HSC exams to start 17 August as scheduled: Dipu Moni

Education Minister Dipu Moni has said the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) exams will begin on 17 August as per schedule.

The announcement came when a section of students and parents had been protesting – in Dhaka and some other parts of the country – to have the HSC exams postponed amid the rising dengue cases in the country.

Speaking at a press briefing after a national monitoring and disciplinary committee meeting at the International Mother Language Institute yesterday, the minister said there was no scope to defer the exams and urged the students to focus on their studies.

The education minister said the exams will be held on full marks in the revised and rearranged syllabus of 2023 for all the subjects except the Information and Communications Technology (ICT), for which there will be an exam of 75 marks instead of 100 marks.

This year 13,59,342 candidates will participate in the HSC and equivalent exams, which is 1,55,935 more than last year. Among them, 6,88,887 are male students and 6,70,455 are female students.

Various initiatives have been taken to conduct the exam in a fair environment in 2,658 centres across the country.

The minister said 11,08,594 students will participate in the exam under nine general education boards of the country.

Meanwhile, 98,031 students will participate in the Alim exam under the Madrasah Education Board, and 1,52,717 students will participate in the HSC (BM/BMT), HSC (Vocational), and Diploma-in-Commerce exam under the Technical Education Board.

As many as 327 students will participate in the HSC and equivalent exams held in centres at Jeddah, Riyadh, Tripoli, Doha, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Bahrain, Saham, and Oman.

The education minister said all coaching centres will be closed for 43 days from 14 August to 25 September to conduct the HSC and equivalent exams in an environment free from rumours of leakage of question papers.

The theoretical exams under the general education boards will start from 17 August and end on 25 September. The practical exam under these boards will start from 26 September and end on 4 October.

The Madrasah Education Board's theoretical exams will start from 17 August and end on 26 September. The practical exam under this board will start from 27 September and will end on 4 October.

The Technical Education Board's theoretical exams will start from 17 August and end on 14 September, and its practical exams will start from 15 September and will end on 27 September.