Examiner caught evaluating HSC answer scripts at tea stall in Sylhet

A teacher has been accused of evaluating answer scripts of the recently concluded Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) examinations at a tea stall in Sylhet while chatting with friends.

An operation was conducted by the Sylhet Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board around 11:30pm on Saturday (August 1) near the main gate of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST), where nearly a bundle of answer scripts were seized.

The accused teacher is Iqbal Hossain Sohan, a lecturer in the Bengali department at Sylhet Metro City Women's College. He is a former student of SUST's Bengali department (2017-18 session).

While the teacher was not immediately arrested, the education board filed a General Diary (GD) at the Sylhet Metropolitan Police's Jalalabad Police Station. The board has also initiated departmental proceedings against the lecturer, and his workplace authorities have issued a show-cause notice.

According to sources, Sylhet Education Board Examination Controller Professor Bilkis Yasmin led the raid after receiving information that the lecturer was evaluating scripts at the tea stall with friends. She seized the bundle of answer scripts during the operation.

Eyewitnesses and locals alleged that lecturer Iqbal Hossain Sohan and others had previously used the same spot for evaluating answer scripts.

Attempts to contact Iqbal Hossain Sohan for comment were unsuccessful.

Professor Bilkis Yasmin said, "Iqbal Hossain Sohan is an examiner of our board. According to rules, he was supposed to evaluate the scripts at home. But he was evaluating them at a public place with friends. We conducted the raid and seized the scripts."

She said the matter is being investigated seriously and necessary administrative action will be taken against the accused teacher.

Sylhet Education Board Chairman Professor Md Anwar Hossain Chowdhury said a probe committee is being formed and the teacher has been issued a show-cause notice.

Jalalabad Police Station Officer-in-Charge Shamsul Habib said a GD has been filed by the board, and the answer scripts have been taken by the board authorities.