Dr. Mamtazuddin Patwari, Professor of History, Bangladesh Open University : Public examinations have the highest priority in our education system. Public and private universities across the country run their academic activities in different time periods such as semesters, trimesters etc. Verbal tests are very nominal here.
Although the grading or GPA method has been introduced in 2001, authorities were unable to get their head off the traditional marking method. The first five years after the GPA system was introduced, was devastating because of the lack of evaluation experience. Teachers in order to  avert the oncoming criticism, caused another disaster. They took a whole generation to the stars and the parents fell for the GPA craze as well. Schools, colleges and other equivalent institutes also started a competition-based education which is more of a business. If these students are faced with written test in the job market, the picture will be much clearer. There are millions of students having GPA-5 estranged in the job market seeking employment. Lobbying is how most of them succeed in this objective. What do we do with them? Our current education system is unable to develop their merit. When a huge portion of students of a country is getting their certificates just by following lecture sheets and guide books, saying there are jokes going on in the name of education won’t be very wrong. Words such as human resource and skilled manpower sound very astonizing to hear , but they are mostly left illusory during a student life. In this era of digitalization, there are no ways without a handful of skilled manpower. That’s why most of our organizations are being coordinated by hiring employees from abroad. We have to find out where we currently stand and where we are headed to. GPA cannot be a tool to be used to judge these matters at all.
Translated by Sofian Khan.