From Competition to Collaboration: Rethinking Public Examination Results 

Published on: June 2, 2026

When I started my PhD in Education (TESOL) at the University of Central Florida, after about a month, I noticed and experienced something very different, something that I had hardly, if ever, experienced during my educational journey in Bangladesh: cohort support.

I can remember that in classroom peer and group discussions, and even in online courses, my cohorts were very supportive and always willing to help one another. For example, in an early statistics course in my PhD program, I was struggling with a group assignment given by the professor in which we had to analyze a dataset using statistical methods in the classroom. As I came from an arts background, statistics had not been part of any of my previous academic studies. I remember that one member of my group completed the task in about 10 minutes, before anyone else in the classroom, and then patiently helped me understand how he had analyzed the data. That was a very new experience for me: a cohort supporting another without feelings of jealousy, competition, or concern about who would become more successful in the future.

This was not an isolated event. Throughout my PhD journey, I consistently received support from my cohort and experienced a collaborative learning environment that was very different from my experiences in Bangladesh, both as a student and as a faculty member. I can remember that when I was a student, I heard from a teacher that one of my peers had approached him to point out my “mistakes” in one of my class submissions. The teacher scolded him and asked why he had not helped me correct my mistakes before submission instead of simply drawing attention to them. Beyond that incident, I had several traumatic and almost lifelong negative experiences in my academic life due to jealousy, rivalry, and competitive attitudes among peers, mentalities that sometimes continue into professional life as well. As a faculty member, I also observed cohort rivalry, where some students tended to speak negatively about their peers to other students and instructors, particularly when their academic results were very close.

My cohort experiences in U.S. academia and in Bangladesh were very different, which led me to think about why this was the case. Gradually, I came to understand one possible reason behind this difference: the public publication of examination results. In Bangladesh, most students’ examination results are publicly accessible. I believe this practice contributes not only to jealousy, rivalry, and competitive attitudes among cohorts, but also to broader negative social consequences, as students are constantly judged by others based on their “achievements” in academic and professional examinations.

In Bangladesh and many other South Asian countries, merit ranking is highly valued and often becomes a source of recognition and respect within families, friendships, and society. When results are publicly displayed, students may develop feelings of insecurity, rivalry, and jealousy from a very early age, especially if they are not at the top of the ranking hierarchy. Even earning a 95% score may not be considered satisfactory by some parents if another student earns 97% in the same course. Children/ students may experience bullying and harassment both inside and outside the classroom, which can ultimately damage healthy peer relationships and collaborative learning environments. Many students experience severe frustration, and tragically, some even take their own lives when they are unable to remain at the top of the ranking pyramid.

On the other hand, in U.S. academia, both as a student and as a faculty member, my experience revealed a different approach. In American educational institutions, student grades are considered private information protected by laws such as the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Even parents generally cannot access an adult student’s academic records without explicit permission. Grades become tools for self-reflection rather than public measures of social status. Keeping grades confidential allows students to focus on understanding their own strengths and weaknesses as personal information rather than as public knowledge, protecting them from criticism and social pressure from friends, family, and society. It also helps foster a healthy and collaborative learning environment in which students support one another and use their strengths to help peers overcome their challenges.

My journey from Bangladesh to the United States has shown me that when students are not constantly compared, they are more likely to collaborate, share knowledge, and develop meaningful academic relationships. The strongest learning communities are those in which peers are not competitors fighting for limited recognition, but partners working together toward common goals. If educational systems move away from public ranking and toward greater confidentiality, students may experience less anxiety and more belonging. They may come to see classmates not as threats, but as allies. And when that happens, education becomes what it is meant to be: a collective journey of growth, compassion, and shared success.

I understand that there are many logistical limitations in Bangladesh. Nevertheless, I believe the government and educational institutions should take steps to treat students’ grades as confidential information. Doing so would help students learn and grow in a less pressured environment and encourage more collaborative and supportive relationships among peers throughout their academic and professional life. Education should teach students not only to excel individually but also to uplift one another. I believe that, as a result, Bangladesh would become stronger as a nation if students began to view their cohorts not as competitors, but as supportive hands.