Bangladesh, Jan. 3 -- With pictures of little angelic faces -- mostly of girls and all smiles -- splashing the front pages of newspapers on the first day of the year 2020, the nation could not think of a more propitious beginning of the New Year. Those beaming faces were of the top grade -- most likely golden GPA-5 -- achievers in the last Primary Education Completion (PEC) and Junior School Certificate (JSC) or Junior Dakhil Certificate examinations.
No, the girls' pictures were not carried in from any consideration for gender bias, they simply deserved it. In the JSC and JCD examinations girls have outshined boys in both pass rate and in the achievement of grade point average (GPA) -5. Of the girl examinees, 88.64 per cent came out succe...