Mohiuddin Alamgir
Anywhere between 60 to 98 per cent of admission seekers failed to pass the respective admission tests at major public universities and medical colleges during the 2014-15 academic session.
Most of the examinees consisted of students who passed the Higher Secondary Certificate and equivalent exams this year. During the HSC exams, nearly 78 per cent students passed the tests, with almost 30 per cent of them scoring GPA 4 and above.
Most surprisingly, over 98 per cent students failed to pass the tests for admissions to the Law faculty at Chittagong University and Rajshahi University. About 95 per cent candidates failed the test at Jagannath University business studies unit and 90 per cent failed at Dhaka University arts faculty admission test.
Students are required to score at least 40 per cent marks to pass the written 100 to 120 -mark Multiple Choice Question test.
Students must at least have a combined GPA between 7 and 8, from SSC and HSC level exams, to qualify to sit for the admission tests in the first place.
University teachers blamed the decline in the quality of education at SSC and HSC levels for the high rate of failure at the admission tests.
Dhaka University professor emeritus Serajul Islam Choudhury said that such performance was an ‘alarming sign’.
‘It shows that though students are getting good results in public examinations, the quality of education has not improved,’ he said.
DU arts faculty dean Sadrul Amin blamed the decline in the quality of education at SSC and HSC levels for the high rate of failure in the admission tests.
At the DU admission tests that completed last month, about 79 per cent of 78,300 examinees failed to pass the tests under unit A. About 90 per cent of 40,565 examinees, 80 per cent of 48,060 examinees, 83 per cent of 87,200 examinees failed to get pass marks in the tests under B, C and D units respectively.
At Chittagong University, 98.34 per cent of 11,260 candidates failed to pass the Law faculty tests at Chittagong University. About 79, 80 and 60 per cent examinees failed to pass D, B1, and F unit tests respectively.
At Rajshahi University, 98.30 per cent examinees out of 15,000 of B unit failed to pass the test. About 85 and 66 per cent examines of H and C units also failed to pass the admission tests.
Admission offices of others units of Rajshahi and Chittagong University refused to give details of admission test results.
Meanwhile, 21 per cent of 28,283 candidates for the Barisal University admission test and 66 per cent of 69,477 examinees to medical entrance tests, failed to get pass marks.
About 95 per cent of 43,530 C unit candidates of Jagannath University failed to pass the admission test. About 92, 79, and 71 of D, B and A units failed to get the 42 per cent pass marks.
Serajul said classroom teaching is being neglected as students and guardians run after higher GPA scores and attend coaching centres to learn the tricks of getting higher marks.
CU law faculty dean Abdullah Al Faruk said most students study from notes provided by coaching centers and when question papers are set differently, many students start to struggle.
A UGC study in May 2013 found 93 per cent of admission seekers take coaching classes to get admitted to higher education institutions.
Ideal School and College principal Shahan Ara Begum said schools or colleges were not to be blamed for the poor results.
‘Universities produce low quality graduates who become teachers and fail to deliver quality class room teaching,’ she said.
‘Admission tests are not an exam in which you pass or fail an examinee; it is just a process of evaluation for enrollment,’ education minister Nurul Islam Nahid said.
Nahid said these students took hours of exam at the SSC and HSC level. ‘You cannot test their capability in a one hour MCQ exam.’
Nahid called on the authorities to review the admission system.
Source: New Age
