The rush for admission in schools

Admissions anxiety is intensifying as the year draws to a close with parents having to worry about placing their children into one of Dhaka’s few top schools. Intense preparation is being made for the admission tests, which are essentially ‘elimination’ tests as few aspirants will pass and be enrolled. In the past, the use of money, in the form of fat donations or otherwise, and influence peddling were part of this annual phenomenon. This year, we are told that some steps have been taken to make the admissions process more transparent and the headmasters of government schools were summoned to the directorate of secondary and higher education and alerted in this regard. A ‘code’ system has been introduced for the tests in order to minimise bunging. Whether any improvement takes place remains to be seen.

The more affluent guardians are in most cases engaging numerous tutors to groom their children to prepare them for the admission tests. Tutorials are also doing brisk business as they capitalise on the nerve wracking process of admissions. When education is a basic right this kind of desperation on the part of students and guardians alike looks anomalous. The reason for this desperation is that quality education in this country is not inclusive. In the normal course of things, admission of students should have been no problem. In the city there are 400 secondary schools including 24 government schools, besides the English medium schools. But in reality, the guardians’ choice is extremely limited. Out of these 500-plus secondary schools only 30 or 35 can be relied upon to provide acceptable quality of teaching. Normally, it would be expected that only female students who live within a reasonable distance from the Viqarunnessa School would prefer admission in this school and similarly that boys living not far away from the Government Laboratory School would prefer to enroll in that school. But that is not to be and the whole city is focused on a few schools regardless of distance and travel time.

This happens because standards of the different schools are disparate. While we accept that that the standard of teaching in all the schools will not be uniform, it is nevertheless very important that all educational institutions ensure a minimum acceptable standard and the discrepancy in the standard of teaching between schools be reduced by making more schools competitive. Teachers need to be given improved training and reorientation to raise their teaching efficiency. Tax payers have been meeting the rising demand for subsidy to teachers without a demur, and now it is time for teachers to give a better account of themselves. Some institutional changes are also required. Government teachers should be rotated among numerous schools so that more schools can have the benefit of good teachers and such benefits are not concentrated on a few elitist institutions.