Dhaka – More than 1.27 million Bangladeshi students began their Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) and equivalent examinations on Thursday, under 11 educational boards across the country.
A total of 1,270,583 examinees from 9,439 educational institutions are taking part in the public exams, which will continue throughout July.
“Nine general education boards will conduct the HSC examinations using a single, uniform question paper,” said Abdul Khaleque, Secretary of the Secondary and Higher Education Division, at a press conference on Wednesday.
Students from the Madrasah Education Board and the Technical Education Board will receive different sets of questions aligned with their respective curricula.
Khaleque noted that among the total candidates, 621,969 are male and 648,614 are female, with female students outnumbering their male counterparts by 26,645.
Of the total examinees, 1,069,714 are from the nine general education boards, 92,905 from the Madrasah Education Board, and 107,964 from the Technical Education Board.
The Dhaka Education Board recorded the highest number of candidates at 300,393, while the Barishal Education Board registered the lowest at 58,694.
The examinations will cover 77 subjects over 21 days. Regular classes will continue at educational institutions on days when no exams are scheduled.
To ensure fair and malpractice-free examinations, CCTV cameras have been installed at all centres. A central monitoring cell has also been set up at the Ministry of Education to oversee exam activities nationwide in real time.
Authorities have cancelled examination venues previously identified as prone to cheating. However, some centres in remote haor (wetland), hill, and char (riverine) areas have been retained with enhanced security arrangements for the convenience of students.
The secretary further stated that strict measures have been taken to prevent question paper leaks. Anyone found spreading fake questions or attempting to leak examination papers on social media will face exemplary punishment under the amended Public Examinations (Offences) Act, 1980.
