Bangladesh's Catholic schools achieve outstanding results

May 20, 2014 - ‎Catholic Church-run schools in Bangladesh have obtained exceptional results in Secondary School ‎Certificate (SSC) tests, increasing their overall score by 2.95 per cent over last year. More than 45,000 ‎students obtained a GPA-5 (grade point average), i.e. the maximum score. In most Catholic schools, ‎‎100 per cent of students achieved the highest score. In Comilla, a city in eastern Bangladesh, Our Lady ‎of Fatima Girls' High School ranked eighth in terms of SSC and Higher Secondary School (HSC) ‎Certificate exams, this according to the local school board. According to Ministry of Education figures, ‎more students obtained the highest GPA, up from 78.19 per cent in 2010 to 92.67 per cent this year. ‎Teaching and mentoring have improved as the method of creative questioning was applied to 21 ‎subjects. Particular focus was on English and mathematics, with students relying more on their ‎textbooks.‎

Overall, the Catholic Church in Bangladesh runs 49 high schools, 5 colleges and 109 elementary and ‎junior high schools. About 95 per cent of the students are not Christians. These facilities not only ‎provide an excellent academic training but also moral education.‎

‎"Our school teaches us discipline, honesty and faithfulness. That is why our school is best," Nazma ‎Akter told AsiaNews. A high school student at Our Lady of Fatima, she obtained the highest score in ‎the SSC examination. Teachers in Catholic schools say they provide the best education to the students. ‎‎"We cover every chapter in every book. We take extra care of slow learners and we are there for those ‎who get good results," said Nirmal Francis Gomes, president of St Philip's High School and College in ‎Dinajpur.‎ (Source: AsiaNews ‎)