 in a subject would be ‘letter marks’. But now, a student does not have the option to know how much he/she actually scored in a subject.
Nafees Salman Khan, a science student at Government Kabi Nazrul College, Dhaka, passed HSC in 2010. But he was not happy with his results. He applied for a re-evaluation at the BISE, Dhaka, but it did not take any steps.
Finally, he filed a writ petition in HC. On April 21, 2015, the court ruled in favour of Nafees. “It’s a fundamental right of a student to get the mark-sheet. This right has been defended by the Right to Information Act, 2009, and the Constitution of Bangladesh. So, from now on, the elaborate mark-sheet has to be issued to each student and there should not be any negligence in it,” it said.
The BISE appealed in the Appellate Division against the verdict. On November 22, 2015, the Appellate Division upheld the HC verdict and dismissed the petition.
The Appellate Division order has cleared the path for students to get mark-sheets. However, the BISE did not act promptly after the verdict.

Not issuing mark-sheet

Dhaka board faces contempt charge

In November last year, the apex court had ordered the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE), Dhaka, to provide a higher secondary student with his mark-sheet within a month. But it is yet to do so. The matter has now become a case of contempt of court. The aggrieved student had earlier this year filed a contempt petition in the High Court against the BISE. On May 8, the HC issued a rule and a show-cause notice, and asked the BISE to appear before it within two weeks with a reply. BISE officials said they would honour the courts order and provide the mark-sheet, which is only a matter of time now. We have got the courts order and would answer it. The matter is taking some time to be settled because if we provide the aggrieved student with his mark-sheet, others may also ask for theirs, BISE controller Srikanta Kumar Chanda said yesterday. We have held meetings with other education boards and sent a proposal to the ministry of education to take further action to provide the mark-sheet. A decision has to be taken on how the mark-sheet should be given, he added. He expects the final decision to come within a week on how to provide students with the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) mark-sheets. The controller said they would appear before the HC with the show-cause notice within two weeks. SSC and HSC students have been under the grading system since 2001 and 2003 respectively. According to the system, if a student scores between 80 and 100, he/she gets A+. Similarly, A stands for 70-79, A- for 60-69, B for 50-59, C for 40-49, D for 33-40, and F for 0-32 marks. Finally, each student gets a grade point average (GPA) according to his/her overall performance in all subjects. Before 2001, students used to be marked according to the division system. Under that, a first division would stand for 1,000-600 marks, second division for 599-450, and third division for 449-330. A score of 750 would stand for star marks. The score of 80 in a subject would be letter marks. But now, a student does not have the option to know how much he/she actually scored in a subject. Nafees Salman Khan, a science student at Government Kabi Nazrul College, Dhaka, passed HSC in 2010. But he was not happy with his results. He applied for a re-evaluation at the BISE, Dhaka, but it did not take any steps. Finally, he filed a writ petition in HC. On April 21, 2015, the court ruled in favour of Nafees. Its a fundamental right of a student to get the mark-sheet. This right has been defended by the Right to Information Act, 2009, and the Constitution of Bangladesh. So, from now on, the elaborate mark-sheet has to be issued to each student and there should not be any negligence in it, it said. The BISE appealed in the Appellate Division against the verdict. On November 22, 2015, the Appellate Division upheld the HC verdict and dismissed the petition. The Appellate Division order has cleared the path for students to get mark-sheets. However, the BISE did not act promptly after the verdict.