Primary Scholarship Exam – To Be or Not To Be!

There was a time when primary scholarship was conducted after completing the annual examination of class five. Usually, the students who occupied top positions in the internal examinations were allowed to sit for this examination. The successful examinees used to obtain monthly scholarship money, and these students were tagged as ‘scholars. 

Similar things happened in the SSC and HSC examinations, where several top-level students occupied positions on the education boards. That was abolished to give students a GPA. Both systems have merits. The primary scholarship examination was stopped after introducing the Primary Education Completion Examination 2009.

Since then, not only the teachers but also the students and guardians have expressed their grief, and a group of guardians have also demonstrated on the street against this decision. The ministry, however, did not pay much heed to the demand for some valid reasons, though it did not satisfy many guardians. 

The government has initiated the reintroduction of the Primary Scholarship Examination after 16 years. The Directorate of Primary Education (DPE) has already submitted a draft policy following the direction of the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education.

In the policy, the amount of primary scholarship money has also been proposed to increase. One round of meetings has already been held regarding the matter, as some national dailies report. Very soon, the set of policies will be disclosed, as has been said by the officials concerned.

The DPE source informs that the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education issued a letter to the DPE to revert to the Primary Scholarship Examination in the previous style. DPE has then developed a draft policy updating some points to keep pace with the times. Now is the time to wait for the notification to be issued.

Against this backdrop, the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education has decided to reintroduce the primary scholarship examination. According to the new decision of the ministry, every year after the completion of the annual examination in December, ten to twenty-five per cent of students from a school will be allowed to sit for the primary scholarship examination.

The government thinks it will increase the motivation of meritorious students, and merit-based competition will come back, which has been absent since the introduction of the new curriculum. The guardians are pleased to learn the news. They say they cannot make their children sit at the study table because of the absence of any competitive exams.

There is no exam till class three. So, they have been growing up without any idea about competitive exams. They think that the children will have that idea, at least a  little, if the Primary Scholarship Exam comes back.

However, this type of primary scholarship examination creates discrimination in the field of education, as some educationists opine, and it is true in some sense, though it is not the whole story. They want to argue that primary scholarship examination encourages giving special attention to some students who are nurtured in a different way, which means they are treated with special care, creating discrimination among their classmates. Other students think they are neglected.

So, they do not have a full share of receiving equal treatment from the teachers and the school. All this exerts a negative effect on the tender minds of the students. It creates mental stress and fear in the minds of children, as the name of any exam invites fear in their minds. Exams are considered a matter of ‘ win’ and ‘ loss’ games, and they should not be nurtured or inculcated in the tender minds of students.

Many children cannot do well in the examination because of fear and tension, even though they have merits and things set in the exam are known. It reduces their self-respect and belief, encouraging memorisation capacity. Primary scholarship examination also widens the gap between rich and poor children, and the poor ones lag behind.

There may be some unhealthy competition among the schools, even if it may invite illegal practice to show that a particular number of schools are better than other surrounding schools, satisfying the proper authorities by fair means or foul, as corruption has infiltrated all tiers and veins of education.  

It is true in one sense that the children from wealthy families get the opportunity to take primary scholarship examinations, as they can afford to receive support from several teachers for money. The poor cannot do it. Teachers also give exclusive attention towards those who show better results in the internal examination of the school. Moreover, the children from well-to-do or rich families are allowed to sit for this exam, discouraging those who come from poor families.

Children develop and grow soundly in a peaceful and tension-free environment. They can learn things not only from books but also through assignments, projects, presentations, and participating in various types of open competitions such as science fairs, math Olympiad, essay competitions, and quiz competitions.

Some suggest that short tests conducted all year round should be taken into consideration. Teachers can observe the students closely and decide their growth stages and gradual development. Teachers should make a list that will be submitted to the upazila education officer for awarding scholarships on the basis of students’ performance in the above-mentioned events.

They suggest that the ministry arrange such a type of competition area-wise across the country. All these events are also not without competition; they actually exist everywhere. We cannot deny it.

It is obvious that we cannot deny these arguments and proposals. However, all these cannot be fully supported, considering the practicality of the situation. There lies some ‘ but’ behind every reason. Most of the ideas mentioned above just reflect an ideal situation that sometimes leads to a ‘utopian idea’ which exists nowhere in the world, but just lives in our thoughts and minds.

Suppose left-leaning politicians aspire and dream to create a society where all will be treated equally, but we see that it exists nowhere in the world. Still, we have socialist parties in many countries of the world. Humanity and all religions always preach not to cause a little pain to our fellow humans. But in reality, we see the weak face the worst sufferings and torments.

The powerful ones attack, punish and level the weaker ones on the ground. All the world sees either with satisfaction or with mental remorse. Practically, no one comes to rescue the sufferers. Look at Palestine, think of the Iran-Israel war! Reason lies millions of kilometres away from here!

We cannot afford to avoid the truth that in the midst of such a chaotic situation, a group of students are serious, regular, want to learn, optimistic and motivated. It is the responsibility of the institutions and the state to give them more opportunities to go ahead, of course, and not neglect others. In nature, we see some creeps spread widely, which need support to spread.

If not, their front portions get killed. This is not the logic that serious students will have to wait to embrace an ideal environment in the schools, and when it comes, they will start gaining knowledge together. Those who want to grow up, want to learn, want to change their situation, must be entertained.

Children from well-to-do families always show better results, but this may not be true. However, they have some advantages because they do not fight poverty. We should work so that all the students get equal attention and opportunity from the teacher, from the school, to society and the country. It cannot happen suddenly in the midst of the huge mismanagement we have created.  

But we cannot stop nursing the motivated students who really want to go ahead, facing all the turmoil the education sector faces. So, we do support the ministry’s decision to resume the primary scholarship examination.