Govt pry schools lag behind [ Tritiyo Matra News ]

Govt pry schools lag behind

Local January 08, 2017

Government primary schools fail to deliver better results as their students lagged behind students of non-government schools and kindergartens in terms of results in Primary Education Completion Examination in three consecutive years.
According to the Directorate of Primary Education, in the past three years, 5-7 per cent students from government primary schools scored the highest Grade Point Average 5 while 2 per cent students from newly nationalised schools scored GPA 5.
The percentage of GPA 5 achievers was 40-44 for high school-attached primary schools and 22-24 for kindergartens in the same period.
Academics and parents said that government primary schools lacked quality of classroom teaching and facilities including adequate teachers and proper monitoring and supervision that started telling on the results in public exams.
Dhaka University professor emeritus Serajul Islam Choudhury and BRAC University professor emeritus Manzoor Ahmed said that government primary schools were plagued by shortage of qualified teachers and proper educational environment.
Manzoor Ahmed said that the government primary schools also lacked supervision and accountability of the teachers who were less attentive at schools and remained absent from classroom.
Generally the poor sent their kids to government primary schools and they cannot provide the kids with extra facilities like well-off families which also causes difference in results, he added.
Primary and mass education minister Mostafizur Rahman said that they expected that all students should be qualified at similar level but many expectations remained unfulfilled.
‘Government schools are not lagging behind kindergartens or Viqarunnisa Noon School and others by that much,’ he claimed.
‘We are appointing new teachers and taking steps to improve government primary schools…We will be able to decrease vacancy of teaching positions soon,’ he said.
According to the directorate, 2.2 per cent from newly nationalised schools, 6.97 per cent from government primary schools, 41.12 per cent from primary schools attached to high schools and 24.43 per cent from kindergartens scored GPA 5 in 2016 primary completion exams5.
The percentage of GPA 5 achievers was 2.21 for newly nationalised schools, 6.56 for government primary schools, 24 for kindergartens and 44 for high school attached primary schools in 2015.
In 2014, the percentage of GPA 5 achievers was 1.75 for newly nationalised schools, 6.97 for government primary schools, 24 for kindergartens and 41 for high schools attached primary schools.
The pass rate was 99.27 per cent for kindergartens, 99.33 per cent for high school-attached primary schools, 97.38 for newly nationalised schools and 98.70 for government schools in 2016.
In 2015, the pass percentage was 99.36 for kindergartens and high school-attached primary schools, 98.80 for government primary schools and 97.57 for newly nationalised schools.
In 2014, pass percentage was 99.13 for kindergartens, 99.15 for high school-attached primary schools, 98.50 for government primary schools and 96.65 for newly nationalised primary schools.
Officials blamed guardians’ apathy towards government primary schools, particularly in cities, for keeping their children away from those schools for the poor results.
The guardians who fail to get their kids enrolled at reputed private and non-government schools, English medium schools, government secondary schools and kindergartens send their kids to government primary schools, they said.
Educationists also blamed difference between education facilities, lack of trained teachers and motivation of teachers for the sharp difference of results of the students.
Lack of facilities at government primary schools were reflected in Education Watch report of Campaign for Popular Education published in December 2015.
The report said that there was one teacher for 52 students at government primary schools and one teacher for 22 students at kindergartens.
It said that 13 per cent government teachers were absent from the schools on the day of the survey.
It also said that the average number of classrooms was 4.9 at government schools and 7.2 at kindergartens.
The report said that 18 per cent government primary schools had libraries.
CAMPE executive director Rasheda K Choudhury and Manzoor Ahmed said that investment in education should be increased in order to encourage talented people to pursue teaching profession.