No HSC exam this year, evaluation in different way: Dipu Moni

Highlights

• HSC, equivalents examinations will not be held this year
• Around 13 lakh students were expected to sit for the exams
• Students to be evaluated based on their JSC, SSC results
• Results to be announced in December
• Earlier, PSC and JSC exams were also cancelled 

The HSC and equivalent examinations will not be held this year, and the students will be evaluated based on their JSC and SSC results, the government has decided in view of the present pandemic situation in Bangladesh.

Also, for the first time in the history of the country, 100% of the students will be given pass scores, Education Minister Dr Dipu Moni confirmed on Wednesday during an online briefing.

The education ministry will form a technical committee led by an additional secretary to determine the percentage of marks from Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and Junior School Certificate (JSC) while evaluating their results, Dipu Moni said.

The committee will also work on the results of students who changed their groups after passing the SSC exams. The ministry will ask the committee to submit its report by the first week of November, according to Dipu Moni.

The results will be published in December so that students can prepare for the university admission tests, she added.

More than 13.65 lakh students have registered under 11 educational boards to sit for this year's HSC and equivalent exams, which were scheduled for 1 April. On 22 March, the government cancelled the schedule amid the Covid-19 outbreak.

"If the exams are taken following all the hygiene rules, the number of exam centres need to be doubled. So, this decision [of not holding exams] has been made after taking everything into consideration," Dipu Moni said.

About evaluating students based on their college exam results, she said such an assessment might create a controversy.

Asked about the fate of students who did not achieve good results in JSC and SSC, the minister replied, "There are any number of things that can happen, but we made the best decision. It is impossible to move for another evaluation. And we cannot consider the results of any other tests [for the assessment]."

Dipu Moni said, "We have learnt from many countries like India, China, South Africa and the Caribbean nations as they also cancelled their public exams to avoid community transmission [of the virus]."

Deputy Education Minister, Mahibul Hassan Choudhury, said they are following the example set by global communities to evaluate the students.

"We have asked the technical committee to assess students' marks by following international practice. When it comes to admission to foreign universities, I do not think any students will face problems with the results issued by the ministry."

Foreign universities take additional tests to evaluate a student. So, it will also not be a problem, he added.

Earlier in August, the government cancelled the Primary Education Completion, JSC and equivalent examinations for this year due to the pandemic.

On 16 March, the education ministry issued a statement announcing the government's decision to keep all educational institutions and coaching centres shut for 18-31 March, taking into consideration the students' safety amid the pandemic.

Classes have remained suspended since then although the administrative activities of the institutions gradually resumed.

The government recently extended the closure of all educational institutions till 31 October.