SSC exams start 15 Sept, HSC in Nov

The Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and equivalent examinations this year will start on 15 September.

The Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) and equivalent examinations will start in the last week of November, said Education Minister Dr Dipu Moni at a press conference in the ministry on Sunday.

This year's SSC and HSC exams were scheduled to begin on 19 June and 22 August respectively, but the sudden floods in Sylhet and Sunamganj disrupted all preparations, prompting the ministry to suspend the exams.

"By 24 July we will finish handing out new textbooks to examinees whose books were damaged in the floods," the minister said.

As many as 682 sets of textbooks of SSC examinees were damaged in Sylhet and 10,586 sets of books in Sunamganj.

Asked about the syllabus, Dipu Moni said the syllabus will stay the same as it was for exams earlier scheduled to begin on 19 June.

The minister said coaching centres across the country must remain shut during the exams, as usual, adding that the ministry does not want to stop coaching permanently.

According to the Education Ministry, nearly 19 lakh students across the country are registered to participate in this year's SSC and equivalent examinations.

Earlier, SSC exams were delayed once already for about four months till June because of the coronavirus pandemic. Usually, SSC exams take place in February.

In 2020, the SSC exams finished before all educational institutions closed due to the pandemic.  

The HSC exams did not take place that year and students were promoted automatically on the basis of their Junior School Certificate (JSC) and SSC results.

In 2021, both exams were held on shortened syllabuses in November and December.