29 eminent citizens demand withdrawal of primary scholarship exam decision

Twenty-nine eminent citizens of the country have demanded the withdrawal of the decision to take the preliminary scholarship examination slated for the end of the year.

In a joint statement on Monday (19 December), they said that there is a risk of increasing discrimination through scholarship examinations.

Apart from this, the reintroduction of scholarship examination would increase coaching and guidebook businesses, the statement added.

The eminent citizens who signed the statement are Prof Serajul Islam Chowdhury, Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad, Ramendu Mazumder, Sultana Kamal, Nasir Uddin Yusuf, Prof Syed Manjurul Islam, Prof MM Akash, Rasheda K Chowdhury, Prof Manjur Ahmed, Ilyas Kanchan, Prof Mahfuza Khanam, Prof Robayet Ferdous, Kazi Faruque Ahmed, Asif Saleh, Ferdousi Mazumder, Mamunur Rashid, Nazrul Islam Khan, Kazi Rafiqul Alam, Ejazul Islam, Mansoor Ahmed Chowdhury, Shaheen Anam, Mostak Raja Chowdhury, M Sakhawat Hossain, Sanjeeb Drong, Korvi Rakshand, Maleka Begum, Khaled Masood Pilot, Prof Shafi Ahmed and Prof M Tariq Ahsan.

The Ministry of Primary and Mass Education reportedly took the decision to hold the primary scholarship examination this year abruptly at an inter-ministerial meeting on 28 November.

However, educationists in the country say that the sudden decision to conduct the exam at the end of the year will harm students and will be negative for future education reforms in light of the new curriculum.

The eminent citizens noted that the current government has brought about some effective changes to the education curricula of the country.

"If the decision to restart the scholarship examination suddenly is taken and implemented, there will be various mental and physical pressures on students.

"Apart from this, in the new curriculum, where the full development of all students' talents is being encouraged, if only 20% of the students are selected and started a scholarship programme, there is a danger of further increasing the disparity between the privileged and disadvantaged students. It is against the principles of the Constitution," the statement reads.

Eminent citizens said that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's recent speeches have highlighted the need to get out of the current traditional learning assessment system and test-based, certificate-based education system in order to adapt to the rapidly changing world.

"But the announcement to reintroduce the scholarship exams for only 20% of the students at the initial stage is undesirable,'' the statement further said, adding that much experimentation with education often confuses students and parents.