Seven visually impaired students in Chattogram fail SSC due to scribe crisis
Seven visually impaired students from Rahmania High School in Chattogram have failed this year's Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examinations after being unable to write the Bangla First Paper exam on 10 April due to the absence of board-approved scribes.
While six of the students went on to complete the remaining exams with scribes, none secured a passing grade, resulting in the loss of a full academic year.
The incident occurred at the Bangladesh Mahila Samiti Girls' High School exam centre, where the students, all registered under the Chattogram Education Board, had to submit blank sheets on the first day of exams.
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Their prearranged scribes were disqualified shortly before the exam began, leaving no time for alternatives.
According to the board's policy, scribes for SSC candidates must be no higher than Class 8 students and under 18 years of age. The scribes arranged by the students' families were reportedly from Class 10 or higher and did not meet these requirements.
Following the incident, the students' guardians approached the Chattogram Deputy Commissioner's Office and the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, requesting a retake of the missed exam.
They were assured that the matter would be handled compassionately, but no such steps were ultimately taken.
Chattogram Board Controller of Examinations Parvez Sajjad confirmed the issue during a press briefing on Thursday, saying, "There were seven visually impaired students who could not answer anything in the Bangla First Paper exam due to the scribe issue. Though they used scribes in the Bangla Second Paper, none of them managed to score enough to compensate for the missed paper. As a result, they have failed."
Of the seven affected students, six—Habibul Haque, Minhaz Uddin, Lucky Akter, Md Badsha, and twins Rupsa Khanam and Md Maruf—attended the rest of the exams but were unable to pass overall.
Sharmin Akter, mother of one of the affected students, Habibul Haque, expressed her frustration, saying, "We had arranged scribes in advance, but due to negligence from the school and education board, my son could not appear properly for the first exam. The board had promised to consider the issue compassionately, either by allowing a retake or adjusting the result, but they failed us."
She added, "I have been fighting for my son for 16 years, and so have the other parents. Now, because of the board's failure, our children have lost a year. Their spirits are broken."
The incident has drawn further scrutiny in light of a similar case involving 13 students from Haldiyapalong Adarsha Bidyapith in Ukhiya, Cox's Bazar, who also missed the Bangla First Paper exam due to complications in form submission.
However, they were later allowed to sit the remaining exams, and six of them passed using adjusted scores.
Controller Parvez Sajjad explained the arrangement: "We took a special initiative to process their forms and allowed them to sit for the exam from the Bangla Second Paper. Their results include adjusted scores, and they passed both Bangla papers."
The contrasting outcomes have raised questions about the consistency and fairness of the board's treatment of vulnerable students, particularly those with disabilities.
