In view of BNP’s 72-hour shutdown from Sunday, the government has deferred Sunday’s Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and equivalent examinations to Feb 28 and Tuesday’s to Mar 6. Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid announced the decision at his house on Saturday noon. According to him, the exams, scheduled for Feb 28, will be held from 10am-1pm as usual but the tests slated for Mar 6, Friday, will be held from 9am-12noon due to Zumma prayers. BNP called the shutdown along with its ongoing blockade to press for its demand to hold a snap general election under a nonpartisan caretaker administration. The party has been enforcing shutdowns on every working day since past two weeks forcing the government to hold SSC tests on weekly holidays. The first seven SSC exams were deferred due to shutdowns enforced by the BNP-led alliance. The BNP-Jamaat-e-Islami alliance on Friday announced the shutdown from 6am Sunday to 6am Wednesday. Around 1.5 million students are taking this year’s SSC exams. The BNP-led coalition has been paying no heed to urges from the government, teachers, students and parents to keep the SSC tests out of the purview of the shutdowns. SSC tests were held on only five days so far this year, though on weekly holidays, with the indefinite blockade by BNP in effect. Public tests in the last two years were also hampered by BNP’s agitations. –bdnews24.com
