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Most students didn’t get help to cope
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needed to spend Tk 2,400 to Tk. 95,000 on private tuition.
“This is a substantial burden for families, since the majority of them had a monthly income of under Tk 15,000,” it added.
Parents reported spending an average of Tk 669 at the primary level and Tk 2,065 at the secondary level to buy commercial note-books during that same nine-month period.
At the programme, Education Watch Chairperson and Economist Qazi Khaliquzzaman said the mentality that one has to get good results needs to be changed to get rid of private tuition culture. He blamed a group of teachers for having so many students rely on note-books.
Prof Nehal said it is true many students are taking private tuition and relying on note-books, but he doesn’t think the number would be high.
In Bangladesh, the share of urban households paying for private tuition increased from 48 percent in 2000 to 67 percent in 2010, while the corresponding share of rural households doubled from 27 percent to 54 percent, according to the UNESCO 2021/2 Global Education Monitoring Report.
Private tuition and distribution of note-books are going on though a government order had forbidden teachers from giving private lessons to students of their institutions, while the Note-Books (Prohibition) Act 1980 prohibits the publication, distribution and sale of notebooks for students up to class eight.
Speaking to The Daily Star, Mostafizur Rahman, deputy director of CAMPE and study team member, said this staggering number of students dependent on private tuition and note-books is alarming.
“They [students] are doing so [relying on those] as many teachers are not interested in imparting lessons properly in classrooms and would rather do it at private tuition classes.”
Tariq Ahsan, a professor at the Institute of Education and Research of Dhaka University, said there is a dependency on private tuition and note-books as the country’s assessment system is based on rote learning.
“So, many students and parents look for a shortcut to getting better results in exams.”
Meanwhile, as part of the study, researchers held an assessment of 2,670 class-eight and -nine students on Bangla, English and mathematics to evaluate the extent of learning losses. According to the results, around 29 percent of class-eight students and 26 percent of class nine failed in the exams.

86pc DSA cases pending disposal
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Rights activists and journalists say the proposed law still does not address many of these concerns.
“We need this provision because the law enforcers’ job is to intervene if there is a possibility of a crime being committed, arrest those involved with the crime, and collect evidence,” said the minister.
The minister continued, “If justice must be ensured, then some immediate evidence is required, and it is the duty of the law enforcers to collect that.”
“If we bind the hands of the law enforcers, then they will not be able to do their duty,” said Huq.
He added that this provision is only for situations where immediate intervention is needed.
The law minister reiterated that the Digital Security Act was not meant to be used to target journalists.