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Education caught in po-llu-tics

Wasim Bin Habib
Nothing seems to be going right for Abir these days. The eighth-grader cannot concentrate in his studies. He looks annoyed at everything almost all the time.
"What's wrong!" wonders the teenager.
Abir is a candidate of the ongoing Junior School Certificate (JSC) examination. At a time when he should be busy revising his syllabus, he remains puzzled as to whether the next exam will take place
or be postponed again.
The ongoing political unrest, especially hartals, has disrupted his routine, plunging him into uncertainty and utter frustration.
"I don’t know what subject to prepare for and how. After preparing for one subject I find at the last moment that the exam on that particular paper has been postponed due to hartal. Then I turn to
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another subject but that too gets deferred for the same reason," he said.
"None would consider this political factor if I do badly in the exam," added Abir.
The boy has more disappointments to share. His father had promised to take him to his grandfather's after the JSG examination. But little did he know that the examination would take so long and travelling would become so risky all on a sudden.
" 1 don't think we will be able to go to our village home as it is uncertain when the exam will finish. Moreover, the admission rush begins next month," said Abir's father Raihan Ahmed.
He feels that the way the political situation is deteriorating, things will go even worse in the coming days.
This is how Abir and 19 lakh other eighth-graders feel, thanks to current political turmoil. So far, four of the 11 exam days for JSC and equivalent Junior Dakhil Certificate (JDC) exams had to be rescheduled.
The situation of the kids younger than Abir is even more pathetic. Take five-year-old Surjo, of Gulshan in the capital, for an instance.
His father Shamim said, "The streets have turned into battle fields nowadays. So he [Surjo| stays home all day, getting bored
watching TV. He just loiters around the home asking, 'What to do, Baba?'."
The ongoing series of hartals has put the lives of thousands of kids into total disarray. It is also ruining their holiday plans, restricting movements and giving them a feel of insecurity.
Similarly, shutdowns have messed up the academic calendar of all educational institutions, primary schools to universities.
None of the institutions is able to hold classes or assessments as per schedule. Almost all the public universities are already burdened with session jams. If the strikes continue, the universities, especially the National University, would plunge into severe crisis.
Already in neck-deep trouble, authorities of different educational institutions are now finding it really hard to comply with the Election Commission's request to finish all exams and admission tests by the first week of December, before the upcoming national election.
The directorates of education, including the primary, have already notified all schools under them about the request.
But things are not that easy. November and December are crucial for school goers, as it is time for the annual and public examinations.
After the ongoing JSC exams, the country's biggest public assessment Primary and Ebtedai Terminal Examinations will begin on November 20.
"Given the existing political deadlock, we are unsure of whether the JSC exams will end on time. If more hartals are
enforced, we will face difficulties in rescheduling the exams," said a top official of Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE) preferring anonymity.
DSHE Director General Fahima Khatun said although the annual exams at all schools would end by this month they would have to struggle in publishing results and holding admission tests.
Similar concerns came from the primary education officials.
"If we are forced to reschedule the terminal exams, it will put an impact on the annual exams," said Shyamol Kanti Ghosh, director general of Directorate of Primary Education.
As for the parents and guardians, they have gone paranoia worrying about their children's future.
Mahfuzur Rahman, guardian of a JSC examinee, said most of the exams rescheduled were being held on weekends, with no gap. This put an extra pressure on students.
"I am doubtful that my son would do well, as frequent hartals have eaten up his enthusiasm for exams. We wonder what our children have done that they are paying so badly," said Mahfuzur.
Sumaiya Azmi, a mother from Uttara, said, "If the students do not do well in the exams they will have to bear it all through their lives despite being responsible for it. The politicians do not seem to understand the consequences of their activities."
"Don't they have children sitting for the examinations?" she questioned. The country cannot afford such loss in a sector where the future of the young generation is at stake, she added.