Staff Reporter :
The government has finally announced the fresh date of the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and equivalent examinations which were postponed earlier due to the flood across the country.
The new date for the SSC and equivalent examinations is September 15 and the education boards will publish new exam schedule soon.
Meanwhile, the government has also given a tentative time to hold the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) and equivalent examinations in November.
Education Minister Dr Dipu Moni disclosed the information to the journalists at a press conference in the Secretariat on Sunday.
The SSC examinations had a schedule to start on June 19, but the devastating flood in Sylhet,
Sunamganj and other districts forced the government to postpone the public examinations on June 17.
“The flood situation has improved. However, some of the educational institutions are still being used as shelter for flood-hit people,” the minister told the journalists.
The deluge damaged the lives and livelihoods of the people of the flood-hit areas and many students and examinees lost their books in the flood.
Against the backdrop of the damage of books, the government has estimated the total loss of books of the students and decided to distribute new books from the buffer stock.
“Some of the examinees have lost their books in the flood. We have already estimated the loss. We hope, the examinees will get new sets of books by July,” Dipu Moni said.
According to the Education Ministry, a total of 11,268 sets of new free textbooks are required for the SSC and Dakhil examinees. Of them, 10,586 sets of books are needed for the examinees in Sunamganj district while 682 sets for Sylhet district.
Apart from the books for the examinees, the government will also provide fresh copies of the textbooks for other students who have got their books damaged in the flood.
A total of 57,534 sets of books will be required for the students in secondary and vocational level for Sylhet and Sunamganj districts. Of them, 42,755 sets of books are needed for Sunamganj district while 14,779 for Sylhet.
On the other hand, 33,698 sets of books are needed for the students who are studying in Ebtedayee to Alim classes in the districts of Sunamganj and Sylhet. Of them, 23,558 sets of books are required for Sunamganj and 10,140 sets for Sylhet.
The minister said they have sufficient number of books available in the buffer stocks in Cumilla, Chattogram and Narsingdi district. And if more books are required, it will be fulfilled by the buffer stocks of the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB).
In reply to a query for the delay of the SSC exams, Education Minister said, “We have reports of further flood in Southern region in mid August. So we have kept one month in hand. If flood occurs in August, it will stay upto September 8-10.”
“Considering all factors, we have fixed September 15 to hold the SSC and equivalent examinations. The education boards will announce fresh schedule very soon,” she continued.
About the HSC examinations, the minister said, “Generally, we need a gap of two months for holding two public examinations. So, the HSC can be held in November. However, we want to start the HSC exams within a range of 45 days.”
Answering another question on the teaching and learning gap, she said, “The NCTB will hold a meeting with the experts next Wednesday. They will formulate a plan and actions will be taken accordingly.”
