No public exam before Class X: Proposed curriculum

Students will have to study 10 common subjects from Class VI to X. Then they will take the first public examination, ‘Secondary School Certificate (SSC) under the fresh curriculum, which will be implemented from 2023. There will be no public exams usually held in the fifth and eighth grades. As per the fresh curriculum, students will be allowed to choose what discipline—science, business or humanities— they would pursue for higher studies after passing the SSC examination. 

In the current curriculum, SSC examination is held based on the syllabus of ninth and tenth grades together. But in the proposed one the examination will be held only under the syllabus of Class X.

The new curriculum says students will have to attend two separate public examinations in higher secondary level—one in first year (Class 11) and another in second year (Class 12). And the final HSC result will be published after combining the results of these two examinations.

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday has approved the draft outline of fresh national curriculum, which will be implemented gradually from primary to secondary levels by 2025. After that education minister Dipu Moni briefed the media over the matter at the secretariat.

The way of assessment 

Dipu Moni said students up to Class-III will be evaluated in the school. In Class IV and V, students will receive 60 per cent marks through classroom assessment and the remaining 40 per cent will come from the examinations. The same evaluation process will be followed for the sixth and eighth graders.

However, in Class IX and X, fifty per cent will be assessed in classroom and fifty per cent through the examinations. In Class XI and XII, 30 per cent of the evaluation will be conducted in the classroom while 70 per cent of the assessment will be based on examinations.

PEC and JSC examinations

Requesting not to be named, an official of National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) told Prothom Alo that the proposed curriculum does not mention any public examinations before SSC.

However, the government will decide whether the Primary Education Completion (PEC) and Junior School Certificate (JSC) examinations will be held or not, the official added.

Ten common subjects from class VI to X 

As the fresh curriculum, students will have to study on 10 common subjects. These are Bengali, English, Mathematics, Science, Information and Communication Technology, Social Science, Lives and Livelihoods, Religion, Health Education and Arts and Culture.

Under existing curriculum, students have to study on some identical subjects from sixth to eighth grades. Then they pursue either Science or Business or Humanities from Class IX.

 

[Source: Prothom Alo]