Dhaka/

The postponed HSC and equivalent examinations have been canceled in the face of student agitation. As a result, the practical test which is to be given at the end of the examination will not be given anymore. However, the Ministry of Education has not yet decided how the exam results will be prepared and published. Inter Education Board Committee and Dhaka Education Board Chairman Tapan Kumar Sarkar said that a decision will be taken in the meeting and will be informed later.
Sources in the Ministry of Education say that the Ministry was not in favor of canceling the HSC and equivalent examinations. Waheed Uddin Mahmud, adviser to the Ministry of Education and Planning, was of the opinion about giving the exam to the candidates with a small number of marks. But the protracted agitation and the death, blindness and injuries of many candidates were presented in favor of the candidates.

At that time, the seniors of the Ministry accepted the demands of the candidates and decided to cancel the exam. Later on Tuesday evening, the notification signed by Dhaka Education Board Chairman Tapan Kumar Sarkar said that due to unavoidable reasons, the postponed HSC and equivalent examinations of 2024 have been cancelled. Further action is requested in this regard.
Students did not want to give the suspended HSC and equivalent exams at the secretariat on Tuesday afternoon and started a movement demanding autopass. Under the circumstances, the examinees want the results of the HSC examination to be published on the basis of the number of subjects that have already been examined and by mapping the examination of the postponed subject with the relevant subject of the SSC. They besieged the Dhaka Education Board on Monday with this demand. There was also a plan to surround the education board on Tuesday. But when the students got the news that all the officials of the board were staying in the secretariat, they took a position in front of the secretariat.
Under the building where the Ministry of Education is located in the Secretariat, many students gathered and started protesting. In the first stage, hundreds of students entered the Ministry of Education by climbing the 18th floor stairs after the protest program in front of the Ministry of Finance at the Secretariat. The education secretary was blocked by this. No officer was left out. At 4 pm they entered the ministry saying ‘We have only one demand – we want to cancel the exam’, ‘We want only one exam to be cancelled’, ‘compromise not struggle-struggle-struggle’, ‘examination not alternative, alternative-alternative’, ‘movement with logic’ – Can’t be stopped’, ‘Challache fight-challe’ etc. kept chanting slogans.
Later, a ten-member delegation on behalf of the students submitted a memorandum to the Education Advisor. At that time, Hasnat Abdullah, one of the coordinators of the anti-discrimination student movement, assured the students of a peaceful solution to the issue.
Earlier, on Tuesday afternoon, the Ministry of Education decided that the suspended HSC and equivalent examinations will be postponed for another two weeks or more.

At the same time, the candidates have to write the answers of half the question paper in the deferred subjects exam. If earlier eight questions were to be answered on a subject, now four are to be given. For that they will get full time. This decision was taken in an emergency meeting presided over by Wahiduddin Mahmud, Education Advisor to the Interim Government in the Ministry of Education.
Candidates have been struggling with HSC and equivalent exams for two consecutive months. This exam has been postponed in phases. Question and answer papers were burned during the fall of the government and political change. At this time, there was a lot of emotional stress among the candidates. Many of the examinees have to be imprisoned. Due to which the candidates were protesting to cancel the postponed examination.

But the examinees say that those who participated in the HSC and equivalent examinations of 2024 took the SSC examination in 2022. At that time, due to flood and corona, their results were published after coordination through examination of 50 marks in each subject. Apart from this, they did not give any test in three subjects at that time. They are ICT, Bangladesh and World Identity and Islam and Moral Education. They also said that the result of these subjects is determined in coordination with the marks in the JSC examination.
Sources say that HSC and equivalent candidates participated in the anti-discrimination movement earlier. Many examinees were injured in this. Many HSC examinees were arrested and booked in various cases surrounding the quota movement. They were in prison. Due to which the students of various colleges refused to give the exam even after the exam date was announced. They came down on the road demanding not to give the exam.

Before that, the Board of Education postponed the HSC examination on July 18. Then all the exams on 21, 23 and 25 July were postponed as the situation worsened. In the third phase, all the examinations scheduled from July 28 to August 1 were postponed by the Inter-Education Board Coordination Committee. Dhaka Education Board Chairman Professor Tapan Kumar Sarkar said that it will take at least a month to start the suspended HSC and equivalent examinations.

He told the media that since all the question papers were burnt, new question papers have to be prepared and distributed all over the country. It takes at least a month to do so. Because of this, he expressed his grief to the HSC examinees.
HSC and equivalent exams of all education boards except Sylhet board started on June 30. After 8 days of examination as per routine, all examinations on July 18 were postponed due to the situation surrounding the quota reform movement. According to the schedule, a total of 61 subjects of 13 days of examination were left. All the latest exams have been suspended and it has been said that the exams will be held as per the new schedule from August 11. But later it was informed that the exam is not being held on August 11.

The postponed exams were last scheduled to be held from September 11. However, the boards said that there is no opportunity to examine the resignation of the Sheikh Hasina-led government and the current situation in the mass movement of students. This year, under 9 General Education Boards, Technical Boards and Madrasa Boards, the total number of examinees is 14 lakh 50 thousand 790 people.