Teachers and guardians blamed poor preparations, lack of awareness and tight examination schedule for the large number of dropouts in the first ever Junior School Certificate and Junior Dakhil Certificate examinations.
This year, the education ministry introduced JSC and JDC examinations abolishing the junior scholarship examinations or term final examinations for class VIII students.
A total of 1,505,391 students of 27,221 educational institutions registered for taking the exams.
On the first day, 101,473 students did not take the Bangla two papers examinations, according to the education ministry’s control room. On the second day, 62,078 more students were absent while 61,531 did not turn up on the third day.
Some officials of the education ministry said that the number of dropouts was high as it was seen many students who took the exam on the first day, skipped the next one two. ….‘Many students would not pass the exams…,’ said an official.
A number of teachers and guardians alleged that the authorities concerned were not fully prepared for holding the first ever JSC and JDC examinations.
They also blamed lack of awareness and the tough exam schedule for the large number of absence.
Some guardians said that they were not fully aware of the fact that students would not be promoted to the next class if they did not pass the examinations.
‘Many of my relatives in my village home told me that they would not have allowed their children to miss the exam if they had been aware of it,’ said Abdul Kuddus, a guardian living in Dhanmondhi area of the city.
Some guardians said that the tough exam schedule was a major cause for the large number of drop-outs.
‘Students had to take examination in both papers of Bangla on the same day. The English two papers examinations were also held on a single day. I do not think it is an easy task for a student of class VIII,’ said Mofizul Islam, a guardian in Mirpur area.
‘SSC candidates have to go through pre-test, test and other examinations. But in case of JSC, there was no such examination. As such, some students were not fully prepared,’ a headmaster of a school in Khulna who wanted not to be identified told New Age over phone.
He also said that taking the exams in another centre had also caused problems for the students. ‘In my area, some of the centres are as far away as 15 kilometres from the student’s residence,’ he said.
He suggested that students should be allowed to take the exams at their respective schools. ‘If the authorities want a neutral environment, teachers from other schools can be deployed as invigilators,’ he said.
Former vice-chancellor of Dhaka University Moniruzzaman Mia said that as it was the first ever JSC examination, a massive awareness programme should have preceded it. ‘The authorities concerned should have checked if there had been enough preparations,’ he said. He said that such large dropouts would cause problems for the education system.
Dhaka education board chairman Fahima Khatun told New Age the number of absence as unusual.
‘Some students might have registered in the hope they would get stipend money though they are not actually the students of class VIII,’ Fahima Khatun told New Age.
The education minister, Nurul Islam Nahid, said the ministry would investigate the matter.
‘Another reason for the large drop-outs may be that many students were nervous about the first ever JSC and JDC examinations; many others did not have enough preparations… We are looking into the reasons… The matter would be investigated,’ he told New Age on Saturday.
