With wrong question paper, technical edu board cancels exam midway

The teenager was nervous as he entered the exam centre on the first day of the HSC tests on Sunday afternoon. He tried to recall what he had learned and hold it for the answer scripts. 

But the teen's composure totally shuttered as soon as he received the questions. 

"It was absurd. They [teachers] gave us the wrong question paper," the technical education board examinee from Tangail told The Business Standard. "We repeatedly told the teachers about it. But they forced us to carry on."   

On condition of anonymity, the student said all the examinees of the room started pressing the teachers for changing the question paper after 40 minutes already into the test. 

Subsequently, the question papers were taken back as the board cancelled the HSC examinations of Bangla first paper for candidates of both new and old curricula due to swap of syllabus in question papers.

The cancellation by the board, however, did not specify who was responsible or whose negligence put more than 1.22 lakh examinees into trouble on the very first day of the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) tests – that began seven months later than the regular schedule.  

"We postponed the exam immediately after learning that the examinees got the wrong question papers. We will inquire how that happened," Md Mahabubur Rahman, secretary of the Bangladesh Technical Education Board, told The Business Standard.  

He also regretted the "mistake" and said the board will be more cautious in future.  

According to the media release, the new exam schedule for Bangla paper 1 HSC exam will be notified later.   

Recurring 'mistakes'  

This is not the first time students were provided with wrong questions and the exams later eventually got postponed. However, there are no records about taking action against individuals responsible for the blunders.

During the SSC exam this year, students in a Narail centre under the Jeshore Education Board were provided Bangla paper 2 questions for Bangla paper 1 exam. The education board later cancelled the exam. 

On 22 September, Dinajpur Education Board postponed the SSC exams for four subjects after question papers got leaked, putting at least 2 lakh students in limbo. But the ministry probe later found "minor anomalies".

Professor Siddiqur Rahman, former director of Institute of Education and Research at Dhaka University, termed the incident regrettable as he said, "It is due to the negligence of the authorities. Everyone responsible must be brought to book." 

Contacted, Education Minister Dipu Moni told The Business Standard that they will take punitive action against individuals making such blunders.