Postponed HSC Exam Canceled

Nahid Neela 

The postponed HSC and equivalent exams will no longer be held. Dhaka Education Board Chairman, Professor Tapan Kumar Sarkar, confirmed this information on August 20 (Tuesday). He said, "The Ministry of Education has accepted the demand of the HSC candidates not to conduct the postponed exams. Therefore, the exams for the suspended subjects have been canceled. The decision on how the results will be determined will be made later."

Earlier, in the afternoon, thousands of HSC candidates entered the Secretariat. In the situation that arose, they demanded that the exams not be held and insisted that the results be published based on the exams that have already been conducted. They cited the injuries of many students during the protests and the disruption to their studies as reasons for their demand.

Later, a delegation of students, led by Hasnat Abdullah, the coordinator of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, met with Senior Secretary Sheikh Abdur Rashid of the Ministry of Education. During this time, many protesting students demonstrated outside the Secretary’s office, demanding the cancellation of the remaining exams.

It is noteworthy that this year's HSC and equivalent exams began on June 30. Despite the start of the job quota reform movement on July 1, several exams, including seven under the Dhaka Board, were completed across different boards.

However, as the quota reform movement intensified, the HSC and equivalent exams were postponed several times due to the emerging situation. The exams were rescheduled in phases.

Finally, in an emergency meeting chaired by Education Advisor Wahiduddin Mahmud on Tuesday morning at the Secretariat, it was decided to delay the exams further by two weeks from September 11. Additionally, it was decided that the remaining exams would be conducted by answering 50 out of 100 marks, effectively reducing the exam content by half.