Weather-hit HSC candidates to retake missed exams

Students who were unable to sit the ongoing Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) and equivalent examinations due to heavy rainfall and adverse weather conditions will be given another opportunity to take the tests, Education Minister ANM Ehsanul Hoque Milon announced on Tuesday.

“As the HSC examination is a crucial milestone in a student’s life, the government has decided to provide this opportunity on special consideration,” the minister told parliament while delivering a statement under Rule 300.

He said a total of 1,270,583 students are taking part in this year’s HSC and equivalent examinations at 2,697 examination centres across the country.

Milon said examinations had already been postponed in five districts under the Chattogram Education Board—Chattogram, Cox’s Bazar, Khagrachhari, Rangamati and Bandarban—because of heavy rainfall and adverse weather.

He added that a number of students in other parts of the country had also been unable to attend scheduled examinations due to severe weather and other unavoidable circumstances.

“Students who could not sit for any HSC or equivalent examination due to adverse weather or other unavoidable reasons will be allowed to take the respective subject on the same date and at the same time as the postponed Chattogram Education Board examinations,” the minister said.

He added that the affected candidates would sit the examinations using the same question papers prepared for the postponed Chattogram Education Board tests.

Addressing the controversy over the Physics First Paper examination, Milon said those responsible for preparing the erroneous question paper had been temporarily suspended.

He also assured students that they would be awarded full marks for Questions 6 and 7 of the Physics First Paper, where errors had been identified.

Meanwhile, HSC candidates staged demonstrations for a second consecutive day, demanding changes to the ongoing examination process.

Police set up barricades outside Shikkha Bhaban in Dhaka to stop protesting students as they attempted to march towards the Secretariat.

The protesters are demanding the resignation of the education minister, the postponement of the ongoing HSC examinations, and several other measures relating to the examination process.