Staff Reporter :
Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid on Wednesday said, the government has taken tough measures to check leakage of Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) and its equivalent examinations’ question papers.
The HSC and its equivalent examinations will begin from April 2 across the country.
“We have completed all preparations to hold HSC and its equivalent examinations smoothly with a special focus to curb the spate of question leakage,” Nahid said.
The minister said this while speaking at a press conference in the Secretariat on Wednesday.
Education Secretary (Secondary and Higher Education Division) of the ministry M Sohrab Hossain was present on the occasion.
Nurul Islam Nahid labelled coaching centres as ‘unlawful’ and admitted his failure that he could not shut those. “All types of coaching centres are illegal,” the minister said.
He said, the ministry has no authority to close the coaching centres, but law-enforcement agencies can do this.
“Every coaching centre in Bangladesh will remain closed from March 29 until the HSC examinations are over.”
The High Court has already issued a rule on coaching centres, guidebooks and notebooks, Nahid said adding that the law does not allow any coaching centre to operate in Bangladesh. “Even then, many crimes are happening in our country. We cannot stop all these right away even if we want. However, we are continuing our efforts to stop it.”
He said a total of 13, 11,457 candidates will sit for HSC and equivalent examinations from 8,943 educational institutions all over the country. Among the candidates, 6, 92,730 are male students and 6, 18727 are female students.
Nahid said some 2,541 examination centres would be set up across the country, adding that more 1, 27,771 students are going to appear at HSC and equivalent examinations this year compared with the previous year.
The education minister urged all students to enter the examination halls 30 minutes before the starting of examination.
Only the in-charge officer at respective centres will be allowed to enter the examination halls with mobile phones as they will be given the instruction about set of question papers via a text message, he said.
