What is education supposed to result in? Is it meant to truly educate individuals or simply grant them a qualification to get past the filtering process while they enter the money making market?
The recent question paper leaks does not only taint the image of education system in our country, but also has put the future students' opportunities at stake. But what motivates such actions or is this a recent trend that has been introduced?
What are the roots of such debauched actions being fortified? Networks and relations are inherently valued in our culture and when these networks and relations are misused, they further strengthen. While some of the parents always point out the fault in the system, their efforts result in vain given the corrupter's connections and power dynamics. In the year of 2015 and 2016, such leaks were also predominant in university entrance examination papers, which resulted in prison time for the responsible corrupters.
A study of Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) found unhealthy competition among and in schools to be one of the major reasons behind the phenomenon of question leak. This ghoulish competition from primary school and insufficient effort from the instructors lead the students towards seeking technological assistance. However, without prior guidance, such assistance from technological tools propagates the tendency of using a short cut. Social media networks massively contributed to the recent SSC paper leaks. As stated by an assistant professor in BUET, "The question papers actually get leaked a long time before exams begin. However, since the perpetrators know the question papers will get changed if the leaked ones get circulated earlier, they circulate questions through Internet right before the day of the exam."
Were technology and social media networks designed for such abuse of opportunity? Perhaps not, the problem arises from the lack of support for the use of technology in our education system. In order to stop the misuse of a valuable resource, the appropriate use must be taught, which as of yet is highly lacking in the schools of Bangladesh. A suggestion of blocking down Internet services was made by our ministers, it is essential to ask in a situation as such if that would stop the guilty people from pursuing immoral means.
While most nations are now shifting to more advanced methods to enhance their curriculum, our education system seems to be stuck in a spiral of notebooks and memorisation of knowledge. When used appropriately, these technological means lead to the biggest innovations and brighten the minds of the future generation. In order for that to happen, the utilisation of such tools must be implemented and guided by instructors.
Most parents do not feel the unethical use of technology to be problematic mostly because of the competitive environment built in schools, where the talent of a student is determined only through his or her grades. Only the top scoring students gain attention and the credentials as a human being are evaluated through their marks on the grade sheet.
When will this culture of climbing up the ladder with unfaithful means stop? What value will our GPA 5 holders add?
While there are questions and doubts constantly rising about the education of Bangladesh, some yet eagerly wait for the solutions to come and enforced before it gets too late. A nation with no intellectual property comes to a standstill. Is Bangladesh headed for something similar?
The author is a final year undergrad student of Department of Economics and Social Science at BRAC University, Dhaka. She can be reached at afraim.karim.nowal@gmail.com