Education sans examinations!  

For learners up to class III, this is celebration time. It promises to be a celebration time for the nation depending on how the opportunity is used. If abused, there is every chance that the learning of a generation will once again encounter hurdles of as yet unknown nature.

Now why is this a celebration time for the beginners? If everything goes well, there will be no examination from next year for children of this country studying up to class III. What an excellent idea and a decision! Once again, it is the country's prime minister who has to initiate the move and instruct the administrative apparatuses to work on the paraphernalia involved. If things can be worked out well, from next year students up to class III will have no examination for evaluation of their merit. Rather, their class performance together with a range of extra-curricular activities will be taken into account.

The concept may sound radical in the context of Bangladesh but it is not so under different systems. For example, the Montessori system of education is even more radical in its approach to teaching the young ones. Classrooms under the Montessori system are so crafted that every aspect there supports an aspect of child development, matching a child's natural interests and available activities. The motto is to bring out the natural abilities in a child and nurture it accordingly. The important point here is natural interests. Nothing is imposed on a child but s/he is guided to pursue what s/he loves most. Thus children learn in an interactive environment of joy and happiness.

Now, teachers involved with teaching are highly trained in such an environment. Conversant with neuroscience and child psychology, such teachers can do justice to their profession. So without creating the right environment and employing at least one or two such specialised teachers in each of the country's primary schools, introduction of a programme like this may even backfire. It may end up like putting the cart before the horse. That is the last thing this country will expect of something so positive and promising.

Before execution of such a decision, there is need for examining the pros and cons of the programme. Bangladesh is yet to attain the socio-economic status enough to support the creation of a Montessori classroom environment. Nor is there any effort to produce teachers qualified for the job at hand. In a situation like this, the best option is to integrate outdoor day-to-day activities with academic syllabi. But unless teachers are trained well to use those aspects for teaching numeracy and literacy in an interactive and joyous environment, the programme will fall apart.

The main hurdle here is the mindset. Primary teachers have not been taught to explore the creative urge and satisfy the inquisitiveness in every child. They now have to delve deep into child psychology instead of reprimanding them for asking irrelevant questions. Barring an exceptional few, the rest are unlikely to take the challenge. On the other hand, recruitment of fresh teachers with adequate training in a short time is unthinkable. But at least a batch of trained teachers can be produced within a year, who can at least take the programme ahead. So it is better to wait till at least a batch of teachers come out with adequate knowledge to appreciate the uselessness of examinations for beginners. Their task would be to engage students in creative activities mixed with fun. Learners will garner knowledge without knowing they are learning.

Here social hierarchy should have no role and the system has to be free from political interference. Such interferences once did a lot of harm to school education. Let teachers do their duty and their performances be evaluated by appropriate authorities. Local people's cooperation is a positive component but it has to be impartial to be salubrious.