A maverick minister in Begum Khaleda Zia's cabinet 24 years ago, Ehsanul Hoque Milon seems to have lost his magic touch and dynamism that made him quite popular. Right now, he has botched up the affair of holding the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) examinations. So clumsily has he handled the matter that the HSC examinees are demonstrating against his callous attitude and demanding his resignation. Not only did he fail to realise the gravity of the situation arising out of heavy rains that caused floods in several districts of Chattogram and Sylhet divisions and waterlogging in Dhaka city and other places but also made a most objectionable remark. He compared the examinees with 'farm chickens'.
Although he later offered an apology for the remark, it was not enough to pacify the agitating examinees. After all, the disdainful attitude on display expressed more than the cabinet portfolio allows. It was not long ago, haughtiness expressed like this through unwanted remarks invited Sheikh Hasina's downfall. It is his mishandling of the entire affair that brought him face to face with the HSC examinees. He simply failed to respond to the emergency arising out of the natural calamity.
It is a bad idea to hold public examinations as important as the SSC and the HSC in peak monsoon. Cities like Dhaka and Chattogram get deluged by moderate rainfalls. In this era of advanced science and technology, weather predictions issued by the Met office rarely fail to hit the mark. When the Met office warned of heavy rains, the ministry of education should have acted promptly to postpone examinations.
Floods in Chattogram, Cox's Bazar accompanied with landslides wrought havoc and the ministry failed to take the decision that could have avoided the fracas. There was no way examinees could reach examination centres. Even if they could, the majority of them were drenched to the bone. That is not an ideal condition for sitting for an examination. Conversely, it is an invitation for flu or fever, putting at risk their further appearance at the examination halls and imperilling their future course of education.
There will be no surprise if a good number of examinees remain absent from appearing for examinations of the remaining subjects. Even many of the examinees appearing for exams will not be able to perform to their potential. That may have severe consequence for their academic journey. If the scores fall short of the required benchmark set by universities or medical colleges for admission test, their ambition for higher studies will meet a premature reversal.
It is not for nothing that the examinees are out on the street to protest the mismanagement of examination. This fiasco could be avoided if the education ministry issued an emergency instruction for postponement of exams until a further notice in this regard. Even several of his cabinet colleagues and lawmakers have taken exception to the education minister's handling of the affairs. They rightly note that the fiasco is a result of the minister's failure to grasp the importance of this issue. When non-stop heavy rains started inundating cities and towns, the best option before the ministry was to postpone examinations post-haste. Moreover, these ministers and MPs point to the fact that the government has been embarrassed by this unpleasant incident. It is for the first time, since the BNP government came into power in February last, that a serious agitation has been organised by students on a valid ground.
Now what can be a damage control measure is to arrange a retake of the examinations in the papers affected by the downpour and floods. The absentees should be given an opportunity for appearing for the exams concerned and it should be optional for others who arrived late at examination halls or could not perform to their satisfaction because of rains. Then there are two dubious questions in the Physics first paper. The minister is not responsible for this but the education boards are. There is a plan for offering full score to the examinees who attempted those questions. But what about those who did not attempt those questions because of the mistakes they could detect? A retake of examination on this paper can as well be considered. That will do some justice to the aggrieved examinees.
nilratanhalder2000@yahoo.com
