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Reforming our examination system

Prof. Quazi Faruque Ahmed
***Some immediate steps need to be taken to reform our systems of examination. For that it is necessary to view the problem in its totality and not in piecemeal or in an isolated manner as was done in the past. I think study of examination systems of foreign countries including our neighbouring ones, review of findings of all the education commissions and task forces relevant to examination, taking note of the opinions of the teachers and all concerned involved with public examinations, including the administrators, will be useful.***
THE necessity for reforms in our existing public examination system has come under discussion in the recent years. The realisation of such need for change in the evaluation system has come mostly due to failures of a large number of students in two major public examinations -- Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) in the recent past. The practice of copying or cheating in the examination halls however has decreased in the last 7 to 8 years due to continued motivational campaign and vigilance on the part of both teachers and the administration with enhanced co-operation from guardians. Percentage of pass with a huge number of GPAs in this year's SSC results also shows apparent in enhancement of number of successful examinees. Side by side, prompted instruction to the examiners from the education board authorities at the instance of the government for
leniency in the assessment of examination scripts has also been reported in a section of the press.
It is useless to go into the details and verify its authenticity since some new phenomena have cropped up in the meantime indicating the ineffectiveness and unworkability of the existing examination system. For the last 4-5 years and until now, teachers arc also reported to be expelled from the examination halls on charge of illegal and immoral role. Now-a-days a new feature of cheating has also come in the surface like proxy-candidate in examination halls.
Before we discuss about reforms in our existing examination system, it is very much necessary to have a comprehensive idea of the prevailing system of evaluation. By examination we are supposed to assess the length and depth of the acquired knowledge of a particular student under the framework of a particular syllabus. The mechanism of assessing the standard of students or holding examination has already given birth to manifold complications and problems.The system has also become unmanageable and unworkable due to sole stress on public examinations. In 1960 the then East Pakistan Secondary Education Board alone could manage it. But now there are nine Education Boards to conduct the examination of almost more than a million examinees through series of public examinations consecutively.
Practically holding of public examinations as is done now, has become unmanageable not only due to the influsk of huge number of examinees, increase in number of subjects in multiple disciplines have also come up to multiply the managerial problem in many dimensions. Absence of quality
teachers in subjects like English, Physics, Mathematics, Biology even in Bangla, inappropriate and useless syllabus/ curricula are also a few ingredients to add to the problem. The system of assessing students' acquired knowledge in educational institutions under particular syllabus has become obsolete. Redress of the system has become overdue. It is not a fact that our governments have not at all addressed the problem. But their actions are neither timely nor consistent with the constant changes and overhauling of the system elsewhere in the world. Enough instances and examples may be cited to show the incoherence in our existing examination system. To mention a few:
• Dropout of huge number of examinees.
• Fear of sitting over in the examination hall by examinees due to lack of preparation.
• Lack of professional expertise by the teachers in tiers of examination from question setting to publication of the results.
• Continuous yearly increase of financial burden on guardians through increase of examination fees and levy of exorbitant 'allowances' for the government officials not connected with the conducting of the examination.
Under the circumstances some immediate steps need to be taken to reform our systems of examination. For that it is necessary to view the problem in its totality and not in piecemeal or in an isolated manner as was done in the past. I
think study of examination systems of foreign countries including our neighbouring ones, review of findings of all the education commissions and task forces relevant to examination, taking note of the opinions of the teachers and all concerned involved with public examinations, including the administrators, will be useful. Any reform in our examination system should be bifurcated in two parts. Firstly we should ascertain whether the existing public examination system should continue any more or not. Secondly, before we go for a radical change discontinuing the present examination system, some corrective measures should be taken so that no anomality can crop up in the stop-gap period. Following are some of the suggestions:
• Education should not be examination oriented and should prioritise acquisition of knowledge, development of skill to attain better livelihood, inspiration and incentive to develop entrepreneurship.
• Change of question pattern to discourage roting or memorizing.
• Holding of examination in different subjects by various sets of question papers with more than 100 questions in each paper.
• Reduction of duration of examination from 3 to 2 hours.
• To follow gradually open book examination system.
• Introduction of 50 percent marks/grade in both public and internal examinations and inclusion of results of both the examinations, in the final mark sheet/transcript of the Education Board.
• Precondition of eligibility to appear in public examination should be compulsory 75 per-
cent attendance in classroom, and satisfactory success in both periodical and test examinations.
To ensure practical classes for science students. Government should establish at least one science laboratory in each thana headquarter, so that students of the area can attend practical classes in science subjects by rotation.
Permission to introduce science courses in schools and colleges only after they fulfil provisions of practical classes and recruitment of qualified science teachers.
It is high time that government should seriously take note of the points and suggestions made above in the greater interest of education and form a task force to look into the matter and take appropriate action without any further delay.
Prof Quazi Faruque Ahmed ts Chairman. InbatM for Human Development (IHD) and President Bangladesh College Teachers As socia11on ( BC TA ), e-mail pnnapalqfahmed@yahoo com