Staff Reporter :Students will not be allowed to sit for SSC, HSC examinations without clearing tests held by their own institutions, said an education ministry order issued on Sunday.With this decision, the ministry has backtracked from its previous order on the issue. On March 1, the ministry said that the educational institutions must arrange proper test examinations, but students with 70 percent attendance must be allowed to appear in public exams even if they failed to clear the tests.The directive signed by Education Secretary Nazrul Islam Khan created adverse reaction among students, teachers, parents and other stakeholders, said the latest order signed by Assistant Secretary Asim Kumar Karmakar.”It is not desirable at all that students, who fail to pass the test examination held by school, colleges and madrasas, will be allowed to sit for the public examinations,” reads Sunday’s order.It said that participation of ‘unqualified’ students in public exams would leave an ‘adverse affect’ on regular students.If students, who fail to pass test examination but have 70 percent attendance, are allowed to appear in the public examinations, it would leave a ‘negative impact’ on the results of the examinations, said the latest order by the Ministry.It, however, said institutions could allow a student to sit for the examinations if he or she cannot clear the tests for reasons like illness, natural calamity and accidents considering academic records.A power struggle between the Minister and Secretary became apparent after the complexities arose over admission in colleges.Minister Nahid have then issued a directive saying ministry officials cannot issue any order without his nod.
