'PEC exam unlikely this year too'
Like the JSC and JDC examinations, the Primary Education Completion (PEC) examinations will not be held this year.
The students will be assessed through annual examinations.
A senior official of the primary education administration disclosed this information to Prothom Alo.
Seeking anonymity the official said a summary sent by the primary and mass education ministry to prime minister Sheikh Hasina seeking her decision has been approved.
A few days ago, the state minister for primary and mass education ministry, Zakir Hossain, told Prothom Alo that they had the necessary preparation to take the PEC examination.
However, they did not want to take the Ebtedayee exam as the madrasahs did not have the preparation. they sought the prime minister’s instruction regarding this.
Earlier, education minister Dipu Moni said the junior school certificate (JSC) and junior Dakhil certificate (JDC) exam would not be held this year. She also indicated at the time that this year's primary and Ebtedayee education final examination would not be held either.
Due to the pandemic situation, these tests were not taken last year either. Students were promoted to the next class without examination.
However, this year the government has already decided to take annual examinations for the students of class six to nine and a pre-test for the tenth graders. Now, the students of primary level will also be assessed through final examination.
Meanwhile, no examinations like PEC and JSC has been included in the outline of the new curriculum from primary to secondary. The new curriculum will be introduced experimentally from next year and will be formally implemented in 2023.
In this situation, educationists and people concerned are saying these two examinations need to be stopped now as per the new curriculum.
The government introduced the PEC examination in 2009. The Ebtedayee examination was introduced later. About 3 million students take part in these examinations.
The JSC and JDC examinations were introduced in 2010. The total number of candidates in this examination is now more than 2.6 million.