Ministry discloses names of teachers who prepared controversial 'creative' question for HSC Bangla exam
Earlier, a question in the creative section of the Dhaka Education Board's Bangla 1st paper exam - narrating a story of two brothers involved in a land dispute – raised concerns of communal incitement
The Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board, under the Ministry of Education, has disclosed the names of teachers who prepared and reviewed the controversial "creative" Bangla 1st paper question in the ongoing Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) exam that caused an uproar.
The controversial question was prepared and reviewed by five teachers under the Jashore Education Board, Ministry of Education Senior Information Officer Abul Khair told The Business Standard on Tuesday (8 November).
According to the education board, Proshanta Kumar Pal, an assistant professor at Dr Saiful Islam Degree College in Jhenaidah's Moheshpur prepared the contentious question paper, which was later reviewed by four other teachers from Jashore education board.
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The teachers who reviewed the question are - Syed Tajuddin Shaon, an associate professor at Narail's Government Victoria College; Md Shafikul Rahman, an associate professor at Satkhira Government Mohila College; Shyamol Kumar Ghosh, an assistant professor at Narail's Mirzapur United College and Md Rezaul Karim, an assistant professor at Kushtia's Bheramara Adarsha College.
Earlier, a question in the creative section of the Dhaka Education Board's Bangla 1st paper exam - narrating a story of two brothers involved in a land dispute – raised concerns of communal incitement on social media.
"Two siblings, Nepal and Gopal, have been in a clash over their lands for a long time. Nepal sells his portion of land to Abdul, who is a Muslim, with a view to punishing his brother. Abdul builds a house there and starts to live permanently. Abdul sacrifices a cow in front of Nepal's home during Eid-ul-Azha. Heartbroken, Nepal moves to India along with his family members," read a section of the question.
Educationists and civil society members expressed their outrage as soon as the question paper started making its rounds on social media.
"They are trying to instil communal hatred into our children. It is totally unacceptable," Ashraful Alam Chisty Shaheen wrote on his Facebook wall.
"The paragraph is only to fuel communal hatred and bigotry. The government must identify the culprits and bring them to book immediately," noted educationist Professor Serajul Islam Choudhury told The Business Standard.
Professor Muhammed Zafar Iqbal said a section of teachers who set the questions did it deliberately to create problematic situations.
"It is truly unfortunate," he said.
Later, terming the objectionable HSC question "very unfortunate", Education Minister Dipu Moni said the authorities will find out who is responsible for setting such questions and punish them.
"We will do it very soon. Be it in classes or in textbooks, we always discourage any act that could be inflammatory to communal harmony. There are even instructions in this regard to question moderators," the minister told The Business Standard on Monday (7 November).
This year's HSC tests began on Sunday (6 November) with the Bangla 1st paper exam on the first day.
