Why expose students’ weakness through media?

No one has the right to judge whether or not a student who has already been awarded with a GPA 5 deserves it, especially by a television channel watched by millions of people

Recently a news video of a private TV channel went viral in the social media. The news was based on interviews with a few selected GPA 5 winners at this year’s SSC exams. The reporters tried to gauge the depth of knowledge of the GPA 5 winners. The reporters tried to come to the conclusion whether these students deserved GPA 5. The criticism about the standard of students with GPA 5 and Golden GPA at the SSC and HSC levels is nothing new. There is syllabus for SSC examinees. The students have supposedly studied their syllabus and have earned their GPA 5. Now if Independence Day, Victory Day, International Mother Language Day, capitals of different countries are in the syllabus and yet they fail to answer in their exams it is indeed a matter of worry. However is their teachers or is it journalists who are entitled to ask these questions? Well even if these are not in their syllabus as general knowledge they are supposed to know the answer to these questions. However, to humiliate them for failing to give the correct answers is deplorable. The journalists in question have crossed the limit. A journalist can quote an expert regarding the standard of education and state results of public examinations. However, they are not supposed to take examination and publish the result to the whole nation. I am pretty sure if some journalists, politicians even teachers were asked these type of questions many would fail to answer. I wonder whether the family members of the reporters and editors of the programme would have been able to give all the correct answers. These types of ‘q and a’ sessions are a poor way to measure knowledge. It is quite possible that for the students it was the first time they were on television. When suddenly asked a question any one, even adults, can panic in front of the media and fail to answer correctly.  
On the other hand, many students who have not got the GPA would have been able to answer all the questions correctly. To portray only negativity is also contrary to journalistic ethics. This one sided portrayal have not only ridiculed the students but also journalism as a profession. Simply no one has the right to judge whether or not a student who has already been awarded with a GPA 5 deserves it, especially by a television channel watched by millions of people.
What actually is gradual decline in the standard of students? Let us say we expect students correctly write Bangla or English sentences. Well, in the current system the students are made to cram answers to 500 multiple choice questions. In this scenario to expect all students to write correct sentences is expecting a bit too much. The system encourages the students to memorise. Memorising takes up so much time that few students can concentrate on general knowledge.
And why blame only the education system. The role of the family and the surrounding environment is crucial for a student’s development. We must remember ultimately it is the parents who have the strongest influence on a kid. In a system where cramming is everything, the role of parents is all the more important in teaching children values and general knowledge. Many of us are saying that things were much better earlier. That is simply not true. I gave my SSC in 1987 and HSC in 1989. In the practical section of the science papers only a few students did the work. But almost all got nearly full marks in practical exams, even those who failed.   
I have no doubt that there are undeserving students with GPA 5. The question is whether they are stealing them. The questionable standards of evaluation and a relatively short time given to check the answer scripts are two reasons anyone can find out by having a  conversation with any high school teacher.
I have strong objections to manner in which these kids were made scapegoats in the zeal of the reporters to lambaste the standard of education. All those whose interviews are taken were apparently below 18. They were not adults. Denigrating and humiliating children is not simply unethical it is illegal as well, especially if it is done openly. Student shaming can’t be condoned in any way.
Most of the teachers in this country are not ready to acknowledge their shortcomings. Barring a few exceptions the failure of students can directly be correlated with the incompetence of teachers. I am quite sure that if these quiz type questions were suddenly asked, many teachers would have failed to answer all of them.
Hundreds of thousands of people have watched the programme on television or the Net. The parents, relatives, classmates, friends of the interviewees have watched the show. Naturally the students have continued to face humiliation. The flaws in our education system are many, but the students are the victims here. Why go after the students? The people interviewed whose faces weren't even blurred in the video are going to be bullied and made fun of. A deep sense of inferiority may have engulfed them. It may well be they are being addressed as ‘idiots’ and ‘morons’ by many.
I am not sure whether the reporters had the permission of the parents of these kids. Even if they had the permission the reporters showed blatant disregard to journalistic ethics. The parents may not be aware of child psychology or the repercussion their children may face. Here responsible journalism was conspicuous by its absence.
We have rarely if ever seen something near the chaos that is currently prevailing in the education sector. Regular changing of the curriculum, repeated mindless experimentation with the examination system, leaking of question papers, questionable evaluation of answer scripts, taking the pass rate into the stratosphere, have all combined to bring the education system on the verge of ruin. The mushrooming of coaching centres and over reliance on guide books have had a seriously adverse impact on the learning abilities of students.
On a different note the media often shows pictures of juvenile delinquents. We know that juveniles do no commit crimes they make mistakes. That is the reason why our penal code has no provision of punishment for them, they are sent to correctional centres for this very reason. When their pictures or videos are shown these establish the children as criminals and stop the way for correction.

The writer is Assistant Editor of The Independent and can be contacted at: [email protected]

 

Why expose students weakness through media?

No one has the right to judge whether or not a student who has already been awarded with a GPA 5 deserves it, especially by a television channel watched by millions of people

Recently a news video of a private TV channel went viral in the social media. The news was based on interviews with a few selected GPA 5 winners at this years SSC exams. The reporters tried to gauge the depth of knowledge of the GPA 5 winners. The reporters tried to come to the conclusion whether these students deserved GPA 5. The criticism about the standard of students with GPA 5 and Golden GPA at the SSC and HSC levels is nothing new. There is syllabus for SSC examinees. The students have supposedly studied their syllabus and have earned their GPA 5. Now if Independence Day, Victory Day, International Mother Language Day, capitals of different countries are in the syllabus and yet they fail to answer in their exams it is indeed a matter of worry. However is their teachers or is it journalists who are entitled to ask these questions? Well even if these are not in their syllabus as general knowledge they are supposed to know the answer to these questions. However, to humiliate them for failing to give the correct answers is deplorable. The journalists in question have crossed the limit. A journalist can quote an expert regarding the standard of education and state results of public examinations. However, they are not supposed to take examination and publish the result to the whole nation. I am pretty sure if some journalists, politicians even teachers were asked these type of questions many would fail to answer. I wonder whether the family members of the reporters and editors of the programme would have been able to give all the correct answers. These types of q and a sessions are a poor way to measure knowledge. It is quite possible that for the students it was the first time they were on television. When suddenly asked a question any one, even adults, can panic in front of the media and fail to answer correctly. On the other hand, many students who have not got the GPA would have been able to answer all the questions correctly. To portray only negativity is also contrary to journalistic ethics. This one sided portrayal have not only ridiculed the students but also journalism as a profession. Simply no one has the right to judge whether or not a student who has already been awarded with a GPA 5 deserves it, especially by a television channel watched by millions of people. What actually is gradual decline in the standard of students? Let us say we expect students correctly write Bangla or English sentences. Well, in the current system the students are made to cram answers to 500 multiple choice questions. In this scenario to expect all students to write correct sentences is expecting a bit too much. The system encourages the students to memorise. Memorising takes up so much time that few students can concentrate on general knowledge. And why blame only the education system. The role of the family and the surrounding environment is crucial for a students development. We must remember ultimately it is the parents who have the strongest influence on a kid. In a system where cramming is everything, the role of parents is all the more important in teaching children values and general knowledge. Many of us are saying that things were much better earlier. That is simply not true. I gave my SSC in 1987 and HSC in 1989. In the practical section of the science papers only a few students did the work. But almost all got nearly full marks in practical exams, even those who failed. I have no doubt that there are undeserving students with GPA 5. The question is whether they are stealing them. The questionable standards of evaluation and a relatively short time given to check the answer scripts are two reasons anyone can find out by having a conversation with any high school teacher. I have strong objections to manner in which these kids were made scapegoats in the zeal of the reporters to lambaste the standard of education. All those whose interviews are taken were apparently below 18. They were not adults. Denigrating and humiliating children is not simply unethical it is illegal as well, especially if it is done openly. Student shaming cant be condoned in any way. Most of the teachers in this country are not ready to acknowledge their shortcomings. Barring a few exceptions the failure of students can directly be correlated with the incompetence of teachers. I am quite sure that if these quiz type questions were suddenly asked, many teachers would have failed to answer all of them. Hundreds of thousands of people have watched the programme on television or the Net. The parents, relatives, classmates, friends of the interviewees have watched the show. Naturally the students have continued to face humiliation. The flaws in our education system are many, but the students are the victims here. Why go after the students? The people interviewed whose faces werent even blurred in the video are going to be bullied and made fun of. A deep sense of inferiority may have engulfed them. It may well be they are being addressed as idiots and morons by many. I am not sure whether the reporters had the permission of the parents of these kids. Even if they had the permission the reporters showed blatant disregard to journalistic ethics. The parents may not be aware of child psychology or the repercussion their children may face. Here responsible journalism was conspicuous by its absence. We have rarely if ever seen something near the chaos that is currently prevailing in the education sector. Regular changing of the curriculum, repeated mindless experimentation with the examination system, leaking of question papers, questionable evaluation of answer scripts, taking the pass rate into the stratosphere, have all combined to bring the education system on the verge of ruin. The mushrooming of coaching centres and over reliance on guide books have had a seriously adverse impact on the learning abilities of students. On a different note the media often shows pictures of juvenile delinquents. We know that juveniles do no commit crimes they make mistakes. That is the reason why our penal code has no provision of punishment for them, they are sent to correctional centres for this very reason. When their pictures or videos are shown these establish the children as criminals and stop the way for correction. The writer is Assistant Editor of The Independent and can be contacted at: [email protected]