Education boards ready to hold HSC exams, waiting for ministry’s nod

Even though all education boards in the country are ready to administer Higher Secondary Certificate and its equivalent examinations any time, no decision has yet been taken about fixing the dates for the examinations.

Ziaul Haque, chairman of Dhaka Education Board, told The Business Standard that they are ready to hold the examinations in any pattern and that they are waiting for directives from the education ministry in this regard.

Chairmen of 11 education boards will hold a meeting on September 24 to discuss issues concerning the holding of HSC examinations, according to sources at the Inter-education Board Coordination Subcommittee.

They will also prepare a proposal in this regard and submit it to the ministry.

"We will hold a discussion about the HSC examinations but the ministry will take the final decision in this regard," said the chairman of Dhaka Education Board.

"Crowds of students, guardians, teachers and staff during the examinations across the country may contribute to spreading Covid-19. So, we must think about it also," he added.

On the other hand, the education ministry is determined not to hold the examinations before the situation returns to normalcy.

However, it will announce the schedule 15 days ahead of the start of the examinations.

About 13 lakh students were expected to sit for the HSC and equivalent examinations that were scheduled to start from April 1.

The examinations were supposed to be held at over 9,000 educational institutions under 11 education boards -- nine general, one madrasa and one technical education board.

However, all educational institutions have been closed from March 17 due to the Covid-19 outbreak. The HSC and equivalent examinations were also postponed for the same reason on March 22.

The institutions will remain closed till October 3.