Followed by an explosive joyous mood, SSC (Secondary School Certificate) results of this year have been published. Pass rate in this years SSC and equivalent examinations held under 11 education boards across the country is 83.04 percent according to a report published by the Ministry of Education on Sunday.
Unsurprisingly, once more our girls have outshone our boys in all boards. Moreover, girls are also ahead of boys both in terms of pass rate and Grade Point Average (GPA) this year, not only in the 9 general education boards but also in Madrasa Education and Technical Education Boards.
Hats-off to our girls for being consistent in performing better than their male counterparts in recent years.
However, while commenting on this years SSC results the prime minister has called on education authorities to investigate into the reasons as to why our boys are declining in number coupled with lagging behind their girl counterparts in their academic results. In particular, she has asked Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) and education boards to look into the matter and identify the reasons as to why the number of boy students to be reducing.
We are in full agreement with the PMs call and believe the dilemma to be promptly investigated and addressed.
Our message for all students, however, is that do not exclusively focus on grades. Attaining GPA-5 is never the ultimate benchmark of maximum academic success.
Both our students and parents being perilously obsessed with the GPA-5 branding of the two board exams has become more of an ultimate goal-in-life in our country over the last two decades. The overtly glorified GPA 5 system has played a central role in it. It is almost as if a student achieving GPA 5 has the equal value as the mere passing of these exams once had in the past. Moreover, the lives of our students are being designed around such expectations from the first day of their preparation leading all the way up to the exam dates.
However, a students wish to learn a new skill, participate in an extra-curricular activity, visit friends or family, play outdoors-nowadays appears to be , mostly circle around their perceived level of preparation.
Excessive emphasis on getting GPA 5 in these exams persists, and this is largely because of the societal value attached to it.
The question automatically arises - How many of our GPA-5 grade holders make it to their desired public universities, anyway?
For instance, Dhaka Universitys admission test results for 2023-24 sessions revealed a horrific picture. Pass rate in the Arts, Law and Social Science units is 10.07%. Pass rate in the Science unit is even poorer with 8.89%. Pass rate in the Business Studies unit is 13.33%, and the pass rate in the Fine Arts unit is a mere 11.75%.
It is time for our parents and students to quick come out of this grade oriented mindset and focus more on actual purposes of education.
