Success rate in Primary School Certificate (PSC) examinations will reach 100 percent next year if the current upward trend is maintained.
But two former caretaker advisors said it was not the time to be ‘complacent’ about the record pass rate, as the education is yet to attain commendable standards.
They, however, admitted that the process to raise the standard had started.
This year, 98.58 percent of the examinees cleared the PSC exams, against 97.35 percent last year, while the success rate for Ebtedayee exams is 95.8 percent against last year’s 92.45 percent.
The results were published on Monday.
In 2009, the pass rate in PSC exams was 88.84 percent, while 92.34 percent passed in 2010 and 97.26 percent in 2011.
On the other hand, the pass rate in Ebtedayee exams in 2010 was 75.26 percent and 91.28 percent in 2011.
Analysis showed that after the PSC exam was introduced in 2009, the success has increased gradually by 3.5, 4.92, 0.09 and 1.23 percentage points respectively.
The pass rate in Ebtedayee since 2010 increased progressively every year by 16.02, 1.17 and 3.35 percentage points.
If the trend continues, the success rate would reach 100 percent next year, analysts say.
But Campaign for Popular Education Executive Director Rasheda K Chowdhury sees nothing to be contended about.
She told bdnews24.com: “This is a matter of happiness that these children sat for the tests despite many obstacles.”
“There is development in education. But I can’t agree that the standard is improving too. What’s the necessity of holding exams if everyone passes?”
According to the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) directive, a student must achieve ‘50 skills’ before passing Grade V.
On this, Chowdhury, a former caretaker government advisor, said the reality was that only 10 percent of the skills was evaluated, while the remaining 90 percent was cursorily treated.
She said the teachers were given some ‘unwritten directives’ in matters of evaluation to raise the pass rate.
Former caretaker government’s education advisor Hossain Zillur Rahman also felt that a rise in the pass rate did not necessarily mean an improvement in educational standard.
He told bdnews24.com that information on skill criteria should also be given with the success rate. “Then we can know whether the standard of education has improved or not.”
Answer sheets alone are not enough to indicate the standard of education, he said.
“The standard of education cannot be assessed only by evaluating answer sheets of primary school certificate exams.
Assessments should also be published according to the performance of educational institutions.”
Hossain Zillur said it would not be right to feel contended with just a single index (pass rate).
Director General of Primary Education Shyamal Kanti Ghosh said the pass rate was increasing consistently due to a growing awareness among teachers and guardians, and regular monitoring by education officers.
He said there was no significant failure rate in any particular subject.
Leakage of questions
This year, question papers of Bangla and English were leaked in the primary school certificate (PSC) exams.
But those exams had not been cancelled even though an investigation by the primary and mass education ministry had found the allegation to be true.
According to the investigation report, 53 percent questions of Bangla and 80 percent of English had been leaked in Dhaka, Khulna, Satkhira and Dinajpur districts.
Guardians and pupils, however, had said questions on various subjects had been leaked almost in all districts across the country.
Questions of the PSC exams were available on social networking sites, particularly Facebook, well before the tests started. Mass media had also reported the leak.
Nurul Islam Nahid said on Monday that it was not correct to say that the examinees had fetched more marks than they did last year because of the leaked of questions.
The examinees had got fewer marks in English this year compared to scores last year, he said.
He conceded “we are behind compared to the pace of age” but denied that the quality of education had dropped while the pass rate had risen.
He urged critics to shed “conservative concepts”. “We want all the students to pass,” he said.
Source: bdnews24