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"Exam hazards"
Exam query
I am writing with reference to the recent letters sent by your readers on the choice of venues for our examinations.
The reason why the British Council is not being used as a venue for the May and June GCE examination session is that we had to issue admit cards to candidates while our premises were still closed due to the conflict in Iraq. There was no way of foreseeing when our London headquarters would give us permission to open again, as nobody could predict how long the war would last. We will be using it in the next session.
There is, however, another issue. The British Council auditorium in Dhaka can only hold 200 candidates, whereas there are as many as 1,700 candidates sitting GCE exams in some subjects in Dhaka. We have tried to locate suitable premises by putting advertisements in your own newspaper and Prothom Alo, but most owners of suitable property in Dhaka do not wish to rent it out for only a few weeks a year. Understandably, they want permanent tenants. However, renting accommodation large enough to seat 1,700 GCE candidates all year round would mean ridiculous increases in GCE exam fees. Alternatively, other venues are unavailable for the six weeks we need them, as the owners tell us they might cancel at short notice because of a VIP requesting it. We hope that candidates and their parents will appreciate that choices of venue are further limited by the fact that many are not air-conditioned.
Arani Siddiqi (letters page 19 May) complains about the fact that we do not provide seating for parents, but this would mean that we would have to buy and store 3,400 chairs. While we are sorry for parents waiting for their children outside exam venues, it is impossible to provide seating for the ever-increasing numbers of them. Similarly, we have no control over traffic jams and pollution, although we wish it were otherwise.
Anami Kabir (letters page, 21 May) refers to the difficulties she faced because of a clash in her subjects. Unfortunately, although she wished to do her second exam a few minutes after the first one, this would be unfair to candidates who might feel they needed a break. Neither of the exam boards, Edexcel or Cambridge International Exams, would agree to Anami's suggestion. The British Council simply follows the boards' regulations. Clearly, students with clashes could discover the exam questions by using their mobiles to call their friends who had sat the exam earlier in the day. The security of the exam would be compromised if a candidate did so. With reference to the point she made about not being allowed to see her parents, I would like to add that parents were, in fact, allowed to bring these candidates their lunch.
The British Council is trying very hard to improve its services to exam candidates. Registration and collection of certificates will soon be much easier, for instance. But we hope that candidates and their parents will bear with us if we cannot overcome the logistical problems of operating in Dhaka!
Mark Bartholomew
Examination Manager
British Council Bangladesh
* * *
Those of us involved in English-medium schooling have to work closely with the British Council (BC) and although we have our share of frustrations and complaints, we are in a position to appreciate the remarkable job the BC is doing in difficult circumstances.
Remember that there may be at least 1500 students taking any one examination, and that the Fuller Road venue has a capacity of only 300 -- where else can the exams be arranged? There are not too many places in Dhaka with halls large enough to be of any use, and of those, not all of them are available for rent for 6 weeks twice a year for. Not to mention all the other considerations -- the BC tries to choose venues that are more or less equal in facilities such as security, parking, air conditioning and generators. My eyes were opened one day when during an O-level exam I happened to sit down in the Exam Services office for a chat and watched the entire staff go into panic when they got the news that the electricity had gone off and the lift wasn't working in one of their rented centres, and the candidates were climbing nine flights of stairs. On that occasion, and on several subsequent occasions, the Exam Services Manager asked me whether I knew of any better alternative venues.
What most outsiders probably don't realise is that all of these things have to be paid for, and the more expenses the British Council incurs in arranging examinations in any particular country, the higher the exam fees for the students will go. They do work hard, I know, at keeping exam costs low, if for no other reason than that if the exams become prohibitively expensive, the British Council will be out of business!
I speak not only as a school principal, but also as a mother; my daughter gave her O-level exams in Fuller Road, University of Bengal, and the DU Institute of Education Research. Yes, Fuller Road was the nicest of the three, and there was no air-conditioning in the Institute of Education, and at the University of Bengal we had to park quite far away and walk. But considering all the other hardships I've endured in my 20 years residence in Bangladesh I don't feel that these minor inconveniences are very noteworthy.
There is always room for improvement, but I think on the whole the British Council is to be commended for the smooth running of the exams every year.
Mujahida Lunceford
Principal, Manarat Dhaka