The government is devising a set of plans to make up for educational losses inflicted by the shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, reports bdnews24.com.
According to officials of the education ministry and the primary and mass education ministry, plans are being tailored assuming a full return to educational institutions from September if the spread of the virus slows down.
HSC exams, admission in class XI, upcoming primary and Ebtedayee final exams, JSC and JDC exams, annual school-college exams and how to promote students in higher classes are on agenda, the officials said.
A recovery plan will also be put in place to help the pupils make up for the learning losses suffered due to the extended shutdown of the educational institutions, they said.
“Several teams are working on the plan to recuperate these losses. A comprehensive plan will soon be presented after getting recommendations from these teams,” a high-level official of the education ministry told bdnews24.com.
He said the teams were working under the supervision of the education minister.
They will all sit next week to come up with a decision, Akram-Al-Hossain, the secretary to the primary and mass education ministry, told bdnews24.com.
“We could not provide education, how can we take exams? So we’ve cancelled the exams. We told the teachers to give the students homework.
“The students will submit their homework after the institutions reopen and they will be evaluated accordingly,” he added.
“We’ve asked them to give these assignments through TV, but we are not thinking about exams at all.”
Secretary Akram said they were focusing on how to make up for the learning losses after projected reopening in September and that plans for annual and final exams will be given.
He also brought up the idea of giving automatic promotion to students saying that it did not cause any problem when it was done during the year of Bangladesh’s independence.
All the institutions across Bangladesh have been closed since Mar 17 after the first coronavirus case was detected on Mar 8. Bangladesh reopened offices and economy on May 31, but the schools remained closed.
The government extended the shutdown of schools and other educational institutions to Aug 6 amid the coronavirus pandemic. The HSC and equivalent exams, originally scheduled to start on April 1, have also been suspended amid fears of the coronavirus.
The reopening of the schools and colleges in September may be delayed further if the threat of COVID-19 persists beyond Aug 6.
The first terminal exams of primary classes were suspended due to the shutdown, while their second terminal exams -- slated for Aug 9-20 – will surely be postponed. Half-yearly exams of the secondary schools, on the other hand, scheduled for Jun 13-25, will certainly be cancelled as well.
The admission process for class XI is yet to begin although the results of the SSC exams were published on May 31. A decision over the suspended HSC exams is awaited.
Lessons for students of up to grade 10 will be wrapped up online and the state media Sangsad TV to make up for the lost classes, said Syed Md Golam Faruk, the director-general at the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education.
Around a million of the 3.4 million secondary school students have no access to Sangsad TV, he said, and added that the issue was being addressed though nothing concrete had yet been discussed.
An official at the Dhaka education board said they were prioritising teacher-calculated grading of homework to promote students to higher classes.
“But if we can reopen educational institutions in September, we can complete a somewhat truncated syllabus for an annual exam.”
