How many subjects for SSC, HSC exams?

Highlights 

• No exam for religion, ICT & Bangladesh and Global Studies
• SSC exams on Bangla, English, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry 
• SSC examinees will also sit for Higher Math, Biology, Accounting, Business Entrepreneurship 
• They will also take part in finance, Bangladesh history, geography, Civics, Economics, Home Science and agri-studies exams 
• HSC exams on Bangla, English, three group-based elective subjects and one optional subject

The education ministry has decided to take the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) examinations 2022 on a revised syllabus, the ministry sources said.

The Boards of Intermediate and Secondary Education have set the probable dates of SSC and HSC examinations for the academic year 2021-22 as 19 June and 22 August respectively, following a four-month delay due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Under the revised syllabus, students will not sit for examinations of Religion and Moral Education, Information and Communication Technology and Bangladesh and Global Studies.

The SSC examinees will sit only for Bangla, English, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Higher Mathematics, Biology, Accounting, Business Entrepreneurship, Finance and Banking, History of Bangladesh and World Civilisation, Geography and Environment, Civics and Citizenship, Economics, Home Science and Agriculture Studies exams this year.

On the other hand, the HSC examinees will take part in Bangla, English, three group-based elective subjects and one optional subject.

Professor Tapan Kumar Sarkar, chairman of the Inter-Education Board Coordination Committee, told The Business Standard that the board had taken the decision following the education ministry's directives.

"We have fixed probable dates for holding the examinations. We will also take preparatory exams instead of pre-exams from 19 May and 14 July for SSC and HSC respectively," he said.

Professor Md Farhadul Islam, chairman, National Curriculam and Textbook Board (NCTB), told TBS that they made the syllabus after taking recommendations from education experts.

"The students have lost a lot of time due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The syllabus has been prepared on the basic knowledge of students," he said.

Times, marks of SSC, HSC exams

It was also decided that the mark distribution for subjects that do not have any practical examinations may be: Creative - 40, MCQ - 15 (total- 55). For subjects that have practical examinations, the distribution may be: Creative - 30, MCQ - 15 (total 45).

The exam duration will be two hours.

The MCQ (multiple choice questions) will be of 20 minutes and the compositional or creative tests will be for an hour and 40 minutes.

 Previously, the time limit for subjects with 100 marks was three hours.

What academic experts say

Professor Siddiqur Rahman, former director of the Institute of Education and Research at Dhaka University, said it would be better if the education ministry made the question papers on the full syllabus.

The students enrolling to higher educational institutions would be burdened if they passed the exams held on a shortened syllabus.

Professor Emeritus of Brac University Dr Manzoor Ahmed told TBS that this year's education ministry's initiative was better than last year. But the ministry should take exams on all the subjects.

At the same time, the ministry must take a long-term plan to recover the learning losses, otherwise the student's would face a learning gap.

The SSC and HSC exams were held months beyond schedule in November and December last year due to the pandemic following the resumption of in-person classes. The syllabus was shortened while the tests were held on three elective subjects only.

The HSC examinations were also promoted automatically due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

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

On 17 March, 2020, educational institutions went into closure because of the Covid-19 pandemic.  Schools and colleges were closed from 21 January to 6 February for the second time and later it was extended till 21 February this year. 

High schools and colleges were reopened on 22 February and primary schools will resume in-person classes from 2 March.