A government committee tasked with consulting on education reforms has proposed limiting public examinations to five core subjects and ensuring universal secondary education up to Class 12. The aim is to reduce academic pressure and address learning deficits.
According to a draft report obtained by The Daily Star, the consultation committee for Improvement of Secondary Education suggests that centralised public exams should focus on Bangla, English, mathematics, science, and social science only.
The 10-member panel, chaired by Emeritus Professor Manzoor Ahmed, recommends that public exams should evaluate core competencies rather than covering every subject taught in schools. Subjects like digital technology, religion, physical education, and the arts would be excluded from central written exams and assessed internally through continuous evaluation.
The proposal aims to alleviate unnecessary academic stress on students by streamlining the exam subjects, allowing more focus on foundational skills like language and mathematics. Shortening the public exam schedule would also reduce prolonged school closures, preserving teaching time lost during exam periods.
Additionally, the committee suggests that subjects such as information and communication technology (ICT) should be assessed through practical evaluations rather than written tests. The report also advocates for the permanent abolition of public exams at Classes 5 and 8, criticizing the disruption they cause to regular classroom teaching.
The panel further recommends maintaining a unified curriculum up to Class 10 and opposes the current practice of dividing students into science, humanities, and business studies streams from Class 9. It suggests that specialization should begin at Class 11 to ensure educational objectives are met without barriers.
To ensure continuity in education, the committee proposes bringing the entire school system from pre-primary to Class 12 under a single ministry or authority. As part of broader structural reforms, the report advocates for universal education up to Class 12, defining Classes 6 to 12 as the secondary level.
These recommendations stem from a field assessment that revealed significant learning gaps. The committee assessed 437 students from various types of schools, showing concerning performance in subjects like mathematics and English.
Regarding the academic calendar and class duration, the committee criticizes the current January–December calendar as a colonial legacy and proposes shifting the academic year to September–June. This change would allow for a long vacation during peak monsoon months, improving teaching continuity during the winter.
The committee also suggests reevaluating the fixed 45-minute class period, proposing a more flexible approach to scheduling instructional hours per subject on a weekly basis. This change aims to optimize learning by allowing longer, uninterrupted sessions, especially for mathematics and science subjects.
