Education minister urges students to end protests, assures re-exams for flood-hit examinees if needed
Students affected by floods or administrative failures during HSC exams will get another chance if needed, he says, assuring that no student will be deprived.
Highlights:
- The education minister says the govt is closely monitoring the situation and no student will be deprived.
- All examinees will receive full marks for two erroneous Physics questions, he says.
- Govt plans separate permanent examination centres for secondary, higher secondary and university-level exams.
Education Minister ANM Ehsanul Hoque Milon today (14 July) urged HSC and equivalent examinees to end their protests and return to their studies, assuring them that no student would be deprived due to disruptions caused by floods, natural disasters or administrative shortcomings.
Speaking during the question-and-answer session in parliament, the minister said the government was closely monitoring the examination situation and would take all necessary measures to safeguard students' interests.
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"The students should return to their studies. We are more concerned than they are about how to conduct the examinations smoothly and tackle this disaster situation," he said.
The minister said students who were unable to take examinations due to floods, other natural disasters or administrative failures would be given another opportunity to sit for the examinations if necessary.
"If anyone is deprived due to floods, disasters or administrative shortcomings, we will certainly arrange another examination for them if needed," he added.
His remarks came during a lengthy discussion in Parliament on the ongoing HSC and equivalent examinations, the flood situation and student protests. Several lawmakers questioned the government's decision not to postpone the examinations despite severe weather conditions and the hardships faced by candidates.
Responding to a question from Patuakhali-2 Jamaat lawmaker Shafiqul Islam Masud on steps to address students' concerns, Milon said the government had been closely monitoring the situation from the beginning over the challenges of holding exams during the monsoon.
"Local administrations were instructed to immediately shift examination centres if water entered any centre. We will review complaints from affected students and arrange re-examinations wherever necessary," he said.
The minister said such a step had already been taken under the Chattogram Education Board due to the flood situation, and similar measures would be taken elsewhere if required.
Independent lawmaker Rumeen Farhana questioned why the government did not postpone the HSC exams despite students' demands amid days of heavy rainfall and waterlogging. She also asked what problems would have arisen if the exams had been delayed by a day or two.
In response, Milon said HSC examinations were being held simultaneously at around 2,700 centres across the country. While exams under the Chattogram Education Board were postponed due to floods, the government decided to continue examinations elsewhere after assessing the overall situation.
The decision was taken after consulting police superintendents of 64 districts, divisional commissioners, education board chairmen and the Bangladesh Meteorological Department, which had informed the government that weather conditions would remain favourable, he added.
The minister said authorities shifted an examination centre at Cumilla Government Women's College after receiving information that the centre had been submerged, and students were taken by boat to an alternative building to sit for the exam.
A student whose clothes got wet was provided with new clothes and given extra time to complete the examination, he added.
"District administrations, upazila nirbahi officers and local authorities have the power to postpone or relocate examinations at any centre if necessary. According to reports received from administrations across the country, except for the incident in Cumilla, no major disruption occurred due to disasters," Milon said.
Regarding errors in the question paper, the education minister said there were mistakes in questions 6 and 7 of the Physics paper. All examinees would receive full marks for those two questions, he said.
During the session, the minister also highlighted various issues related to the education sector.
He said around 70 lakh students were currently studying in nearly 25,000 Qawmi madrasas across the country. Besides, around 99.58 lakh students were enrolled in 65,569 government primary schools and about 60.89 lakh students in 32,663 kindergartens.
Responding to a question from Jashore-4 Jamaat lawmaker Golam Rasul, Milon said the country currently had 1,050 recognised degree (pass) colleges, 698 degree (honours) colleges and 1,056 MPO-listed degree colleges.
He said non-MPO degree colleges would gradually be brought under the MPO system based on policy decisions and fulfilment of the required conditions.
Replying to a question from reserved women's seat lawmaker Selina Sultana, the education minister said there were currently 6,179 non-MPO educational institutions in the country.
In response to a question from Rangpur-6 Jamaat lawmaker Nurul Amin, Milon said prolonged closure of educational institutions due to public examinations disrupted regular classes.
"To address this issue, the government plans to construct separate permanent examination centres for secondary, higher secondary and university-level examinations," he added.
Replying to a question from Cox's Bazar-3 BNP lawmaker Lutfur Rahman, the minister said the government planned to hold SSC and equivalent examinations in January and HSC and equivalent examinations in June from the next academic year.
Earlier in the session, the minister defended the government's decision to hold the examinations as scheduled, saying it was taken after consultations with local administrations, education boards, law enforcement agencies and meteorologists.
The assurance came against the backdrop of protests by HSC and equivalent examinees in Dhaka, Bogura, Barishal, Chattogram and Faridpur, where students demanded the resignation of the education minister, suspension of examinations until weather conditions improved, and fresh examinations for candidates who missed the 13 July tests due to adverse weather.
