Finding the learning curve

The National Education Day, which was observed on September 17, is a commemoration of the movement against discrimination and deprivation in education and for scrapping the unpopular Shareef Commission Report on education by the students in the then East Pakistan in the early sixties. On that day, school student Babul, bus conductor Golam Mostafa and domestic worker Waziullah sacrificed their lives in support of the movement of school and college students. I participated in the movement as an activist in the capacity of General Secretary of Dhaka College Students' Union. I was fortunate to preside over the first formal meeting on this burning issue at the Dhaka College cycle stand.

The meeting was attended by student representatives from Dhaka and outskirts of the city. It needs to be mentioned here that the 1962 education movement was initiated by the students alone without any outside influence; to be specific, not under the traditional partisan student leadership. The central student leaders could not foresee that such a huge movement would be possible based on academic issues and problems faced by the students. The momentum of the movement subsided when the then opposition leader H. S. Suhrawardy came to Dhaka from Karachi and met East Pakistan Governor Golam Faruk, persuading him to defer the implementation of the Shareef Commission Report.

This year Education Day was observed with a focus on the national resistance to terrorism and violence and the delay in passing of the Education Law, for which establishment of a statutory Permanent Education Commission could not be realised. The 54th anniversary of the historic moment was observed with the vow to accelerate the pace of progress and peace in the face of recent terrorism and violence, which also involved a number of young students who study in private universities and madrassas. Apart from this pressing issue, the absence of appropriate allocation in education, disparity and corporal punishment - even after a court verdict banning it - heavy load of books on children and lack of supervision and accountability are other major concerns of the education system today.

It must also be noted that in recent years, the education sector witnessed several positive changes, such as free distribution of textbooks to primary and secondary students, reform in the curriculum after 17 years, introduction of creative questioning system, use of information technology in the publication of examination results, introduction of pre-primary class, development of the infrastructure of education institutions, stipends for girls, achievement of gender parity in primary and secondary education, introduction of school banking for students, induction of student cabinets  to help understand the democratic practice, etc.

However, the issues centring our education system are many. Despite several attempts, the dropout rate in primary, secondary and higher secondary levels has not been decreasing as expected. It is still quite high. Poverty, child marriage, high-priced 'note-guide' books, compulsory coaching and weak teaching system are some of the main factors behind the high dropout rates. If, for example, one hundred students get enrolled in class one, out of them only 32 students remain till the intermediate level, the rest 68 students drop out of the educational institution. Though incentives in the form of stipends, distribution of free textbooks, school feeding programmes are ongoing, the dropout rate continues to be a problem. The Bangladesh Bureau of Educational Information and Statistics (BANBEIS) disclosed this fact recently. Apart from the factors mentioned above, Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid has also stated that entrance of students in the job market due to poverty and failing in text and final exams are two other reasons why students prefer to drop out before completing their education. In 2014, World Bank released a report on the state of education in Bangladesh, which stated that weak teaching methods and weak education foundation of students further aggravate the drop out situation.

Finland began the reform of its education system some 40 years ago. Today, Finland`s school system is ranked at the top among developed nations, as measured by the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), and international standardised tests for 15-year-olds in language, math and science. The most interesting aspect of their education system is that Finland achieved its success by breaking what are considered the customary rules of education. Finnish children do not begin school until the age of seven, when they are ready to learn, and schooling is compulsory for just nine years. School days are shorter and there are fewer class. Homework is minimal. There are no mandated standardised tests. There are no ranking, comparisons or competition between students, schools or regions.

Yet 93 percent of Finns graduate from academic or vocational high schools; this is 17 percent higher than in the US. Sixty six percent pursue higher education, the highest rate in the European Union. And Finland spends about 30 percent less per student than the US.

On the occasion of National Education Day, we should honour the sacrifice of the students of 1962 by ensuring that no student is forced to live without education and to improve our system to the best of our abilities. We need to understand that our National Education Policy 2010 is not an absolute entity and scope for changes and amendment will always be there and errors can always be rectified. Education is a dynamic concept. The process of adaptation and modernisation should continue while keeping pace with the development of knowledge and science. We can learn from Finland and adopt at least some of their strategies to ensure that dropout rates are kept at the minimum. With the help of practical experiences acquired during the implementation stage of the policy, and through the application of modern knowledge, science and technology, we can continue to enrich the policy.

The writer was an organiser of the 1962 education movement and member of the National Education Policy Committee. Email: ihdbd@yahoo.com