Junior scholarship: Exam decision after 8 months of academic year raises questions

Eight months of the current academic year have passed, and the ninth month is underway. At this time of the year, the Ministry of Education has decided to hold a junior scholarship examination for class-eight students this very year.

However, not all students will be able to compete for the scholarship like in the Junior School Certificate (JSC) examination rather, only 25 per cent of eighth-grade students will be eligible to take the exam. This number will be determined based on the results of the seventh-grade exams.

Moreover, each student will have to pay a fee of Tk 600 to sit in the exam, which includes a fee of Tk 400 for the board and another Tk 200 as the centre fee. The Ministry of Education also issued guidelines regarding this examination yesterday, Wednesday.

Some education experts say that the decision for such an important exam should have been announced at the beginning of the academic year. Announcing the exam at the very end of the academic year will place extra pressure on students. Additionally, allowing only 25 per cent of students to participate could increase educational inequality.

It may leave behind the students who are already struggling, as schools will focus primarily on the top 25 per cent. Meanwhile, other students in the class may be overlooked, despite needing more support to achieve the intended learning outcomes. Furthermore, reliance on coaching and private tuition may increase, adding a financial burden on parents.

Before 2010, junior scholarship examinations were held separately. After the introduction of the JSC exam, all students could compete for scholarships. However, this system faced criticism due to increased dependence on coaching and private tuition. During the Covid-19 pandemic (2020), the JSC exams were suspended and have not been reinstated under the new curriculum.

Similarly, primary-level scholarship exams were also suspended during the pandemic. They were suddenly reintroduced at the end of 2022, but inconsistencies were reported in results, and they were discontinued again. Recently, the government decided to reinstate scholarship exams at the primary level, and now the same decision has been applied to eighth-grade students as well.

According to the guidelines, the scholarship exam will cover five subjects: Bangla, English, Mathematics, Science, and Bangladesh and Global Studies. Of them Bangla, English, and Mathematics will each carry 100 marks.

Meanwhile, there will be a combined exam on Science, and Bangladesh and Global Studies with 50 marks allocated to each. Each exam will last three hours, with an additional 30 minutes for students with special needs.

Scholarships will be awarded based on merit (talent pool) and quota (general). Fifty per cent of all scholarships will be reserved for boys and fifty per cent for girls. If the allocated quota cannot be filled, a boy’s scholarship may be given to a girl, and vice versa.

Of them, talent pool scholarships will be allocated based on the upazila or police station area, distributed equally among the highest-scoring boy and girl in each upazila or police station area.

Scholarship exam centre must be established in every upazila headquarters. Schools with adequate facilities will be prioritised as exam centres. Depending on student numbers and infrastructure, multiple centres may be set up.

The exam will be conducted under the respective education boards, and the Ministry of Education has informed the boards that the exam will take place this very year. But, the exact dates are yet to be finalised.

When asked, Professor Khondokar Ehsanul Kabir, chairman of the Dhaka Education Board, told Prothom Alo, “We have a meeting next Monday, where the exam dates and other matters will be discussed. However, the Ministry has confirmed the exam will indeed be held this year.”

Rasheda K Chowdhury, executive director of Campaign for Popular Education (CAMPE) and former advisor to the caretaker government on Primary and Mass Education, criticising the scholarship exam decision told Prothom Alo, “Why are the students repeatedly being turned into guinea pigs for exams? This is unacceptable.”

“Continuous classroom-based assessment has still not been properly implemented. If quota-based scholarships (25 per cent for eighth-grade and 40 per cent for primary) are introduced without implementing that, unhealthy competition and inequality will increase. Why are students and parents being subjected to this unhealthy competition? Whereas, the education system should ensure that all students have the opportunity to learn properly,” she continued.

Rasheda K Chowdhury added that more emphasis should be given to assisting disadvantaged and struggling students. She suggested that the substantial funds spent on the scholarship exams could be better used for mid-day meals and additional stipends.