HSC examiner 'turns tea stall into marking centre'; 550 answer scripts seized, show-cause notice issued
A general diary also has been filed over the incident.
The Sylhet Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education has issued a show-cause notice to a college teacher after he was allegedly found evaluating HSC examination answer scripts at a tea stall with friends yesterday (1 August), prompting the board to seize 550 answer scripts from the spot.
The board has also initiated departmental action against the teacher, confirmed Controller of Examinations Professor Bilkis Yasmin while Sylhet Education Board Chairman Professor Md Anwar Hossain Chowdhury said an investigation committee was being formed and the teacher had been issued a show-cause notice.
The accused teacher, Iqbal Hossain Sohan, is a lecturer in the Bangla department at Sylhet Metrocity Women's College. He was a student of the Bangla department at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST) during the 2017–18 academic session.
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According to Sylhet education board sources, Controller of Examinations Professor Bilkis Yasmin conducted a raid at around 11:30pm yesterday at a tea stall near the main gate of SUST.
She seized 550 answer scripts while the teacher was allegedly evaluating them at the tea stall with friends.
The education board chairman later arrived at the spot with police personnel. The accused teacher was taken to Jalalabad Police Station, where the board filed a general diary.
"He's our examiner. He was supposed to evaluate the answer scripts at home. But he was found sitting in a public place with friends and evaluating the scripts," said Bilkis Yasmin.
"After receiving the information, we went to the spot at night and recovered the scripts," she said.
The controller said the incident was being investigated seriously and that necessary administrative action was being taken against the teacher.
Jalalabad Police Station Officer-in-Charge Shamsul Habib said the education board had filed a general diary over the incident adding that the board authorities have taken the answer scripts.
Meanwhile, local residents alleged that answer scripts had also been evaluated at the same location the previous night, not just on yesterday.
Witnesses further claimed that people other than the appointed examiner had also handled the answer scripts.
However, the accused teacher's comment could not be obtained despite repeated attempts.
