SSC exams from 14 November; candidates up by 1.79 lakh

The Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and equivalent examinations for the academic session 2020-21 will be held from 14 November.

A total of 22,27,113 candidates have registered to sit for the SSC and equivalent exams this year, showing an increase of around 1.79 lakh students compared to the last year.

It has been decided that the examinations for Science, Humanities and Commerce groups will not be held on the same day.

Education Minister Dipu Moni made the disclosures during a briefing at the Secretariat on Wednesday.

The minister also said that the results will be published within 30 days.

All coaching centres will remain closed from 8 to 25 November, she added.

Bangladesh reopened schools and colleges on 12 September this year after nearly 1.5 years of closure due to the coronavirus.

The government also had to defer this year's SSC and equivalent examinations due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The SSC exams are usually held in February.

Dipu Moni hinted that the SSC and equivalent exams 2022 will not be held in February as it may take more time to complete the syllabus. 

The examinations will be held this year on three elective subjects of each group and with a reduced syllabus.

Mandatory subjects will not be assessed as they were evaluated in the past JSC, JDC and equivalent examinations, while no exam will be taken on the fourth or optional elective subject.

The results of mandatory and optional subjects will be given based on subject mapping like last year, using aggregates from previous JSC, JDC examination results.

There is, however, no opportunity to change or amend the fourth subject in the student registration card, added the release.

According to the boards, SSC examinees in the Science group will sit for 32-marks examinations, while it will be 45 marks for Commerce and Humanities students. 

Examinees for the Science group will have to answer two essay questions out of eight. The total marks for each answer is 10. They will also have to answer 12 multiple choice questions (MCQ) out of 25, with each having a mark of one.

For the Commerce and Humanities group, examinees will have to answer two essay questions out of 11 and each question's total marks is 10. They will also have to answer 15 MCQ questions out of 30, with each having marks of one.  

The duration of each examination will be one-and-a-half hours and the tests will be taken in two shifts -- 10am-11:30am and 2pm-3:30pm.

According to the routine, the SSC theoretical examination will end on 23 November, while the HSC examination will end on 30 December.