Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) and equivalent examinations will continue as scheduled across the country, except in the Chattogram division where exams have been postponed due to waterlogging, an education board official said on Tuesday.
Prof Jesmin Taslima Banu, convener of the Inter-Education Board Examination Controllers' Committee and controller of examinations at the Dhaka Education Board, said there had been no new directive to suspend the examinations.
"The government will make the decision, and the education boards will implement it. So far, the government's instruction is that the examinations will continue," she told reporters.
The decision was reaffirmed at an online meeting held at the Ministry of Education earlier in the day to review the overall examination situation.
The meeting, chaired by Education and Primary Education Minister ANM Ehsanul Haque Milon, was attended by senior government officials, including the prime minister's education adviser, the education secretary, divisional commissioners, chairmen of education boards, deputy commissioners, police superintendents and other relevant officials.
According to officials, only the examinations in the Chattogram division were postponed because severe waterlogging made it impossible to hold the tests there. They said examination conditions in the rest of the country remained suitable and that, except for one centre, examinations on Monday were conducted without major disruption.
Based on the assessment, the meeting decided that HSC and equivalent examinations would continue according to the published schedule in all other parts of the country.
Meanwhile, protests by a section of HSC candidates continued in Dhaka and several other parts of the country on Tuesday. Demonstrators demanded suspension of the examinations until the flood and adverse weather conditions improve, a special examination for students who missed the July 13 tests due to the weather, and the resignation of the education minister. They also staged demonstrations and road blockades in areas including Science Laboratory and Uttara in the capital.
PT/ra
