This year’s Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and equivalent examinations began at 10am Tuesday.
Hundreds of parents and guardians were seen waiting outside exam centres in Dhaka after dropping off their children.
According to the SSC schedule, exams will run from 21 April to 20 May. Following the written exams, practical exams will take place from 7 June to 14 June.
This year, a total of 1,857,344 students are participating, compared to 1,928,970 examinees last year. This represents a decrease of 71,626 candidates.
A total of 3,885 examination centres have been designated nationwide this year.
The Ministry of Education will monitor all exam centres via CCTV cameras. Education Minister ANM Ehsanul Hoque Milon confirmed that every centre has been brought under CCTV surveillance.
To facilitate this, the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Dhaka, has instructed all centres to maintain a constant internet connection for their CCTV systems.
In a letter sent to relevant officials, the board noted that monitoring from the ministry’s control room was being hindered by a lack of connectivity at some locations. Consequently, they have been directed to ensure uninterrupted internet access immediately.
A total of 1,418,398 students are participating under the nine general education boards. There are 304,286 candidates under the Madrasa Education Board and 134,660 under the Technical Education Board.
This is the first public examination under the new government. Prime minister’s adviser Mahdi Amin said the administration wants to remove “exam fear” from students’ minds, encouraging them to enter centres without stress and leave with smiles. He urged parents not to panic unnecessarily.
Officials said instructions have been issued to ensure a calm and secure environment inside exam halls so candidates can sit for their tests smoothly.
On 18 April, authorities issued instructions to allow SSC candidates to enter examination centres from 8:30am to reduce traffic congestion and public inconvenience. However, earlier instructions regarding entry into examination halls will remain in force.
The Dhaka Education Board has issued 14 directives for SSC examinees. The guidelines are as follows:
1. Candidates must take their seats in the examination hall at least 30 minutes before the start of the exam.
3. Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ) will be held first, followed by creative/descriptive (theoretical) exams, with no break between the two.
4. Candidates must collect their admit cards from their respective institution heads at least seven days before the exam begins.
5. Marks for Physical Education, Health Science and Sports, and Career Education will be provided through continuous assessment as per National Curriculum and Textbook Board instructions. Institutions will submit these marks to the relevant centre, which will upload them online along with practical marks on the board website.
6. Candidates must correctly fill in roll number, registration number and subject code on the Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) sheet. Folding of answer sheets is strictly prohibited.
7. Candidates must pass separately in creative/descriptive (theoretical), MCQ and practical examinations.
8. Candidates may only sit for subjects mentioned in their registration. They will not be allowed to appear for any other subject.
9. Admit card distribution must be completed at least seven days before the exam begins. Institution heads will be responsible for any complications.
10. Candidates may use calculators approved by the education board.
11. No person, except the centre secretary, is allowed to carry or use mobile phones inside the examination centre.
12. The same attendance sheet will be used for MCQ, creative/descriptive and practical examinations.
13. Practical examinations will be held at respective centres.
14. Candidates may apply online for re-scrutiny within seven days after result publication. Application procedures, dates and times will be announced through newspapers and education board websites.
