Poor show in education

Around 92 percent of sixth graders don’t have the required competence in English, and 89 percent of them lack proficiency in Bangla, according to a government survey.

The picture is also dismal in the case of mathematics as more than 82 percent of them cannot gain expected competence in the subject, shows the Learning Assessment Survey-2013.

It, however, found that class-VIII students did better than sixth graders. Around 23 percent of the eighth graders achieved the desired level of competence in English and 38 percent in Bangla.

In mathematics, 22 percent of the students gained competence, mentions the survey report launched at a national workshop at the National Academy for Educational Management in the capital yesterday.

The findings come amid growing concern over the standard of education following abysmal results in recently-held admission tests at Dhaka University.

Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Wing of the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE) conducted the survey with financial assistance from the DSHE’s Secondary Education Quality and Access Enhancement Project (SEQAEP).

The survey was done on 7,143 class-VI and 7,169 class-VIII students of 309 schools and madrasas in 30 upazilas under the SEQAEP project. Teachers of different colleges conducted the main assessment survey on December 27 last year.

Thirty students each from class-VI and VIII of the educational institutions were chosen on the basis of systematic sampling.

They answered some basic questions on selected subjects. Eighty percent of those were in multiple choice format and the rest were short questions.

“It was not a typical test. It had nothing to do with class exams. We tried to assess the students’ competence level with questions on cognitive knowledge,” M&E Director Prof Md Didarul Alam told The Daily Star.

The survey had set five bands of competence in each of the three subjects. Every band demonstrates a certain level of competence and current standard of learning.

Band-4 shows the desired level of competence achieved by class-VI and class-VIII students while Band-5 reflects level of competence higher than the expected level. Band-1, 2 and 3 show subsequent low levels of competence.

Most sixth graders achieved Band-2 level while a large number of eighth graders fell in Band-3.

Speaking to The Daily Star, a number of educationists said pass rates in public exams are getting higher. But a huge number of students fail to gain the desired level of competence due to flawed teaching systems and a lack of skilled teachers.

They blamed inadequate teaching and infrastructural facilities, and insufficient budget allocations for the gloomy picture.

The secondary education system is beset with problems, Rasheda K Choudhury, former primary education adviser to a caretaker government, told this correspondent.

“We have problems in classroom teaching.  We don’t have enough skilled teachers especially in remote areas. There are questions over the recruitment of teachers. Many schools do not have adequate laboratory and library facilities. Moreover, teachers are poorly paid. These all lead to this situation.”

Rasheda, also executive director of Campaign for Popular Education, said the government’s regulatory mechanism for privately-managed secondary schools is very weak, and that is why things go unchecked.

Above all, it is a matter of investment. “We have to invest more in education,” she said.

According to the survey, boys did better than girls in gaining competence in the three subjects in class VI. However, girls of class-VIII did slightly better in Bangla, but lagged behind in English and mathematics.

It showed students from which regions gained adequate competence. Both Class-VI and VIII students in Barisal, followed by Comilla, are well ahead of others in the three subjects. In Barisal, more than 41 percent of class-VI students have adequate competence in mathematics against 58 percent of class-VIII students.

Students of Sylhet are at the bottom of the chart, as only one percent of class-VI students achieved the desired level of competence in English. And only 10 percent of class-VIII students have proficiency in the subject.

Prof Syed Manzoorul Islam of English department at Dhaka University said students fail to learn English because of the introduction of communicative English at secondary level. It was introduced without fulfilling the required conditions and necessary infrastructure.

“In this system, the classrooms should be student-centred and more interactive. There should be group and pair work. This part is totally absent in our classrooms,” he explained.

“The entire education system needs a rethinking,” said Prof Manzoorul, stressing the need for increasing budget allocations and salaries of school teachers.

Speaking at yesterday’s programme, Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid said it would be improper to judge on the basis of the assessment survey without considering the overall situation.

“The assessment was done on class-VI students, who just entered the secondary level and were yet to adapt to this level. Besides, the assessment was done at a time when the education system was affected by a series of hartals.”

He claimed school students in countries such as Cambodia, New Zealand and Australia lag behind Bangladeshi students in terms of gaining competence in English.

The minister, however, said the survey results would help the government find out the problems in the education system and solve them.