The authorities have, by and large, put an end to exam question leaks that marred the education system, barring a few exceptions, according to Education Minister Dipu Moni.
There are some rogue elements who are bringing the teaching profession into disrepute by engaging in dubious practices just to ensure good results for their students and institutions, she said at an event on Thursday.
"It undermines the very purpose of education. Out of millions of teachers, maybe one or two are doing it [leaking questions], but we have to make the effort to ensure that it doesn't happen at all."
Leaks of public exam questions on social media are becoming increasingly frequent in Bangladesh. As no notable incident came to light during the pandemic, education authorities largely avoided the spotlight over the issue for the last couple of years, prompting some officials to rule out the possibility of exam paper leaks.
However, the problem reared its head during this year's SSC exams, leading to renewed scrutiny of the assessment process.
Question leaks forced the Dinajpur Education Board to cancel the exams for four subjects in September, reports bdnews24.com.
Ahead of the HSC tests, the education minister acknowledged that the risk of leaks was not fully extinguished and efforts to undermine the exam process were being made in a few places.
"A few individuals are involved [in leaking papers]. Even if they belong to the teaching profession, they don't represent the teaching community," she said.
"But if a handful of people does something unethical, the entirety of the teaching community has to take responsibility for it. That's why we all have to be wary. We want to create an exam environment that is free of any kind of cheating."
Dipu Moni flagged the need to ensure financial and social security for teachers to enhance the quality of teaching in the country, while addressing the limitations facing the education system. "If we want to achieve something good, we should create a good environment first. Creating a good environment for education is more important than infrastructure development."
"If teachers have peace of mind, it can only improve the learning environment. That's where we want to reach. We're trying to overcome that limitation."
The minister also called on parents to do their part alongside teachers to relieve some of the mental stress faced by students.
"So far more than 230,000 teachers have been trained in psychological perspectives. We hope that every educational institution will have at least two teachers trained in counselling."
