HSC results to be published by 28 Jan
An amendment to the existing law will be placed in the House on 18 January
After a long wait, Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) and its equivalent examinees are set to receive their results by 28 January.
Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam informed reporters of the date at a press briefing on Monday after the cabinet meeting.
The publication of last year's HSC results hit a snag over legal complexities due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
At Monday's meeting chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the cabinet approved a draft amendment to the Intermediate and Secondary Education Ordinance with a view to publishing the results.
The cabinet secretary said the education boards had prepared the results.
"The next session of the parliament will be held on 18 January. We will place the amendment on the first day of the session. I think the education boards can announce the results on 25 or 26 January, or by 28 January at the latest," he added.
On 29 December last year, Education Minister Dipu Moni said the results were ready and they were waiting for the declaration of a new ordinance as the existing law did not support the announcement of results without exams.
Professor Nehal Ahmed, chairman of Dhaka education board and member secretary of the result preparation committee, told The Business Standard that the existing law allows the announcement of Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and HSC results only after the examinations are held.
"But this time, the government is having to announce the results without holding examinations, which is why we are taking time to make the announcement," he said.
"We need to have a meeting of the technical committee after the amendment to the existing ordinance. That will not take time and we will publish the results as soon as possible," he added.
On 7 October last year, the education minister announced that HSC results would be published by December.
Last year's HSC tests were scheduled to be held from 1 April at over 9,000 educational institutions under 10 education boards – eight general boards, one madrasah board and one technical education board. About 13 lakh students were ready to take the tests.
But the government later decided not to hold the tests due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. They decided to publish the results based on students' Junior School Certificate (JSC) and Secondary School Certificate (SSC) scores instead.
Moreover, because of the pandemic, it was decided that Primary School Certificate (PSC) and JSC students would be promoted automatically while pupils of all other grades from primary to secondary level would be allowed to advance to the next grade the same way as well.
On 16 March last year, the ministry issued a press release, announcing the government's decision to close all educational institutions and coaching centres from 18-31 March, taking into consideration students' safety amid the global pandemic.
Classes have remained suspended since then, but administrative activities gradually resumed.
The ministry extended the school closure on several occasions – first till 9 April, then 25 April, 5 May, 30 May, 6 August, 31 August, 3 October, 31 October, 14 November, 19 December, and finally till 16 January this year.