Why Bangladesh Must Reform Its Examination-Centred Assessment System

Published on: August 20, 2026

In the modern era, educational practices have been actively shifting from teacher-dictated models to student-centred approaches, with growing importance placed on ensuring that teaching-learning is delivered with the learners themselves in mind. However, the current education system of Bangladesh solely follows a one-size-fits-all approach, relying mostly on memorisation, lectures and written assessment without prioritising sustained acquisition and retention of competencies, restricting learner potential in terms of critical thinking, creativity and innovation, which are important skills in this era. Assessment is one of the critical pillars of the education system, but Bangladesh has seen limited transformation in this area. The summative written assessment approach has been the most widely practiced evaluation strategy in Bangladesh. It is conducted in the form of half-yearly and final examinations in schools in every class, as well as the various board exams measuring learning completed over several years. Despite its criticisms, it is still embedded in the system without any feasible alternatives.

Several questions arise in this discourse. How effective is written assessment in the evaluation of a student’s learning? Does written assessment exclude any groups from a fair assessment? The answers to these questions are primarily in the negative sphere. Several incidents have pointed out the monochromic assessment model of the country, which acts as a significant barrier towards learner development and success in life. First of all, summative written examinations carry the greatest grade weightage in the current education system, with limited focus on formative assessment or classroom participation. As such, this reduces the validity of the evaluation data because a one-point measurement is found to be inadequate in representing a student’s competences. In some scenarios, students who have consistently scored well in school have gone on to perform poorly in the exams due to a number of reasons, including sickness, anxiety, personal problems (such as the death of a family member), etc.

This also brings us to another important realisation: questioning the predictive validity of the assessment results. In pursuing higher education, students need to show their previous results. However, if the results do not truly reflect the person’s abilities, many individuals may go on to miss future opportunities. Another central phenomenon synonymous with exams is question paper leaks. The government focuses on event prevention measures through strict security measures without addressing the underlying issues that contribute to the emergence of such unethical behaviour. One of the key reasons is the importance placed on grades and scores by society. Written examinations only provide a snapshot of a person’s knowledge and skills, but carry disproportionate weight in determining a person’s educational and future opportunities. This mental pressure acts as a motivation to pursue unethical means to get better results. This further reduces the accuracy of the evaluation system, as well as makes us question ourselves about the kind of values that are unknowingly being taught by our education system.

Another important issue that arises is the inclusiveness of the evaluation procedure. One of the most prominently disadvantaged groups due to this are individuals with visual impairment. During board exams, newspapers often report how many individuals with visual impairment cannot participate in such written exams due to the lack of scribes. Currently, there are no alternative provisions for them to attend the exams, except for depending on scribes who are board-approved, which can be difficult to acquire. Therefore, a significant proportion cannot sit for the exams, negatively impacting their future endeavours.

The construct of great and poor results is a necessary means to assess learning, but the societal discourse around it has changed its perception from being an opportunity to identify one’s strengths and weaknesses, facilitating improvement, to a life-defining judgment that dictates whether you are a success or failure in life. The stark contrast in students’ experiences following examination results paints a brutal picture of this assessment system: while those with excellent results celebrate with sweets and smiles, those who performed poorly face intense societal pressure and, in tragic scenarios, commit suicide. These issues together build a need for a more diverse and multifaceted assessment system that is inclusive in terms of learner abilities and competences.

One of the most significant changes that is imperative in the system is to reduce the grade weightage of summative written examinations and increase the practice of formative assessment. This will not only distribute assessment across multiple points in time to broaden assessment data, enhancing its validity and generalizability, but there will also be more opportunities for feedback, self-improvement and building confidence. In addition to that, assessment methods should also move beyond written forms only. Written exams clearly have advantages in terms of conduct, cost and objectivity. However, dependency on one form reduces the depth of the assessment data, particularly in terms of skills and values. Thus, there is a critical need to evaluate learners using diverse strategies to increase the depth of data. Possible evaluation strategies may include oral tests, performance exams, projects, etc.

A revolutionary concept in first-world countries to promote the validity and inclusivity of the evaluation system is to have choice-based assessment. This involves providing learners with a variety of assessment formats to choose from to demonstrate their learning, including written, verbal, presentation, projects, etc., which cover the same learning outcomes. Learners can select the assessment method based on their needs. Research has been conducted in this area throughout the world, with positive perceptions from learners, teachers and parents, as students became more responsible and motivated towards their learning, improving confidence, effort and, in many cases, their grades as well.

Structural change is not adequate to facilitate this assessment transformation. As seen by the discourse surrounding the previous curriculum, introduction of new educational practices must be supplemented by proper societal adaptations. Stakeholders must work together, including parents, teachers, students, policymakers and educational experts, to strengthen understanding of the rationale behind this reform and build shared responsibility for this change. Such collaboration is also essential for effective implementation of the assessment strategies, as well as building structured monitoring and feedback mechanisms to address concerns and make necessary adjustments to ensure the changes remain responsive to learners’ needs and goals.

The 21st-century world, in line with SDG Goal 4, is focusing on creating a quality, equitable and inclusive education system where every learner can succeed. Although policies related to curriculum and teaching strategies have seen tremendous growth in recent times, the assessment system remains rooted in rigid, written exams. To remain globally competitive, Bangladesh must revolutionise its assessment system: not merely by diversifying assessment formats and strategies, but by fundamentally redefining evaluation as a means of guiding improvement and supporting lifelong learning rather than simply judging achievement.

Samia Habiba is an undergraduate student at the Institute of Education and Research (IER), University of Dhaka.