School Based Assessment: Will it Really Change the Education Scenario in Bangladesh?

In Bangladesh, the system of assessment has always been guided by curriculum though the system only covered learners’ ability of memorization and comprehension skills. Other categories of skills in the knowledge like application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation are hardly included in the assessment. Besides, some of the essential qualities such as oral presentation, leadership, tolerance, co-operative attitude, school behavior, co-curricular activities, and social values are not included in the assessment system. As a result, learners’ trend to rely heavily on their memorization skill leads them to become crippled lacking required excellence to contribute fruitfully to the society. The government of Bangladesh has timely envisaged the reservation of its education system and has justly adjudicated the School Based Assessment (SBA) aspiring learners’ holistic development. SBA has been implemented in junior secondary levels of general education in June, 2007. This paper reveals the current situation of the recently applied assessment system through a study of a group of teachers of secondary level and SBA trainers. It will discuss the issues that emerge from the arguments of the scholars that they hold regarding SBA and its potentiality in the context of Bangladesh.