Schools, colleges suffer amid strikes

Dr Md Mahmudul Hassan :

Due to the impact of COVID-19, people infected with corona were forced to choose a life confined to their homes due to the fear of unseen organisms.

Children’s homeschool life and house captivity exposed them to online addiction, emotional distress, behavioral reactions, apathy and various physical problems.

We never expected that life during the Corona period and living under house arrest would ever touch us again.

Every little unrest makes us panic nowadays after coronavirus pandemic.

It seems, will we become housebound again or will our children become reactive to unusual behavior outside of studies! Natural disasters such as; cyclones, floods, droughts, economic downturns etc. and man-made disasters such as; riots, political turmoil, cease-fires, strikes, blockades, etc., none of these are good for us.

Whatever the economic loss, the damage to education is irreparable in the long run.

The English medium education system of our country now is in more trouble due to political unrest, which has made students, teachers and parents mentally depressed and upset.

While the Bangladesh’s mainstream schools of the country are able to continue their classroom activities during the ongoing political turmoil, English medium schools are unable to continue their educational activities as they are located in capitals or city corporations.

Besides, the English medium curriculum is not covered by the national curriculum, and the obligation to complete the syllabus according to their own curriculum has made the students very anxious.

It is now the half-yearly exam season for all schools following the Edexcel or Cambridge Curriculum run by the British Council.

Parents and teachers put a lot of pressure on their students to participate in this exam.

To complete the syllabus quickly, to achieve good results in exams, to take a good position in the class, there are multiple such pressures constantly exerted on the students.

Moreover, the insistence of finishing their exams a month earlier has created a great negative reaction in the mind space of the students to insist on completing the syllabus quickly in a very short period of time.

As a result, many students are showing reluctance to participate in the examination. Parents are also feeling quite upset.

Meanwhile, according to the pre-announced exam routine by the British Council, the IGCSE or O’ Level and IAL or A Level exams have started from October 2, 2023, and if everything goes well, this exam is scheduled to end on November 26, 2023.

But due to nationwide strikes called by BNP and other political parties since November 29, there has been a lot of uncertainty in taking this exam.

As this exam is internationally regulated and the exam is held simultaneously on the same date all over the world, it is not possible to delay or retake the exam in any catastrophic situation of any country.

In this case, the candidate has to decide whether he will sit for the exam or not. Due to the sudden strike and blockade in Bangladesh, students and parents are in great trouble.

Meanwhile, the British Council is unable to make any changes in their exam routine or postpone it, and the parents of Bangladesh are also unable to freely take their children out of their cars or use public vehicles to come to the exam center.

In such a critical moment, it will take a long time for the English medium students of the country to recover from the loss they are facing.

On the other hand, the continuous hartal-blockade called by the opposition political parties and the standstill in the educational institutions in the country of non-operation on the one hand, students are not able to come to school, on the other hand, the mentality of the teachers who were continuing to teach to complete their syllabus is also being disrupted to the extreme.

Although some English medium schools that are ahead in information technology can continue the education program through the use of blended learning or online education platforms, it is not possible to ensure effective learning results like on-campus education.

Although DIS (Daffodil), Scholastica, Turkish hope, DPS and several other schools in Dhaka are able to ensure education according to the needs of students due to their advanced technological setup, many schools in the country are not able to do so.

In this situation, there is a kind of anxiety-excitement and mental unrest among students and parents of English medium schools.

In the current situation, since English medium schools are not able to conduct on-campus classes, the authorities are suffering financially.

Parents also use this opportunity to avoid paying school tuition fees and other dues. Although many schools have online payment facilities, they are showing negligence in this regard too.

As a result, English medium schools are in a lot of trouble as they are not able to conduct exams on time as per the calendar.

Again, school authorities fulfill their desire to earn money by hoping to admit new students in many schools at the end of the year, which has now turned into a shortage due to political unrest.

In such a situation in the country, most of the English medium schools have now published the examination routine with the intention of conducting the examination online.

But it has created many worries and anger in the minds of the parents.

Because, experts have opined that two to three hours in this examination method is very harmful for students who are looking at the net screen.

Again, some schools have released the examination routine by planning to conduct two examinations a day on weekends, i.e. on Fridays and Saturdays.

But whatever the method of English medium school examination, it is quite uncomfortable for the students and parents and they do not get much satisfaction from the examination results.

On November 11, 2023, a conference called ‘Principal’s Network Meet’ was organized by the British Council at The Western Inn Hotel located in Gulshan, Dhaka.

In a panel discussion titled ‘Impact of Digitalization and Technology on Education’, UK Exam Director David Alban said, “Educational institutions need to be stronger on technological platforms to overcome the loss of students in the ongoing political situation in Bangladesh.

And the students should be motivated so that they don’t feel any disappointment with education and exams.”

In the discussion, in order to increase the mental strength of the students, it has been suggested to take all measures to participate in the half-yearly examination or the mid-term examination so that the current instability of the country does not disturb them.

So, there is no doubt that the English medium is in dire straits at this critical moment in the country.

In such a situation, we appeal to the political parties of the country to focus their attention so that the education and students of our country are not adversely affected.

On the other hand, it is our humble request to the parents, teachers and school authorities that they give full cooperation in continuing our education system in such dire situations in the country and give special importance to the mental health of the students.

We all hope that the current situation in the country will be resolved quickly.

The writer is an Educator, Principal and President, Bangladesh International Schools Association (BISA).