The Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and equivalent examinations, scheduled for Sunday, have been shifted to Friday (Feb 20) due to the 72-hour nationwide shutdown set to be enforced by the BNP-led 20-party alliance at 6am on Sunday. Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid made the announcement of shifting the examination at a press briefing at his Hare Road residence on Saturday. The postponed examinations on three papers — Maths for general students, English 1st paper for madrasah students and Chemistry 2nd paper for technical students — will be held from 9am to 12 pm on Friday, he said. Nahid said, “We’ve decided to reschedule the examinations considering the security of the students and their family members due to the hartal called by the 20-party alliance.’’ “We are shocked at the announcement of fresh hartal programme. People across the country have got panicked. The frequent hartals by these political parties have been pushing the students towards ruination. They (political parties) have no compassion for the students.” “People are not observing hartals but they’re killing people by hurling petrol bombs. The discipline in education sector is at stake due the political programmes of the opposition parties,” said the minister. Earlier, the SSC and its equivalent examinations were deferred for four times due to the BNP alliance’s hartal. The SSC and its equivalent examinations began across the country on February 6. –UNB, Dhaka.
