HSC exams held following weather assessments: Minister

Education Minister Dr. A N M Ehsanul Hoque Milon today told the parliament that the ongoing Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) and equivalent examinations were held as scheduled based on weather forecasts and assessments from the district and field administrations.

He said only one examination centre—the Cumilla Government Women’s College centre—faced temporary disruption due to waterlogging among nearly 2,700 examination centres across the country. “However, prompt measures and alternative arrangements ensured that the examination was completed successfully,” he said.

The minister made the remarks while responding to a supplementary question from Independent lawmaker Rumeen Farhana (Brahmanbaria-2) in the Jatiya Sangsad.

Earlier, Rumeen Farhana said continuous rainfall over the past several days had caused severe waterlogging in Dhaka, Chattogram and several other major cities. She noted that many students had demanded postponement of the HSC examinations by one or two days and sought to know why the examinations had not been deferred despite the adverse weather conditions.

In reply, Dr. Milon said the HSC and equivalent examinations were being held simultaneously at around 2,700 centres across all 64 districts.

He noted that examinations under the Rangamati, Bandarban and Khagrachhari districts, and later under the Chattogram Education Board, had already been postponed in phases due to heavy rainfall and flood conditions.
The minister said the Ministry of Education closely monitored the overall situation until 5:00 pm on the day before the examination.

During that period, it remained in regular contact with the superintendents of police (SPs) of all 64 districts, divisional commissioners of the eight divisions, chairmen of all education boards, district and upazila administrations, and the Bangladesh Meteorological Department.

“All relevant authorities informed us that weather conditions were expected to improve and that there would be no obstacles to holding the examinations. Based on that assessment, the decision was taken to proceed with the examinations,” he said.
Dr. Milon said that on the morning of the examination it was found that the grounds of the Cumilla Government Women’s College centre had been inundated. “Immediately after receiving the information, the mayor, Fire Service, police and the deputy commissioner were instructed to take necessary measures,”

He said examinees were transported by boats to the fifth floor of the college building, where the examination was conducted.
The minister said one candidate whose clothes had become wet was allowed time to change after fresh clothes were brought from home. The examination at the centre began one hour later than scheduled, and the duration was extended by an additional hour to ensure that students received the full examination time.

He said no other examination centre in the country had encountered weather-related disruption, according to reports received by the Ministry of Education from deputy commissioners and upazila nirbahi officers.

Regarding errors in the Physics examination paper, Dr. Milon said questions 6 and 7 contained mistakes. Once the errors were identified, the authorities decided to award full marks for both questions to all candidates.

He said the present government had assumed office only four months ago, while the process of preparing and moderating public examination question papers had begun nearly two years earlier. As a result, this year’s question papers had been prepared by the question-setting and moderation committees appointed during the previous government’s tenure.

“Nevertheless, the government took immediate corrective measures as soon as the mistakes were detected,” he added.
The minister said the Ministry of Education was maintaining round-the-clock monitoring to ensure smooth conduct of the examinations.

He said district administrations, upazila administrations, police and other relevant authorities had been empowered to take necessary decisions, and local administrations could take immediate action if examinations could not be held due to any natural disaster.

He said the government remained highly sensitive to the difficulties faced by students and was continuously monitoring the situation and taking necessary measures to protect their interests.