The Silent Collapse of Creativity in Bangladesh’s Education System

Have we become so obsessed with GPA that we are forgetting the true purpose of education? In today’s competitive world, academic results have become the main measure of success. Students are running after grades, while creativity, critical thinking, and practical knowledge are slowly disappearing. This growing gap between marks and real learning reflects the weaknesses of our education system.

Writing is a very important skill in this world of Lingua Franca, especially writing in the English language. It helps us express our thoughts clearly, share ideas, and even solve problems. Good writing requires clear thinking and the ability to explain ideas in our own words. However, in Bangladesh, when we read the essays written by students, we find it very concerning. These essays show that our education system is more focused on achieving higher GPA scores than on building real writing skills. Students can copy answers from guidebooks, but they struggle to write something original due to their habit of memorization. This gap between marks and actual ability tells us a great deal about the weaknesses in our education system, especially at the secondary and higher secondary levels.

At the higher secondary level, which includes Classes 11 and 12, students face immense pressure. The main target for everyone is to achieve GPA 5 in the HSC exam. Teachers, parents, and even coaching centers push students solely toward exam results. Students write many essays for practice, such as “The Role of English Speaking or Writing” or “Climate Change in Bangladesh.” However, most students memorize model answers from notebooks or inexpensive guidebooks. They learn selected paragraphs and reproduce them in the exam hall. Because of this, they get no chance to think differently, critically, or to add personal opinions. A student from a college in Feni might write about village floods, but the words are almost the same as those printed in guidebooks. This surface-learning system of memorization makes students good at scoring marks but weak in real writing. They can fill pages quickly, but the content lacks fresh ideas or personal thoughts.

Many students feel tired and stressed because they have to attend college in the morning and then rush to coaching centers until night. Sleep and rest become luxuries. At this stage, learning creative writing becomes a burden, an unnecessary activity, and a waste of time.

When these same students enter university, a major problem arises. They suddenly find it very difficult to write proper essays or assignments, so they resort to copy-pasting from ChatGPT or other AI tools. In higher secondary education, they wrote many essays and achieved good marks, so why do they struggle now? The main reason is the memorization habit. In SSC and HSC, they depended on surface learning. They never practiced thinking independently or organizing ideas freely. In university, teachers expect critical analysis, personal opinions, and original arguments. Questions such as “Discuss the impact of social media on youth with examples from Bangladesh” cannot be answered with memorized paragraphs. Students feel lost. They know they wrote essays before, but it was mostly borrowed knowledge. Now they are required to create something new, and they lack the necessary practice.

Many first-year students in public and private universities complain that they cannot even begin writing. They receive low marks in assignments and feel frustrated. Some even consider dropping courses because of this. Memorization has become a major barrier in our education system and should be strictly reduced or eliminated. Of course, memorization to some extent is necessary for basic facts, but relying only on it kills creativity. When students memorize everything, they stop thinking. They cannot connect book knowledge with real life. For example, students can memorize the entire chapter on Bangladesh’s economy but cannot write two paragraphs on why unemployment is rising in their own area. If we can eliminate memorization-based learning techniques and introduce more creative writing tasks from the school level, students will develop better writing skills. Teachers should assign topics that force students to observe their surroundings and share personal views instead of copying from books. Another issue is that teachers often give selective topics for essays or paragraphs before exams, which ultimately leads students to memorize them. As a result, their creative thinking is suppressed once again.

There are many other problems as well. One major issue is the difference between urban and rural students. In big cities, students have access to better teachers, internet facilities, and coaching centers. They can practice more. But in villages like Feni, Noakhali, or Barishal, many higher secondary students study without proper books or electricity. Their essays often show limited knowledge and simple language due to a lack of resources. When they reach university, this gap becomes even wider, and they struggle further.

Another problem is mental pressure. Students in higher secondary often feel depressed due to constant comparison with classmates, relatives, or neighbors. If someone gets GPA 4.5 instead of 5, family and society treat them as failures. This unnecessary pressure prevents them from taking risks in expressing their own thoughts. Even teachers in rural areas do not provide a foundation in creative writing in the classroom; instead, they force students to memorize everything and reproduce it in writing. As a result, students only write safe, memorized answers.

Moreover, our education system is not equipped with practical writing training. Students learn grammar rules and formats but do not practice applying them in writing, developing arguments, or editing their own work. In university, when they need to write reports or research papers, they copy from online resources or peers. As a result, plagiarism has become a regular practice. The lack of expert and trained teachers is also a contributing factor. Many teachers rely on outdated methods and depend heavily on notes. They do not encourage discussion or creative tasks.

The result of all this is clear: we are producing graduates with good GPAs and certificates but very few real skills. Companies complain that our students cannot write simple reports or emails properly. This is a significant loss for the country. To fix this, we need a proper curriculum that starts from the root level. In secondary and higher secondary education, there should be more project work, group discussions, and essay writing, and guidebooks should be discouraged.

Memorization-based exams should be reduced. Universities should offer writing courses for new students to bridge this gap. The government should also focus on rural schools and appoint capable teachers so that every student gets an equal opportunity.

In conclusion, student essays clearly reveal shortcomings in the education system of Bangladesh. Writing skills are neglected due to the overemphasis on GPA and memorization. Students perform well in higher secondary education by copying and memorizing from guidebooks and notes, but fail to adjust in university because universities emphasize independent thinking and skills. If we do not reduce surface learning and shift from grammar-rule-based memorization at the secondary and higher secondary levels toward original thinking, these shortcomings will inevitably worsen. Education should prepare students for real life, not just for exams. By listening to the silent messages in students’ writings, we can understand what needs to be changed. It is time to move from chasing numbers to building real abilities. Only then can we create a generation that can think, write, and lead Bangladesh forward.

Saima Akther is a student, Department of English, Feni University.