How will academic year be completed!

Students received textbooks very late this year. Some schools took three to four months. Meanwhile, educational institutions fell into a trap of long holidays during last Eid-ul-Fitr, and now again, they are going to face a long break during the upcoming Eid-ul-Azha. According to media reports published on Wednesday (May 14), a 19-day holiday will begin in educational institutions from June 1. The authorities say this is according to the academic calendar for Eid-ul-Azha and summer vacation. Parents say the long break is disrupting students' studies. Students who cannot study in alternative ways are falling behind.

In the meantime, many schools have not yet held the first term exams, or they are in the process of doing so. Some schools may complete the first term exams before Eid. However, in many schools, the designated chapters for the first term syllabus have not been fully taught. Education-related individuals and parents believe that students are facing a concerning situation.

Those involved in education say that due to the delay in receiving new textbooks, the first two months of the academic year went without studies. From the third month of March, there was a 40-day holiday including Ramadan. After reopening, students had only two days of classes. Then the SSC and equivalent exams began, which are still ongoing. After the upcoming Eid-ul-Azha and summer vacation, the HSC and equivalent exams will begin.

Heads of educational institutions say that most of the major holidays for the 2025 academic year have fallen in the first half of the year. As a result, they are struggling to complete the syllabus, since getting active classroom time has become difficult for them. Parents say that when schools are closed, their children spend time lying around and are not focused on their studies. To make up for the loss, they send their children to coaching centres or batch classes with private tutors, ultimately increasing the educational expenses. On the other hand, rural parents who cannot afford this have children spending their holidays playing, which causes them to fall behind in acquiring knowledge.

There is nothing new to say about the chaos and disorder in Bangladesh's education system. After the mass uprising, there was hope that since everything in the country was being reformed anew, the education system would also undergo necessary reform. Unfortunately, although the interim government aimed at state reconstruction and formed 11 reform commissions, it has yet to establish an education reform commission. Yet, what was needed first and foremost was a complete overhaul of Bangladesh's education system. Recently, revised and refined textbooks for the general education stream of Bangladesh have been published. But policymakers surely know that without reforming the method of implementing education, simply revising textbooks will yield no results.

The topic of teaching method only arises when regular classroom teaching is ensured. But if students are caught in a cycle of holidays for three to four months out of twelve every year, then overall improvement in education becomes truly difficult. Considering the future of the students, educational institutions should very soon be freed from this trap of extended holidays.